He had just spent 12 rounds bombing Brian Mendoza with power shots, yet the American took the blows like a shock absorber and maintained his record of having never been stopped.
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Facing the media after the comprehensive victory in which he defended his WBO super-welterweight title, Tim Tszyu was asked if Mendoza was the toughest opponent he had faced.
Tszyu - who had just described Mendoza as a "warrior", someone who battles with a "kill or be killed" mentality - said "there's been a few; a lot of different fighters are tough".
He then got specific: "Wade Ryan, early in my career, he was very tough."
![Tim Tszyu, middle, with Wade Ryan and Ryan's trainer, David Syphers. Picture supplied Tim Tszyu, middle, with Wade Ryan and Ryan's trainer, David Syphers. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/37413df0-3f6f-4526-aea3-cf290261f8dd.jpg/r0_0_1512_1512_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
That's all Tszyu had to say about Ryan's durability, but it emphatically underlined the esteem in which the Gunnedah veteran is held in among Australia's boxing fraternity.
And six years after Ryan dropped Tszyu in round one en route to the latter recording a unanimous points victory at The Star Sydney, in what was a competitive contest, both men produced statement victories at the same event.
In the first bout on the Tszyu-Mendoza card at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Sunday, October 15, southpaw Ryan recorded one of the most important wins of his 33-fight career.
His upset, unanimous points victory over highly touted, Sydney-based Russian Sergey Vorobiev (19-2-0) resulted in him capturing two vacant regional belts including the IBF Pan Pacific super-welterweight title.
![Ryan and Sergey Vorobiev at the weigh-in ahead of their bout. Picture supplied Ryan and Sergey Vorobiev at the weigh-in ahead of their bout. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/a02ac6e8-b663-49eb-bd32-a2ef0cc36be6.JPG/r0_0_1440_1440_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The performance was described as a "boxing masterclass" in media reports.
Post-fight, Ryan - who has recorded back-to-back wins after back-to-back losses and now has a record of 22-11-0 with eight stoppages - said: "Wade Ryan's back, mate!"
"Moving forward, we've got some big fish to fry," the 33-year-old added. "We're not done yet ... The Boogeyman's back. And remember the name. Wade Ryan from Gunnedah!"
David Syphers, who has coached Ryan since he was a boy, said Tszyu "obviously respects" his charge.
![Tszyu, Ryan and Syphers after the duo's 2017 fight. Picture supplied Tszyu, Ryan and Syphers after the duo's 2017 fight. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/18056b1e-935d-4f1e-9c99-092bd89be508.jpg/r0_0_480_638_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Wade did give him a tough fight," Syphers said, adding: "Tim knows what Wade's like; he knows he's a very good fighter."
"Not being biased, but I think Wade is probably the toughest boxer in Australia," the veteran mentor said.
Ryan has been stopped only once in his career, when Aaron Lai beat him in Sydney in 2013.
It was Ryan's fourth bout, and Syphers said it was contested at super middleweight, which is two weight classes above the southpaw's current division.
Syphers said Lai was "too big" - and "sometimes his power put" Ryan down (the three knockdown rule was used to stop the duel).
"But he never knocked him out, he never hurt Wade," the trainer said, adding that his fighter was "just built tough".
"You can't train toughness."
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