Photos: Tim Tszyu Punishes Brian Mendoza To Retain - MONSTER Gallery

Gold Coast, Australia - For the WBO junior middleweight title, Tim Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) retained his title for the first time with a twelve round unanimous decision over Brian Mendoza (22-3, 16 KOs). (photos by Zain Mohammed)

The scores were 116-112, 117-111, 116-111.

Both had moments of success in the first round, as they felt each other out. Tszyu was edging the action in the second, but the fight was still very close with a lot of caution by both. The third saw Mendoza start strong while wasn't punching as much. Mendoza was connecting with most of the shots as the round went on. 

The fourth saw Mendoza continue to connect with most of the punches. Tszyu was applying a lot of pressure, but Mendoza kept turning him and doing more work. In the fifth, Tszyu was landing some heavy left hands that Mendoza was able to take. The right eye of Mendoza was starting to show some damage and swelling. 

Mendoza came out moving forward in the sixth and connected with a heavy right hand that Tszyu took. Tszyu continued to press forward, with Mendoza edging him with landed punches. The seventh was a give and take action until Tszyu landed two big uppercuts and then began to let his hands go with hard punches to the head and body. 

In the eight, Tszyu was controlling the action. There were some good exchanges where both connected. Mendoza started well in the ninth, before Tszyu began landing his clubbing punches to the head. Tszyu was also starting to tag Mendoza down to the body more often. Tszyu was in full control and was backing Mendoza up often. 

The tenth saw pressing forward and looking to do damage. He was mixing up his punches well. Mendoza was not throwing as much and standing in front of Tszyu more often. Mendoza landed a very good body shot, but then Tszyu unloaded with several hard punches to get Mendoza in trouble. Mendoza was cut over his left eye and took some damage.

In the eleventh, Tszyu went right after Mendoza with both hands. Tszyu was connecting to the head and body, looking for the finish. Mendoza was firing back at times, but Tszyu just continued to unload with his power shots. In the twelfth and final round, Tszyu came out pressing and taking his time. Mendoza was actually boxing well and had good success. Tszyu was either coasting or a bit punched out from punishing Mendoza in the earlier rounds.