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Dennis Hogan’s emotional trainer sought assurance from Aussie boxing legend Barry Michael that he’d done the right thing by throwing in the towel against Tim Tszyu, sealing a fifth-round TKO loss.
Hogan was brutally dismantled by Tszyu in Newcastle on Wednesday night, looking spent after four rounds of painful body shots.
He was dropped by a left uppercut in the fifth round and trainer Stephen Edwards threw in the towel soon after to save the Irishman from further damage.
Edwards was part of Jeff Horn’s corner when the former world champion copped a savage beating from Tszyu last year, yet his pleas to stop that fight were overruled by Horn’s long-time trainer Glenn Rushton.
He clearly did the right thing by throwing in the towel for Hogan but it was a tough decision nonetheless.
“Stephen Edwards, off-camera, while Tim Tszyu was talking in the ring, came to our commentary position and he was quite emotional,” Main Event presenter Warren Smith revealed.
“He said, ‘Barry, please tell me I did the right thing’. I’ve got no doubt he did the right thing.”
Michael said: “He was very emotional, as you said, he definitely did the right thing.
“Dennis Hogan, he’d been down, that uppercut nearly took his head off, those body shots were ripping him apart.”
Tszyu was unapologetic about the punishment inflicted upon Hogan, having sent another impressive message to the boxing world.
The WBO’s No.1 contender will hope to next fight for his maiden world title.
“This is not tic tac, we’re not ballerinas here dancing around. We’re punching each other,” Tszyu said after the fight.
“I’m going to do some serious damage and hurt my opponents.
“In the ring, this is my kingdom and this is where I take control.
“I could see it [Hogan hurting from body shots] from round two. I was warming up only. I could go another seven more rounds of this pace or even more.”
Michael was mighty impressed by what Tszyu delivered.
“His punching has been out of this world,” Michael said. “What he has shown me he’s definitely world class.”
Tszyu improved to 18-0 and again put the super-welterweight division on notice. It was his 14th win by KO/TKO.
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