Kostya Tszyu wants son Tim to headline superfight in Moscow

Tim Tszyu, the new face of Australian boxing, could be coaxed to Russia by his famous father Kostya for a headline bout.

• Tszyu: I’m ready to take on the world

• Horn: Tzsyu ‘a boy with a man’s name’

Kostya Tszyu wants son Tim to take his professional fight career to Russia, explaining to the undefeated super welterweight how there are “millions of people in Moscow who all know the name Tszyu”.

Despite being hailed as the new face of Australian boxing, 24-year-old Tszyu has revealed his Hall of Fame father, who runs a restaurant in the Russian capital, has already spoken about taking an upcoming bout to the family's homeland.

Early next week, the youngster will not only jet out for a 10-day holiday with the old man, but also film television commercials for what he calls “the Russian equivalent of Panadol”.

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Tim Tszyu was too strong for Dwight Ritchie in their WBO Global and IBF Australasian super welterweight title fight in Sydney. Picture: Getty Images

Once the undisputed light welterweight champion of the world, Kostya Tszyu now lives a quiet life on the outskirts of Moscow, which boasts a population of 12 million, and where he also oversees a series of business interests.

However, the Thunder from Down Under remains a sporting legend in his homeland thanks to a fight career all gold belts and highlight reel knockouts.

And with Tim now taking his own career to 14 straight wins after a unanimous points decision against gritty Victorian Dwight Ritchie on Wednesday night, well, what chance dad gets him headlining in Russia too?

“My dad wants me to have a go there, yeah,” Tszyu said. “And there's plenty of interest.

“There are millions just in Moscow alone, and they all know the last name Tszyu. So there's definitely a lot of interest there.

“I speak Russian. Read and write it.

“My grandparents, all my family are from over there so our language at home is Russian too.”

Tim Tszyu is keen to have another fight before Christmas. Picture: Brett Costello

On Wednesday night at Darling Harbour’s International Convention Centre, Tszyu continued his undefeated run with a unanimous, and convincing, points decision win over Ritchie, aka “The Fighting Cowboy”.

Quizzed in his dressing room afterwards about what was next, Tszyu revealed the only Australian boxer left on his hitlist was Jeff Horn — the Queenslander who famously took the WBO welterweight title from Manny Pacquiao in 2017.

However, with Horn more likely to chase middleweight title fights, the son of Aussie boxing royalty is more likely to go after a ranked overseas opponent.

Yet despite Kostya's desire to have his boy fight in Russia, the younger Tszyu stressed that, right now, he was more concerned with reinvigorating the fight game Down Under.

“Australia is my home,” Tszyu said. “I was born and bred here.

“I've also got great support here and my goal is to bring Australian boxing back to the pinnacle — that's what I intend to do.

“I've got a great TV network behind me in Fox Sports and Main Event. I've got a great promoter, great team, great sponsors … so what's the point of me going overseas if we can bring the big fights here?

“We've got great venues like the ICC here in Sydney. And we can go even bigger in the future. It's step by step.”

Despite having already fought three times this year, Tszyu wants to get one more bout in before Christmas — and hopes to again bring a Main Event pay-per-view to his hometown of Sydney.

“I want to fight four or five times a year,” he said. “And we can bring the fights here.

“This is only my second pay-per-view. And it's only been in six months. So imagine in three years when I'm 27, had another 13 or 14 fights. I've got the world ahead of me.”

And as for that Russian TV commercial?

“It's for a headache medication,” Tszyu grinned. “So I just drink the medication until my headache is gone.”

Originally published as Kostya Tszyu wants son Tim to headline superfight in Moscow