Saturday’s Showtime Championship Boxing broadcast focuses on the much-anticipated US debut of one of the sport’s rising stars. Tim Tsyzu (20-0, 15 KOs) - son of the Hall-of-Famer Kostya - has caught the eye with a series of impressive performances in his native Australia. Now, with the regional scene all but cleared out, the 27-year-old makes his move to an entirely new US television audience, and to target a weight class largely dominated by American talent in recent years.

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In the other corner, Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) , of Cleveland, Ohio, has built a career operating around the periphery of the elite level at 154lb. A world title shot against Erislandy Lara fell short, and though the level of opposition was high, a failure to beat either Erickson Lubin or Austin Trout has seen many categorize Gausha as a useful trial horse rather than a true contender. Tszyu

Gausha, though, is a clear notch above most names on Tszyu’s record to date, and could well provide the Australian with a difficult stylistic puzzle. Tsyzu’s international progress was hampered by Covid-related travel restrictions in his homeland, and there is a strong argument that the likes of compatriots Bowyn Morgan and Steve Spark - two of the domestic names plucked for the A-side since the beginning of 2020 - provided only a scant contribution to his development. At an industry top price of -900, but wider with several firms, Tsyzu has been chalked up as, at best, a 90% chance here, and that - as well as feeling a little harsh on Gausha (+700, 12.5%) - is clearly unbackable. Tszyu power for real?

With 15 knockouts in his 20 wins (75%), it would appear that Tsyzu’s power is legitimate, and stopping former world champion Jeff Horn (8th round TKO) and former world title challenger Dennis Hogan (5th round TKO) - though both past their best at the time they fought Tsyzu - did much to bolster his credentials. Priced at +138 (a 42% implied probability), it would be a bold call to completely rule out #16, and Gausha’s modest ledger of 11 KOs in 22 wins (50%) raises concerns that he will have the pop to keep Tsyzu at bay.

While it was an extremely one-sided affair, Tsyzu was however taken the distance in his last outing against Takeshi Inoue en route to a wide set of scorecards. Gausha, though having two defeats to his name, has never been stopped, and the fact that he went the full 12 rounds against each of Lubin and Lara points to some very respectable durability against quality opposition. In the Method of Victory market, a Tsyzu decision can be backed at even money (+100), or slightly better at +105, but a better play might be to side with the fight to go the distance (-120), which gets both the Gausha points win and the draw on side at a reasonable price.

Tszyu vs Gausha free boxing pick

Fight to go the distance (-120)

The Tszyu vs Gausha main event comes after an action packed card of boxing. Here's the full undercard;

• Tim Tszyu vs Terrell Gausha

• Michel Rivera vs Joseph Adorno

• Elvis Rodriguez vs Juan Jose Velasco

• Joey Spencer vs Ravshan Hudaynazarov

The Tim Tyszu vs Terrell Gausha fight can be live streamed on Showtime platforms from 9pm ET on Saturday, March 26th.