(IB – January 19. 2003) – As part of Kostya Tszyu’s homecoming in Melbourne, Australia to defend his
undisputed Super Lightweight Titles against "Jessie"
James Leija, this night revealed more than what was expected.Tszyu (30-1-1, 24 KOs) was the victor in the match due to Leija (43-6-2, 17 KOs) refusing to come out for the 7th round. What is bizarre about this fight is that I actually had Leija slightly ahead at the end of the 6th round by a score of 58-56. I was shocked when Leija’s corner notified the referee to stop the fight with the complaint that Leija's right ear drum felt like it was busted.
Regarding the action that took place during the preceding six rounds, it was Leija that demonstrated the better accuracy and connect rate with combinations. Although neither fighter was down during the fight, this was shaping up to becoming a very competitive bout and appeared to have “upset” written all over it.
Nevertheless, it was Kostya Tszyu that improved his championship record to 15-1-1 in title fights while doing little to validate having his name anchored on the best P4P list.
You have just gone InsideBoxing.com
Ron Brashear can be contacted at brashear@insideboxing.com, ron@brasheargear.com