QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – June 2, 2023 – Undefeated Australian superstar Tim Tszyu will return to the ring and defend his Interim WBO 154-pound title against Mexican contender Carlos Ocampo headlining action live on SHOWTIME on Saturday, June 17 (Sunday, June 18 in Australia) from the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia in a Premier Boxing Champions event.
The SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL telecast begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and will also feature top super bantamweight contender Ra’eese Aleem taking on undefeated Australian Sam Goodman in an IBF 122-pound title eliminator in the co-main event.
Tszyu will make the first defense of his interim belt after capturing it in March on SHOWTIME with a career-best showing in stopping former champion Tony Harrison. He had originally been scheduled to face Undisputed Super Welterweight Champion Jermell Charlo in Las Vegas in January, before Charlo was forced to withdraw due to injury. With a victory on June 17 in his home country, Tszyu can lock in a date with Charlo later this year.
The event is promoted by No Limit Boxing and The Rose Brothers, in association with TGB Promotions.
“Tim Tszyu has solidified his place near the top of the super welterweight division and will once again bring his fan-friendly style to the ring for fans in the U.S. watching on SHOWTIME,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “An experienced and hungry Carlos Ocampo will be coming to Australia to upset Tszyu’s plans and disrupt his path toward a long-awaited showdown with the 154-pound division’s undisputed champion Jermell Charlo. Adding in top contender Ra’eese Aleem taking on the rising Australian Sam Goodman, and this shapes up to be a great doubleheader of action fights on Saturday, June 17.”
The 28-year-old Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) has quickly climbed the rankings in the 154-pound division with an all-action, aggressive style. The notable names on his resume include former welterweight champion Jeff Horn, whom Tszyu stopped in round eight, and Terrell Gausha, a top contender and member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. A native of Sydney, Australia, Tszyu made his U.S. and SHOWTIME debut against Gausha and showed his poise and toughness by rallying back from a first-round knockdown to win the fight via unanimous decision. Tszyu grew up playing soccer, but soon gravitated toward boxing. The decision led to him following in the legendary footsteps of his father, Kostya, who was an undisputed 140-pound champion and who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.
“I was full training on Monday after the thing happened on Saturday,” said Tszyu to Australian press in reference to a dog bite on his right arm. “I’m not going to be limited at all…There’s a dog in me right now that’s about to come out.
“I’m a fighter. My job is to fight. I won’t sit on the couch and wait for [Jermell] Charlo’s hand to get better. I want to fight in the meantime,” added Tim Tszyu previously to the Australian media about his announcement for his title defense against Ocampo. “The fans deserve the fights…The Charlo fight is in the making, but I’m not underestimating Ocampo. I’ve got a hard task ahead of me.
“Technically, this fight is going to be much harder than my previous fights. The Mexican style will require something new in me and I expect it to be tough. Despite being Australian and on the other side of the globe, I’m headlining a fight on SHOWTIME for the third time. Is anyone else doing that? Everyone knows I’m coming to take over.”
The 27-year-old Ocampo (34-2, 22 KOs) rode a 12-fight winning streak into his last matchup, which saw him drop a decision to 154-pound contender Sebastian Fundora last October in a SHOWTIME main event. The 12 consecutive triumphs dated back to the only other loss of his career, which came to current unified welterweight champion Errol Spence, Jr. in a 2016 knockout defeat. During the 12-fight stretch, the Ensenda, Baja California, Mexico native scored nine of those victories by stoppage, including traveling to Mikael Zewski’s home country of Canada to stop the fan-favorite by ninth-round TKO.
“I’m looking forward to my fight against Tim Tszyu,” said Ocampo. “We are both warriors who go forward without fear. The fans will be the true winners that night, because I’m going after that title at all. Costs and it’s coming back to Mexico with me. He won’t want to hand it over to me, so I’ll just have to take it from him.”
Owning a top-10 ranking at 122-pounds from multiple sanctioning bodies, Aleem (20-0, 12 KOs) put on the most impressive performance of his career in January 2021, dominating in a battle of unbeatens by dropping Victor Pasillas four times before eventually stopping him in round 11. Raised in Michigan and training out of Las Vegas, the 32-year-old Aleem stopped seven-straight opponents before most recently earning decisions over Eduardo Baez in November 2021 and Mike Plania in September 2022. Aleem made his SHOWTIME debut in February of 2020 with a fourth-round stoppage of Adam Lopez on SHOBOX: The New Generation.