Tim Tszyu backing Tim Zoo for history-making Australian Cup win

Tim Tszyu will head down to his local TAB to place the first bet he’s made in a decade on a lightning quick greyhound named in his honour - Tim Zoo.

Tim Tszyu and Tim Zoo

Tim Tszyu hasn’t placed a bet in over a decade, but will head down to his local TAB this weekend and put some money on Tim Zoo – a greyhound racing in this Saturday’s Australian Cup final at The Meadows in Melbourne.

One of the best dogs in the country, Tim Zoo has won its last five races and is attempting to become just the second greyhound to win the prestigious Group One race twice in a row.

Which is enough for Tszyu, the boxer, to get interested.

“All the boys message me about it all the time, but I’m not a gambler,” Tszyu told this masthead ahead of this Saturday night’s race. “I’ll have to go down and watch it at the TAB – I haven’t been there since I was 18.

“They were little bets back then, but I’ll put a couple of hundred on this one.”

Tim Zoo is rated as one of the best greyhounds in the country. Picture: Supplied

Tim Zoo is paying $8 after being drawn in box eight, but has tremendous form from out wide, winning its last three starts in scintillating fashion.

“In boxing terms, he’s got plenty of fight,” said Tim Zoo’s trainer, the legendary Jason Thompson.

“He’s probably the canine version of Tim Tszyu, his namesake. He’s won two Group One races, has won his last five in a row and has won over $600,000 in prize money.

“He’s probably amoung the best four or five dogs in Australia right now.”

Tszyu admits he doesn’t know the first thing about racing, but his team had to sign off on the naming of the greyhound.

“The syndicate that owns him sent through a list of names to the naming board, and that was their number one choice,” Thompson said. “But they had to spell it the way they did rather than the correct spelling of his surname.

“I think there was some sort of objection to it, so the ownership group got in touch with Tim Tszyu’s management and they were fine with it.

“It’s ended up being a good story. Everyone in Australia knows Tim Tszyu the boxer – you don’t even have to follow boxing.

“So with a greyhound as good as we’ve got being named Tim Zoo, he’s got quite a following, and with his name, people won’t forget.

“I don’t know whether Tim follows racing or not, but hopefully he can watch this Saturday – that would be great.

“If he watches replays of his last two runs, he’ll see his absolute desire to win races – it’s unbelievable.”

The last story involving Tim Tszyu and a dog was when his 2023 world title fight against Carlos Ocampo was nearly derailed by a pit bull bite. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Image

Tszyu is deep in training for his April comeback against Joey Spencer. Picture: Louis Grasse/Getty Images

Tszyu says his last wager was a $400 bet on Daniel Geale to go the distance with Gennady Golovkin back in 2014, long before his professional boxing debut.

The devastatingly powerful Golovkin ended up stopping Geale in three rounds, Tszyu lost his bet, and has never gambled again.

“Back in the day $400 was a lot of money, but I thought Daniel Geale was tough,” he said in between training sessions as he prepares for his comeback fight against Joey Spencer in April.

“That didn’t go too well.

“Geale hit him with the biggest shot, but Golovkin just retaliated with another shot and another shot straight away, and that was $400 gone.

“That was before any paydays – I was betting my net worth back then.”

After a dog bite nearly saw his 2023 world title fight against Carlos Ocampo cancelled, Tszyu says he’s happy to finally have a positive story connected him to the dog world.

“I’ll stick with the greyhounds for now, and I’ll stay away from the pitbulls,” he said. “But if it was a dog that didn’t know how to win, I’d be a bit worried.

“But I’m going to have to watch this Saturday, that’s the big one.”

Originally published as Tim Tszyu backing Tim Zoo for history-making Australian Cup win