‘He’s gonna be so pissed off’ – How Jon Sgroi went from a life of trouble to “beating” Tim Tszyu

Jon Sgroi was on a one-way path to a life of crime before moving to Australia. He’s now one of the best rising boxing stars in the country.

Fate sent him down the wrong path as a teenager in England, but rising boxing sensation Jon Sgroi says it’s that same stroke of luck that turned his life around in Sydney.

Sgroi’s coach, Khalil ‘Killa’ Saab, reckons the gifted athlete – who has a Jamaican dad, an Irish mum and an Italian stepdad – can run 100m in 10 seconds flat, but the 23-year-old was sprinting in the wrong direction before moving to Australia seven years ago.

“When I was 16 or 17, I was getting into a bit of trouble,” he tells this masthead. “I was always a good kid, but the environment, the surroundings and the opportunities with where I was and the position I put myself in …

“It was nothing too crazy, nothing serious, honestly. If A is the worst, and C is not so bad, I was in the middle.

“I like to say wrong place, wrong time. That was my situation.”

Jon Sgroi training at Killa Boxing in Marrickville. Picture: Wanderer Promotions

Sgroi’s mum moved to Australia first, and the 16-year-old, who’d never stepped inside a boxing ring before, followed shortly afterwards.

“I had a few fights, but just messing around,” he says. “My mum moved here first, and I said to her, ‘I promise I’ll find discipline’.”

Fate took over from there.

“I moved here and straight away rang the boxing gym,” he said of his call to the Tszyu Fight Club in Rockdale. “The first person I spoke to was Killa.

“He said come down to the gym, so I went down and the first person I saw there was Tim Tszyu.

“He was the first person I met in Australia.”

Sgroi with Tim Tszyu after his professional debut last year. Picture: Supplied/Instagram

Tszyu remembers the scrawny but athletic kid who first walked up the steps to the gym.

“He was getting into some trouble back in the UK, but he came to the gym and it changed him,” Tszyu tells this masthead.

“He came in, had that competitive drive and showed a lot of work ethic, which can take you a long way.

“Day in, day out, he’s always there.”

Despite never having thrown a jab in his life, Sgroi became a mainstay at the gym and learned the ropes under Killa while Tszyu edged towards a world title.

He has since travelled to America with Tszyu for a training camp, and sometimes even gets the better of ‘The Soul Taker’ during trackwork.

“He’s gonna be so pissed about this,” Sgroi laughs.

“A couple of weeks ago, we were doing 800m runs, aiming for about three minutes, then one minute rest, and go again.

“We do it 10 times, aiming for three minutes each time.

Padwork with coach Killa at his gym in Marrickville. Picture: Wanderer Promotions

“We actually split up, because it can get too competitive.

“Tim goes first and he got 2:50 on the last lap – the 10th one. I got 2:47.

“He’s not gonna be happy about that, but it happened. It happened.”

There’s still a fair size difference between Sgroi and the Tszyu brothers, but he has started to hold his own in sparring.

It’s away from the gym that Sgroi says he’s learned the most valuable lessons from Tim though.

“I was young (when I moved here), and I was still trying to figure out the type of man I wanted to be,” he says.

“Outside boxing the number one thing was seeing what kind of man I could become, and learning through discipline.

Sgroi sparring Nikita Tszyu. Picture: Supplied/Instagram

“Boxing is a great sport, but it’s not just inside the ring. It’s about discipline, social etiquette, the social side.

“It’s not all violence, there’s discipline too.

“(Tim) lets me fight my fight, he knows what I do. So it’s more on the mental side that he helps, just how to stay calm and have a killer mindset.”

After a stellar amateur career, which saw him become the number one boxer in the country, Sgroi turned professional in November.

The fight was just a month after Tszyu’s shock loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev. Tszyu had barely been seen in public since that loss, but was front and centre for Sgroi’s debut.

Sgroi will have his second fight this Sunday at Bella Vista Hotel on a Wanderer Promotions card, and has plans on becoming a world champion one day.

“He’s got all the tools to get to the top of Australia and further,” Tszyu says. “It’s all up to him.

“He’s very talented and very athletic – we compete in everything. I’m excited to see him fight again.”

Originally published as ‘He’s gonna be so pissed off’ – How Jon Sgroi went from a life of trouble to “beating” Tim Tszyu