Australian boxing champion Tim Tszyu farewelled Newcastle in emphatic fashion on Wednesday night, making light work of challenger Steve Spark at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
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Spark lasted little more than two rounds with a ruthless Tszyu landing two ripping body shots to end the fight in the third round.
Spark beat the count after going down following the first left rip but in was over soon after when he slumped to the canvas after getting hit in the identical place again.
Tszyu will now turn his attention overseas and is hoping to attract world credentialed fighters to Australia in his quest to ultimately fight for a world title.
It's understood his next fights will likely be stadium fights in Sydney.
Immediately after the fight, a relaxed Tszyu said: "I had fun in there, that's the main thing.
"All my respect to Stevie Spark for taking the fight. He's got a big career ahead of him."
After both fighters felt their way in the opening round with Spark keen to take it his opponent, Tszyu dominated the second, rocking Spark on several occasions with body shots and blows to the head.
There was controversy at the start of the third round when a bucket of ice from Spark's corner suddenly found its way into the ring and had to be cleaned up, providing the underdog from Toowoomba with much-needed breathing space.
But the end was near with Tszyu finishing off the challenger just 2 minutes 22 seconds into round three.
Spark took the fight on a week's notice following the highly controversial decision by Melbourne boxer Michael Zerafa to pull out due to COVID concerns.
Zerafa was accused of cowardice by promoters No Limit Boxing, who had even offered to fly him in and out of Newcastle on fight night to ensure
In the early fights, Miles Zalewski scored a fifth round knockout win over Lee Fook in the opening bout on the card, Linn Sandstrom and Natalie Hills fought out a six-round draw, Sam Ah-See returned to pro boxing for the first time in six years in emphatic fashion, stopping Czar Amonsot in the first round before local boy Troy O'Meley's night ended in defeat after six rounds against Gunnedah's Wade Ryan when the fight was stopped by the referee due to a cut eye.
In the main support bout, Queenslander Liam Wilson suffered the first loss of his professional career when he was knocked out by Philippine fighter Joe Noynay in the fifth round. Noynay retained his WBO Asia-Pacific super featherweight title with the victory.
More photos to come ...
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