Jeff Horn vows to teach ‘obnoxious’ Tim Tszyu a lesson as boxing showdown gets personal
The level of animosity between Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu has skyrocketed, and both men have given their most expansive views yet about each other with the fight now just days away.
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The hate is real.
Ten days before one of the biggest fights in Australian boxing in history, tensions have exploded between Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu, with the pair savaging each other in separate interviews with News Corp Australia.
Horn labelled Tszyu as “obnoxious” and vowed to “teach him a lesson in humility”, while Tszyu declared Horn is finished as a boxer and is haunted by a rift between his father, Jeff Horn Sr, and head trainer Glenn Rushton.
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Ill feeling between the pair has bubbled under the surface since the announcement of the fight, to be held at Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Wednesday, August 26, but is now boiling over.
The usually mild-mannered Horn is incensed that Tszyu has brushed off his career by labelling him a “one fight wonder”, while the carefully considered Tszyu also took aim at the tumult surrounding Horn’s team after trainer Dundee Kim and sponsor Steve Scanlan abandoned the Brisbane fighter due to arguments.
“They’re very obnoxious, Tim has shown pretty much no respect in what I’ve done and achieved in my career,” Horn said.
“It’s frustrating, but being the teacher I’ve been in the past, I plan on teaching him a lesson in humility.”
Horn says Tszyu is surrounded by people who have filled him with false confidence as he tries to live up to his legendary father, unified world champion Kostya.
“It’s the people he has around him, ex-teammates and managers who are really talking him up, their plan is to make him feel like he’s that champion and not in the shadow of his dad,” Horn said.
“He’s really believing it at the moment, so the team is doing a good job, but it comes across as arrogant and I don’t like it.
“I can remember meeting Tim for the first time a few years ago at Dundee Kim’s gym, he was grateful to meet me and get a photo.
“Now he’s walking around saying I’m crap, with all these thoughts in his head about how good he is and how good he’s going to be. You do have to believe in yourself but there’s certain ways to go about it, your mouth can be too big sometimes.”
The undefeated Tszyu (15-0, 11KO), who is managed by Glen Jennings, a 30-year boxing veteran who also managed Kostya throughout his career, slammed that suggestion.
“That’s complete nonsense, I’m not surrounded by yes men in my camp, I’m surrounded by people who tell me the truth,” Tszyu said.
“The truth is sometimes it’s not ‘yes’. Everyone around me is family, and they say the truth, not what I want to hear, and at times it’s hard.
“He doesn’t know anything about my life.
“I’ve got great people around me who allow me to focus on training and do what I need to, he doesn’t have that, he’s got too much drama in his camp and that’s why he’s saying this stuff.
“Glenn Rushton and his dad don’t get along, you’ve got other people in his team talking bad, his sponsor walks out, their whole camp is a mess.
“He’s just trying to stir the pot for me, everything is fine for me, I’m not surrounded by yes men, I’m here purely with people who are here for business, his team is a mess, everyone around him, no one is getting along.
“He’s just an unhappy man and it’s playing a big part on everyone around him.
“He’s got people in his ear telling him stuff he’s not even supposed to hear, for instance, that I didn’t want to stay in the same hotel as him, I never said that, never mentioned it.
“Dundee Kim, I did two minutes with him on the pads.
“Their team is making up stuff to Jeff and it’s rattling Jeff, he’s trying to blame it on me but I haven’t said anything. Even the whole thing about walking out second, I have not said one word about walking out second, I honestly couldn’t care less, this is the first time I’m talking about it, to you.
“All this bulls**t is not coming from me, it’s from his camp. Jeff should really consider who is there for him, who are the real ones and who are the fake ones.
“People are telling him fake stories. Instead of looking at me, he really should be looking at who is there behind the scenes telling him this and that.
“I know for a fact Jeff Horn’s dad doesn’t get along with Glenn and they argue all the time, I’m sure in Jeff’s mind he’s thinking the same thing about Glenn. That’s not my problem, it’s his.”
Not since Anthony Mundine fought Danny Green in 2006 have Australia’s top two Main Event draws faced each other.
With an expected crowd of 16,000 in attendance, Horn v Tszyu is set to be the biggest live boxing event in the world this year, while the bout will be beamed around the world to millions in Europe, America and Asia.
Horn (20-2-1, 13KO) is coming off a sensational victory over Michael Zerafa, having suffered a shock loss to Zerafa last August.
The only other man to defeat Horn is Terence Crawford, considered by many as boxing’s pound-for-pound king.
Tszyu’s “one fight wonder” gibe relates to Horn’s stunning victory over Manny Pacquiao in 2017.
“I faced a lot of tough guys building up to that Pacquiao fight,” Horn said.
“Guys like Viktor Plodnikov, Ahmed El Mousaoui, guys like that were extremely difficult and had high skill levels and good records, I don’t know if Tim could beat those guys.
“He’s saying the Pacquiao fight is my one fight wonder.
“I like to treat everyone with respect, the way I’d like to be treated, but it’s very difficult with a guy who dismisses everything I’ve done. It’s like what Michael Zerafa said, that I hadn’t done anything and I was crap, knock me out, that’s exactly what Tim is doing, but more with his nose in the air type of way, being stuck up.
“Everything they’re saying is feeding my hunger and making me train harder.”
Tszyu shot back: “I’m not his friend, I don’t intend to be his friend.
“I couldn’t care less what he says, I’m not emotional like him.
“I want to win, it doesn’t matter who is in front of me, Jeff Horn or anyone else.
“He’s beaten Manny Pacquiao, not many people have done that, but he lost every second to Crawford, and he’s comparing himself to this world title type player, the comparison to a world champion is two completely different things.
“He’s achieved some great things but I think his time is done.
“He should enjoy the family life.”