One of Australia’s most anticipated boxing cards of the last decade has finally arrived and will be taking place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney’s Olympic Park on Sunday the 12th of March. The Main Event is the pride of Australian boxing Tim Tszyu fighting the former WBO super Welterweight champion of the world in Tony Harrison. The undercard is headed up by Tim’s brother Nikita fighting rising Super Welterweight contender Bo Belbin and the other main fight on the program comes in the Light Heavyweight division where the undefeated Paulo Aokuso fights the Cuban Yunieski Gonzalez for the IBO Inter-continental light heavyweight title. Let’s try and steer you into a few winners as we preview each fight!
TIM TSZYU (21-0) VS TONY HARRISON (29-3-1) FOR THE WBO SUPER WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD
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The local (and overseas) bookmakers have instilled Australian Tim Tszyu as a $1.56 favourite in this world championship bout with Tony Harrison being a $2.50 underdog. Tszyu is the younger man (28) but it does mean he has less experience than Harrison (32) who has fought for multiple World Championships. Both men have huge attributes. Tszyu is the constant aggressor in essentially all of his fights to date and he does this by wearing out his opponents with his ridiculous fitness base where he never seems to tire. His body shots are probably the most brutal in the division and have dubbed him the nickname of “the soul taker” and I think he will go to the well again with that strategy in this fight considering Harrison seemingly has a head made of iron. I think Tszyu needs to stand behind his jab more in this fight and throw it with ill intent and more frequently than he ever has in the past if he is to get past Harrison who is one of the best counter boxers in the division.
For Harrison, the name of the game will be to use his reach advantage (76 inches compared to 72) to keep Tszyu on the outside for as long as possible and to simply outbox him and not allow him to use those big punches to the body and to maintain the dominant ring position. Neither man has one-punch knockout power (generally speaking) which I think plays into the hands of Harrison as he might be the better boxer. I think the bookmakers are forgetting that Harrison is a brilliant boxer. He is the only man to have defeated the pound-for-pound King of the division in Jermell Charlo and he did it by countering him at every move which he will try and repeat in this fight against what must be said is a lesser skilled and experienced fighter in Tszyu. His last win over Sergio Garcia was clinical and I think he isn’t being respected like he should be leading into this fight.
VERDICT: I think Tony Harrison can get a unanimous decision win here. The $4.90 for Harrison to win by points or decision is appealing.
PAULO AOKUSO (3-0) VS YUNIESKI GONZALEZ (21-5) FOR THE IBO INTER-CONTINENTAL LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
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I will keep this one relatively short. Paulo Aokuso faces his biggest test to date coming up against an experienced professional in Yunieski Gonzalez but he has looked relatively flawless in his first three professional fights and it is hard to see how he doesn’t finish this relatively early. He has all the attributes to be a top ten to fifteen guy in the Light Heavyweight division. He is big, he is frighteningly quick for a man that is Six foot tall and he has precision in every punch he throws and they generally land. On the flip side for Gonzalez, his last two fights have been lost by the way of knockout and you have to wonder whether the chin is getting a bit more glassy as he ages (he is thirty-seven now). This is a weaker fight for him and it is a big line in the sand for his career. If he loses this, retirement will be calling.
VERDICT: I think Paulo Aokuso finishes this in the first four rounds by the way of KO/TKO.
SAM GOODMAN (13-0) VS TJ DOHENY (23-3) FOR THE WBO SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE
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This promises to be one of the fights of the night as both men only know one way and that is to attack and put pressure on their opponents. Sam Goodman has worked his way through everyone they have put in front of him and he has done it with ease with three of his last five wins coming by the way of stoppage. It isn’t like he has fought bums in his last few fights either. Fumiya Fuse was 11-1 before the Goodman fight (admittedly in Japan) and Juan Miguel Elorde is a very experienced fighter with a record of 29-3. Goodman has his sights set on a world championship fight in the coming years and this is a big stepping stone for him considering he is fighting a former World Champion in what in some senses is a baptism of fire. He will need to use those quick hands and precision punches to work over Doheny in the early rounds because I think the longer this fight goes on, the longer it suits the Irishman.
