Horn-Tszyu stream begins at 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT for a special Aussie edition of Breakfast and Boxing

(August 21, 2020) —Australia’s most anticipated fistic showdown in years has an American streaming home.

Former welterweight world champion and Manny Pacquiao conqueror Jeff “The Hornet” Horn will face WBO Global Junior Middleweight Champion Tim Tszyu Wednesday, Aug. 26, at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville, Australia. A socially distanced crowd of more than 16,000 fans are expected for Horn-Tszyu, which will headline a special edition of Breakfast and Boxing exclusively on ESPN+ (5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT).

Horn (20-2-1, 13 KOs), from Brisbane, toppled Pacquiao in July 2017 via unanimous decision to win the WBO welterweight world title. Horn-Pacquiao, the Top Rank on ESPN series premier, peaked at 4.4 million viewers. Horn defended his title once before losing via ninth-round stoppage to Terence “Bud” Crawford in June 2018. He is 2-1 since the Crawford loss, most recently splitting a pair of action classics against countryman Michael Zerafa in 2019.

Tszyu (15-0, 11 KO), the Sydney-born son of legendary former world champion Kostya Tszyu, returns from a nearly nine-month layoff. He graduated from prospect to contender in 2019, closing out the year in December with a fourth-round TKO over Jack Brubaker that streamed live on ESPN+.

“In my career, what I’ve accomplished and what I’m doing, my dad doesn’t play much of a role. I do my own stuff,” Tszyu told ESPN recently. “He taught me one thing and that’s work ethic, because of that I am who I am. If you want to succeed you have to put in the work.

“I’m proud of what my dad achieved. He’s the greatest boxer in Australian and Russian sports history. I do everything that he’s done. There’s a blueprint. If I could do half of what he did, I’m going to be a great in this sport.”

The Horn-Tszyu stream will also include unbeaten junior lightweight prospect Liam Wilson (6-0, 4 KOs) against Jackson Woods (4-1-1, 4 KOs) in an eight-rounder, former Australian 154-pound champion Joel Camilleri (18-6-1, 8 KOs) versus Adam Copland (5-1, 3 KOs) in an eight-round middleweight bout, and Australian middleweight prospect Issac “The Headsplitter” Hardman (6-0, 5 KOs ) against seven-year veteran Jamie Weetch (12-3, 5 KOs) in a six-rounder.

Unbeaten super-bantamweight Tyrone McCullagh hopes to reward deafening support at MTK Global’s Belfast show with victory in his European title fight.

‘White Chocolate’ (11-0-KO6) climbed off the canvas to cruise to the Celtic crown against Joe Ham last time out and is relishing the prospect of even more noise when he takes on Josh Kennedy for the WBO European belt at the Titanic Exhibition Centre on October 5.

McCullagh said: “I’m very lucky to have a great following from both Derry and Belfast. Everyone gets behind me when I fight and I’m very grateful for that.

“It should be a jam-packed arena and I’m relishing that. The atmosphere picks me up a level or two – I know that from the noise when I fought Joe Ham. There was no chance I wasn’t getting up!

“The noise carried me through the fight; especially in the later rounds. When you hear them, it really gives you a lift.”

As he prepares to take another significant step up in facing a fellow unbeaten fighter in Kent’s Kennedy (11-0-KO5), McCullagh knows he’ll need to keep improving if he’s to climb to the very top.

The 27-year-old southpaw said: “The belt means a lot to me but boxers always want bigger and better belts. It’s great to have it on the line but the main thing is a big step up in opponent. I feel ready.

“Winning the Celtic title was an unbelievable feeling but it’s just a minor title in the grand scheme of things. In boxing, you always want more. When I was young, I thought I’d be happy with a national title but once I’d done that, I wanted more and more.

“I’ve seen a few clips of Kennedy and he seems big and strong but I’m very confident in my own ability. You have to beat these kind of lads if you want to make it to the top.

“If I can’t beat Kennedy, I’m going to have to take a long, hard look at myself.”

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