Australia’s Tim Tszyu is stepping out of dad’s shadow to become the latest pay-per-view star
The son of one of Australia’s greatest boxers, Kostya Tszyu, Tim wants to make one thing clear: he’s his own man. And the upcoming pay-per-view star is set for a blockbuster 12 months.
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Stepping out of the colossal shadow of his father, Tim Tszyu is preparing to land a knockout blow on Jeff Horn, and then the world.
After just 12 professional fights, all victories, 24-year-old Tszyu is being elevated to immediately become a pay-per-view headline act with Main Event, and a super-fight against Horn is already being discussed for next year.
The son of one of Australia’s greatest boxers, Kostya Tszyu, Tim wants to make one thing clear: “I am my own man, I am Tim Tszyu at the end of the day.”
Regardless, the wins of the father will weigh heavily on the son.
“There’s always been expectation but I’ve been used to dealing with it,” Tszyu says.
“What you expected to see from my dad, you shouldn’t expect the same things from me.
“I bring something new, a different style, and I’m looking forward to letting everyone in Australia see this because I do have talent, I do have a hard work ethic, I train hard for this.”
It is often said that the sons of successful sporting fathers are never as good, because they’re never as hungry.
Kostya Tszyu retired with millions of dollars, luxury cars and mansions, one of which Tim grew up in.
He had every excuse to eat well from the silver spoons in his kitchen drawer, yet every morning since the age of 12 his alarm has sounded at 5.15am for the long runs that have delivered him here.
With Australia’s highest grossing boxer Anthony Mundine taking a hiatus from the sport to consider his future after his first-round knockout loss to Horn, Main Event is hedging bets that Tszyu will be Australia’s next pay-per-view superstar.
Despite offers from all over the globe, including American giants Top Rank, Tszyu has signed a deal with Australia’s No Limit Management and will headline his first pay-per-view show in May.
It is a changing of the guard and a second coming.
“Mundine, Danny Green, they’re great names, but I’m looking to be a bigger star, to make it worldwide as well,” Tszyu said.
Kostya, who resides in Russia, hopes his boy will further his own achievements, which included being the undisputed light-welterweight champion of the world while finishing with an astonishing record of 31-2 (25 knockouts, one no contest).
Tim (12-0, 10KO) has already trademarked and registered the name “Tszyu 2.0”.
As he sits in his Tszyu Boxing Academy gymnasium in Rockdale, amid the same swinging heavy bags his dad pounded for hours during the 1990s and 2000s, nostalgia engulfs Tim.
“I grew up with this place,” he says. “This is my second home.
“I remember little flashbacks of me skipping with dad, doing push-ups, watching him spar, so I’ve grown up with this.
“Now I’m on the other side, now I’m doing it.
“Before I knew how to walk I was punching.
“I was two years old, I got my grandpa to do some sparring with me, and I clocked him with one shot to the jaw, and I dislocated his jaw.
“So it started from a real young age, and then I had my first amateur fight at 15 years old.”
But just three years ago, the boxing dream had died.
Tszyu won an amateur Golden Gloves title with a broken wrist, which required surgery and sidelined him for one year.
With pressure from mother Natasha to pursue a less punishing career, Tszyu started a business degree at UTS and rebelled against those who told him boxing was in his blood.
The youngster sought an identity away from the sweet science, and believed he’d found the formula in books and socialising.
But then in early 2016, he walked into Burwood cinema and watched the film Creed, part of the Rocky series.
Tszyu felt his own life playing out on the giant screen as he observed Adonis Creed follow in the steps of his champion father Apollo.
He could no longer deny the call of the ring. Tszyu bounded out of the theatre throwing uppercuts and made his professional debut later that year.
The surname brought hype and heat, but Tszyu has kept winning.
“At the end of the day, you need a lot of pressure to succeed,” he says.
“Without the pressure you won’t get anywhere.”
Still, becoming a pay-per-view headliner after just a dozen bouts is premature in any country.
“Twelve fights in, not many people get this opportunity, so I’m blessed to be in the position I’m at to be headlining shows,” Tszyu says.
“It’s something I’ve only dreamt of. Now it’s only the beginning.
“I’m really looking forward to the next few years.
“My promoter Matt Rose has come with a platform where I can fight in front of Australia, there were opportunities to go overseas but when we weighed it all up we decided to go with No Limit because there are fights in Australia to be made.
“And I’m sure we can bring the big fights to Australia too.
“Australian boxing has been missing something, and this is what we need. I’m blessed to be the No.1 man for it.”
To be the No.1 man, he must beat the No.1 man.
Many say Horn (19-1-1, 13KO), who has already beaten all-time great Manny Pacquiao and whose only loss was against one of today’s best fighters in Terence Crawford, will be far too experienced and rugged for the youthful Tszyu.
“Great,” Tszyu smiles at this suggestion.
“But what happens when you do beat him? What are they going to say then?
“I am so keen on it, as soon as I watched the Terence Crawford fight I called my manager Glenn Jennings and I said, ‘You’ve got to make this happen, I can see the gaps and I’m positive that I’m going to win’.
“That’s the fight that we’re looking for, hopefully in the next year or two that’s the fight that can be made.
“This is the fight that Australia needs, the best fighting the best.”
Main Event’s boxing manager Ben Damon said asking punters to start paying to watch Tszyu’s fights is no gamble.
“He has a compelling, fan-friendly style; an entertaining, attacking mindset and genuine knockout power,” Damon said.
“On top of that he’s likeable and charismatic and has the most marketable surname in Australian boxing.
“In the short term a bout with former Commonwealth champion Michael Zerafa is a no-brainer, and down the track Tszyu versus Horn could be enormous.”
Tszyu Two is here.
“I’m bringing fireworks,” he says.
“I’ve got power in both hands, and I come with bad intentions. I don’t come to dance around and to play around, I come in for the strike.”
Originally published as Australia’s Tim Tszyu is stepping out of dad’s shadow to become the latest pay-per-view star
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