Doheny is still a very good fighter and he displayed this when knocking out Cesar Juarez in the second round in Dubai in his last fight. In the fight before that, he went back home to fight Irish Champion Micky Conlan and went the distance before losing via unanimous decision. He is a very active fighter who has fought some of the best fighters in the world at his most recent outings and he only knows one way, and that is to try and knock you out. He will put pressure on Goodman whom he has not dealt with before and that is what makes this such an interesting fight. I think it could go either way and I think it will be the fight of the night!
VERDICT: I don’t think this will go the distance. I am tipping Goodman to win by KO/TKO in the middle rounds of the fight.
ISAAC HARDMAN (13-1) VS ROHAN MURDOCK (26-2) FOR THE IBF AUSTRALASIAN SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE
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I always felt like the boxing media in this country were going too early with the hype around Isaac Hardman and I was proven to be right when he took the big step up to fight Michael Zerafa and was knocked out in the second round. His last win against Beau Hartas was relatively inconclusive considering it was just a complete mismatch. He now finds himself against probably the second biggest test of his career coming up against Rohan Murdock. Murdock is a big man with powerful hands (knockout percentage of 67%) and his effort when going eleven rounds with the rising contender Zach Parker three fights ago would see him take it right up to Hardman. Parker fought for the World Championship last fight but broke his hand in the process of the fight which goes to show how good of a fighter he is. Outside of that though Murdock has fought pretty poor fighters in his last couple of fights.
Hardman will go into this as a favourite and deservedly so, but it will be interesting to see whether he has worked on his defence from the Zerafa fight. To be a top ten fighter in the division he can’t just be a one-trick pony whose only avenue to winning is via knockout. Murdock will not fall easily and can throw back with big punches himself so it will not be a walk in the park for Hardman, but he still should get it done.
VERDICT: Hardman to win in the middle rounds via KO/TKO seems the most likely outcome.
NIKITA TSZYU (4-0) VS BO BELBIN (7-0)
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I think this fight will start the Tszyu camp on a good note as it seems difficult to find an area where Belbin is better than Tszyu. Admittedly, this might be the youngster’s biggest test as Belbin has shown he has the power in his hands to knock people out and that is always concerning for every fighter, but the way in which Tszyu has handled Ben Horn and Darkon Dryden in recent fights suggest that he is a fighter on the up. He has a terrific jab which allows him to throw punches in bunches and his body shots, much like his brother Tim, generally always seem to find the right areas. He is relentless once he gets on top in a fight and I think he can only improve off what he has done so far. It is hard to find a situation where he doesn’t get an early finish here.
VERDICT: Tszyu to win via KO/TKO in the first few rounds.
KOEN MAZOUDIER (11-2) VS BEN MAHONEY (13-0) FOR THE WBA OCEANIA SUPER WELTERWEIGHT TITLE
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This promises to be a good fight but it is hard to see Mazoudier getting beaten considering the type of challengers he has taken on in recent bouts. Since his loss against Wade Ryan in 2021 Mazoudier has gone on a three-fight win streak which has included two wins over division stalwart Joel Camilleri via decision wins and he then avenged his loss over Wade Ryan with a close decision victory. Whereas Mahoney has fought generally poor fighters compared to the standard of Mazoudier. Narong Buchanan has a record of 28-11 and has lost his last five fights, Lachlan Higgins has a record of 8-7, and Kris George was arguably his best win who has a record of 14-3.
I am not sure either man has real clear knockout power so I can see this fight going the distance. Mahoney could be the big improver on the card and beat Mazoudier, but as things currently stand you would have to give the upper hand to Mazoudier and have him as the better fighter.
VERDICT: Mazoudier via points decision
SHANELL DARGAN (1-1-2) VS COURTNEY MARTIN (1-0)
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The first fight on the program could be a bloodbath if my prediction is correct. Shanell Dargan burst onto the scene in her very first fight which was a fight of the year contender against Ashleigh Sims and I think she has been improving her craft since that and I think this will be the fight where she scores a big knockout victory and hopefully that springboards her up in the rankings into the division. Courtney Martin was fighting MMA a few years ago and in her one boxing fight, I did not see a whole lot that I liked. I think she leaves herself open to big shots and if there is one thing that we already know about Dargan, it is that she isn’t scared to sit there and throw big shots and trade in the pocket. I think this is a pretty big mismatch and I would be very surprised if Dargan doesn’t get her out of there early.
VERDICT: Dargan to win via KO/TKO in the first couple of rounds.