Tim Tszyu, bursting with confidence, plans to make Carlos Ocampo quit
Tim Tszyu wants to do to Carlos Ocampo what Sugar Ray Leonard did to Roberto Duran in their famous second fight.
Tszyu, a top junior middleweight contender, faces the Mexican veteran on Saturday night (Sunday in Australia) in Broadbeach, Queensland (Showtime).
The Aussie wants to make Ocampo quit, as Leonard did to Duran in 1980.
“I’ve had these two words of Spanish going through my mind: ‘No mas,‘” Tsayu said at the final news conference before the event. “That’s the type of fight I intend to do. That’s my intention.”
Tim Tszyu (right) plans to make Carlos Ocampo quit. Chris Hyde / Getty Images
That doesn’t mean Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) is disrespectful of Ocampo, a competent boxer-puncher from Ensenada.
Tszyu’s confidence is soaring after back-to-back victories over Terrell Gausha and Tony Harrison. He expects to destroy whomever his handlers have him fight.
“I think [my mentality] is just based on the position that I’m in,” said Tszyu, who expects to challenge undisputed champion Jermell Charlo in the fall. “It’s got nothing to do with him. He’s a top fighter.
“Whoever they put in front of me I’ll annihilate them. If it’s King Kong or a shark or a pit bull, I’m coming back for another round. I think this will be my greatest victory.”
Meanwhile, Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs) insists that Tszyu is in for a surprise.
Tszyu’s father, Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, defeated Julio Cesar Chavez in 2000 but the Mexican legend had declined by that time. Ocampo, 27, said the next-generation Tszyu is facing a prime, hungry Mexican.
“On June 18 he will understand what it is to meet a Mexican,” Ocampo said through a translator. “I will beat Tim Tszyu, make no mistake. … We Mexicans are different. We are distinguished fighters, we are real, we come to fight.
“Here [in Mexico] boxers fight to win breakfast tomorrow and the rest of the world doesn’t understand that. I’m going to fight to bring the title home.”
