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'Pretty low': Corruption claim slammed in 'disgusting' boxing furore

Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu are pictured after the weigh-in for their super welterweight bout.
Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu face off during the weigh-in for their WBO Global & IBF Australasian Super Welterweight title bout, at The Ville Casino on August 25, 2020 in Townsville. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Tim Tszyu’s camp has angrily rejected suggestions one of the judges in his upcoming fight against Jeff Horn could favour the 25-year-old.

No love has been lost between the two camps in the lead-up to Tszyu’s match with Horn, and more fuel was added to the fire when Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton suggested ‘two out of three’ judges for the fight were ‘compromised’.

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The veteran trainer said Tszyu had an unfair advantage because the gym he trains at is owned by one of the judges, who used to serve as his father Kostya Tszyu’s cornerman.

Rushton said another of the judges had already made a prediction that Tszyu would win the fight on cuts, further compromising the integrity of the bout.

“What’s come to light is that one of the judges seems to have a very strong view that Tim Tszyu would win the fight and apparently told a friend that he would, and that’s a concern to us,” Rushton said.

“With two judges out of three, if you’ve got one we were a little concerned about, for being in Kostya’s corner, and then a second expressing his opinion that Tim would win. I am a little concerned about that.

“I’m raising the issue now and putting it out there so that I hope the judges on the night are aware of their responsibilities and we’ll be keeping a close eye on the uniformity and consistency of the scores.”

Tim Tszyu’s camp rejects criticism of judges

With the highly-anticipated super welterweight bout just 24 hours away, Tszyu’s camp angrily hit back at Rushton’s comments, publicly backing judges Derek Milham, Chris Condon and Phil Holiday.

Tszyu has been training at a gym owned by Condon, while head judge Milham said his other colleague Holiday had already apologised for the comments Rushton was referring to.

Milham said he had full confidence in the trio.

"Someone asked him and he made the comment that there is some chance that Horn could get cut, he said to me he didn't predict anything," he said.

"But he made the comment that if Horn loses it, it could be through cut eyes.

"I went and spoke to the judge in question. He's quite embarrassed and apologised to me about it. He's very, very professional.

Tim Tszyu is pictured with his father Kostya.
Tim Tszyu has been training at a gym owned by his father Kostya's former cornerman, who is also a judge for his bout against Jeff Horn. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

"He apologised to me. It's a shame it's gone this way because we had a conference call with Glenn Rushton.

"I think it's a bit of a tactic actually and I've got full confidence in the guy. All you can do is take my word."

Co-promoter for the fight, Matt Rose, was furious about Rushton’s comments.

"It's pretty low to jump in front of national cameras to do so," he said.

"We're in Qld, remember. We're a long way from Sydney (where Tszyu is based).

"To question someone's integrity on a national stage is actually disgusting."

With AAP