How a $50,000 gamble paid off for Tim Tszyu and turned into a $3 million jackpot for his fight against Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas

Tim Tszyu and his team could have accepted the American riches offered by some of the most powerful boxing organisers in the sport. Instead, they opted for homegrown backing and it will pay dividends on Sunday morning Australian time, writes PETER BADEL.

It was the $50,000 gamble that helped Tim Tszyu hit a $3 million jackpot in Las Vegas.

As Tszyu prepares for his Vegas debut against Sebastian Fundora on Sunday, his management has revealed how the son of Kostya rejected the most powerful American promoters to chase his world-title dream using homegrown backing.

He may now be a global boxing star, but just five years ago, Tszyu had no promoter and was fighting at small venues in Adelaide, Auckland, Sylvania Waters, Bendigo and Surfers Paradise to carve out his own identity in the sport.

After his 12th consecutive victory against Denton Vassell in 2019, the bidding war exploded. American boxing powerhouses Bob Arum and Al Haymon tabled offers, as did Jeff Horn’s former promoter Dean Lonergan, the man who brokered ‘The Hornet’s’ famous world-title fight against Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium in 2017.

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Jeff Horn celebrates victory after defeating Manny Pacquiao for the WBO Welterweight Title Fight in 2017. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Few emerging boxers would dare reject the legendary Arum. But Team Tszyu rolled the dice, opting for No Limit, the promotional firm run by Indigenous brothers George, Matt and Trent Rose who began with similar humility, staging their first boxing show at Dubbo RSL a decade ago.

Now the Tszyu-No Limit alliance has become a force in world boxing. Once derided as a poor version of his champion father who would never truly make it, Tim Tszyu has made it on his terms.

“There was no guarantee Tim would ever emulate or get near his father,” Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings recalls.

“Tim wasn’t originally going to be a fighter. He had other things he wanted to do in life. He was playing soccer and enrolled in university for a while.

“Then he started going back to the gym for some boxing, got a bit of a twitch and it wasn’t until December 2016 that we decided to turn him pro.

“It was unknown at first. I couldn’t say Tim was going to be a world champion.

“He had a great skill set from his amateur career. He had the DNA behind him with his father Kostya.

“The first few fights we didn’t have any promoters. We travelled all over the country. We went to New Zealand, Toowoomba … we fought all over the place and he kept improving.

“By the time Tim got to his 12th fight, he was running out of platform options and we needed to find him a promotional company that was going to financially get behind him and go to the next level.

“That’s when I put it out to tender.”

No Limit Boxing CEO George Rose and Tim Tszyu on the Gold Coast, last May. Picture David Clark

Not even an Australian champion at the time, Tszyu was shocked to receive interest from American heavy-hitters Arum, CEO of Top Rank, and Premier Boxing Champions boss Haymon.

“There were four bidders for Tim’s signature,” Jennings said. “There was Al Haymon, Bob Arum was in for quite a while and the other two were domestic promoters in Dean Lonergan and No Limit.

“We seriously thought about going with Bob. We had a second meeting and they were very impressive, but at that stage I thought Tim was very special.

“Top Rank and PBC are magnificent promoters, but they also have a very large pool of fighters and my fear was that Tim would have become just another number.

Bob Arum at the fight between Jeff Horn and Terence Crawford to decide the WBO Welterweight title in 2018. Picture: Peter Wallis

“With No Limit, Tim could be the No. 1 fighter in the Australian market and the king of their stable.

“I also had a good feeling about the No Limit guys. In business, you make an assumption on people when you are dealing with contracts early on and they didn’t sway. They impressed me with their pitch and vision for Tim.

“It took us seven months to make the decision, so we weighed it up carefully.

“From memory, Tim’s first deal was a three-year deal worth around $50,000 (per fight).

“It was a deal based on performance and Tim has delivered every time. No Limit has delivered every time. They have not defaulted on a single payment and they are straight up in our dealings.

“No Limit rolled the dice big time, they took a huge gamble on Tim’s ability and likability and they went hard.

“To their credit, it has paid off.”

Tszyu’s first show under the No Limit banner was against Joel Camilleri for the Australian super welterweight title at the Star Casino in May, 2019.

Tszyu scored a commanding 10-round unanimous decision. Within 15 months, No Limit brokered a domestic blockbuster against Horn, with Tszyu taking the sting out of The Hornet in Townsville to become the new poster boy of Australian boxing.

Fast forward three years and Tszyu became a world champion with his defeat of Tony Harrison at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Now, the gateway to America has swung open. Victory over Fundora will set-up a $38 million global mega fight against 40-0 pound-for-pound kingpin Terence Crawford.

“We were the long shot, but we ended up putting forward the best proposal,” recalls No Limit boss George Rose.

“The others tabled pretty low offers for Tim, but we saw something in him.

“Of course it was a gamble. No-one thought then that Tim would be as good as he was.

“He fought on the undercard of versus Junior Paulo, then he signed with us a month later.

“We felt Tim had some talent and would have the desire to create the dream.

“That’s where it all started.”

Ahead of his moment of truth against Fundora, Tszyu takes strength from the grind. He hasn’t sat pretty on the coat-tails of his famous father.

The Soul Taker has done it his way.

“Would you rather have 10 Toyota Corollas or one Rolls Royce. It’s been a great road together,” Tszyu says of his world-title winning partnership with No Limit.

“Signing with a promoter was a big turning point in our career, because at that given time I was fighting on small shows. I had been around everywhere travelling, getting the name out there.

“I started off at a small show at the SCG for my pro debut and then I was at Doltone House (Sylvania Waters), I remember my pay was $1500 for that fight.

“I had the vision of maybe winning the Australian title and just fighting whoever was out there, then No Limit came on board and we shifted to the pay-per-view market.

“It’s taken time and years and years of hard work. It hasn’t been gifted.

“(Seven) years later and we are here in Vegas, headlining in America.

“It’s been an amazing road.”

Originally published as How a $50,000 gamble paid off for Tim Tszyu and turned into a $3 million jackpot for his fight against Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas