Jeff Fenech Believes Tim Tszyu’s Corner Cost Him The Sebastian Fundora Rematch

Former world champion Jeff Fenech blames Tim Tszyu’s coaching team for his loss to Sebastian Fundora last Saturday night. He believes that Tszyu (25-3, 18 KOs) wasn’t getting the proper corner instructions for his rematch with WBC junior middleweight champion Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs). This led to Tszyu being stopped after the seventh round.

Tszyu’s Corner Instructions Lacking

“I feel sorry for Tim. Looking at what happened to him in the first round, he still did the same in the second round and the same thing in the third round,” said Jeff Fenech to Jai McAllister, reflecting on Tim Tszyu’s loss to Sebastian Fundora last Saturday night.

Fenech should have volunteered to take on the duties as Tszyu’s new coach. He could then take a broom and sweep out the existing training team, and just focus on rebuilding him from the ground up. Just sweep them all out like dust, and rebuild Tszyu before it’s too late.

Tszyu’s Punch Resistance Declined

The damage may have already been done, because his punch resistance seems to have declined. Mentally, he looked like he’d lost the confidence he once had.

“When you’re at the level Tim is at, you need people that can maneuver you and tell you what you need to do,” said Fenech. “Tim has never been told nothing to do in a fight because he’s just beat them on his own. Everyone gets the credit for it, but Tim has beaten all those guys he’s fought on his own.”

Tszyu has always fought with the same style throughout his career. He was able to get away with it when he was younger, fighting Aussie fighters in Australia. Since stepping up to world class, he’s struggled in three out of his last four fights. It’s obvious that if Tim were to continue fighting world-level fighters, he’d continue to lose. There are many other fighters at 154 that could do the same thing to Tszyu that Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev did to him.

Tszyu Needs Coaching Help

“He needed help on the weekend [against Fundora], and he got none. He got none because he has a corner full of guys that never had a fight in their life,” said Fenech. “How can they tell you how to fight if they haven’t had one?”

When Tszyu was on the inside, he was getting chewed up by Fundora, who was hitting him with uppercuts and hooks to the side of the head. The power that the 6’5″ ‘Towering Inferno’ Fundora was surprisingly good on the inside. Tim didn’t like it. So, he repeatedly retreated to the outside, and got hit there too. It was a pick-your-poison type situation for Tszyu.

Fundora’s Aggression Paid Off

“I was totally surprised,” said Fenech when asked if he was surprised that Fundora attacked Tszyu so early in the fight. “He’s gone back and obviously watched video and studied Tim. He brought something to the ring that I did not think he had.”

Fundora had shown a more aggressive side to his fighting style in his previous fight against Chordale Booker last March. In that clash, he went after Booker right away, wore him down with nonstop punches before stopping him in the fourth. He did the same thing against Tszyu last weekend and it paid off with a seventh-round stoppage.