Tszyu lights way

TIM Tszyu will headline one of the biggest boxing events staged in Australia on a card that will also feature the highly anticipated showdown between Paul Gallen and Mark Hunt.

The event, dubbed the Sydney Superfight, will take place under lights at Bankwest Stadium on December 16, the NSW government announced.

After his breakthrough victory against Jeff Horn, worldrated Tszyu fights Kiwi Bowyn Morgan in his next step towards a championship belt.

In the co-main event, NRL legend Gallen takes on former UFC knockout king Hunt, a fight that has been brewing for months and was originally planned as a major bout on its own.

A bicep injury to Gallen cast doubt on the fight being held in 2020, but he has opted against surgery and will rely on extra time off to prepare for the bout in seven weeks’ time.

Tszyu is now rated by all four major sanctioning bodies in the super-welterweight division: No.2 in WBO, No.4 in IBF, and No.8 in both WBC and WBA.

In August, he scored a technical knockout when Horn could not come out for the ninth round, moving to 16-0 with 12 knockouts.

Morgan (21-1, 11KO) suffered his only loss in 2016, and has since won 14 times.

But the 31-year-old from Christchurch has not fought outside New Zealand and will be a heavy underdog against 25-year-old Tszyu, who could become mandatory challenger for WBO champion Patrick Teixeira with a victory.

Gallen, 39, is desperate to fight Hunt after an ongoing war of words between the pair since the start of the year.

The fight will be a return to combat sports for Hunt, 46.

He has been inactive since December 2018, when he lost a decision to Justin Willis in the final fight of his UFC contract.

Auckland-born Hunt is a former world kick-boxing champion, who had 18 UFC outings for eight wins, eight losses and a draw.

The “Super Samoan” has only competed twice in professional boxing — once in 1998 and once in 2000. His pro-boxing record is 0-1-1.

NRL great Gallen (9-0-1) last fought in November 2019, with the verdict of a six-round bout against Barry Hall decided as a majority draw.