One sentence shows Tim Tszyu has faked showmanship all along

Tim Tszyu’s showmanship is undeniable, but there was one moment in the ecstasy of victory where the world briefly saw a very different side.

On top of the world. Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP.

COMMENT

It’s working.

Even if commentators in the United States refuse to put the warranted respect on Tim Tszyu’s name, they can’t deny they’re watching a helluva show.

The Aussie blew the boxing world away on Sunday with his impressive TKO victory over Tony Harrison in Sydney.

Tszyu knocked out Harrison in the ninth round, claiming the interim WBO super welterweight title and cementing his shot at undisputed world champion Jermell Charlo.

There is just one glaring elephant in the room that is yet to be addressed — except by Harrison in the days leading up to the blockbuster.

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American commentators were divided in the immediate aftermath when questions were raised about the legitimacy of Tszyu’s claims to be a world champion in-waiting.

What is not being questioned is Tszyu’s status as a headline act on an international stage.

The 28-year-old has emerged as a pay-per-view gold mine in Australia, mixing his fast talking with his fast hands and, of course, his famous lineage as the son of light-welterweight legend Kostya Tszyu and wrapping it all into a must-watch storyline.

Tim Tszyu is an interim world champion. Picture: No Limit Boxing/Gregg Porteous

Now, America is buying a ticket to take a ride on the Tszyu train. Toot! Toot!

As summed up by Boxing Scene’s senior writer Jake Donovan on Twitter: “Gonna be a huge fight for Showtime this summer. Charlo always does big business with them as it is. Charlo-Tszyu should wind up their most watched telecast in years”.

Tszyu’s showmanship is undeniable, but there was one moment in the ecstasy of his victory where the world briefly saw another side of the 22-0 fighter.

“What’s my motherf***ing name?,” Tszyu exclaimed in the ring.

“I just beat the man who beat the man. What does that make me?”

Asked to send a message to Charlo and his doubters, Tszyu replied: “The message was sent clearly. You know what’s up. You know what’s next. I’m coming. I’m coming to Vegas. I’m coming to America.”

The way the words came out suggested they didn’t necessarily feel comfortable in his mouth.

High profile American boxing commentator Teddy Atlas didn’t like it either.

“I don’t understand why Tszyu needs to curse on the air after a great win, but he’s fun to watch,” he posted on Twitter.

“Again cursing with a young kid in the ring, confusing. Hope everyone enjoyed fights.”

It was another antagonising ring interview that added just one more layer of spice and intrigue to his eventual showdown with Charlo, expected to be confirmed for a date in June or July in Las Vegas.

What it did show is that — even briefly — Tszyu’s invincible, trash-talking persona looked glaringly forced. That he looked out of his depth. A mile outside his comfort zone.

The one-word profanity didn’t seem to be the sort of comment one thinks of when it comes to the great showmen in sport.

It was Harrison himself that appeared to needle away at this unexplored side of Tszyu that suggests he is not the smug gunslinger some believe him to be.

Harrison accused him of being “a diva” after the Tszyu rocked up to Friday’s official press conference in flamboyant fashion.

Tszyu made a shirtless Harrison wait several minutes before he eventually arrived with much fanfare in a bright red Dodge Ram pick-up truck.

Crack. Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP.

It was a bold entrance by the usually low-key Aussie — who was also sporting a sharp navy blue suit — and Harrison couldn’t resist teasing him.

The American quipped: “He got out of that car like a diva.

“You had somebody open the door for you. He’s just different man. I’m not knocking him, I’m just opposite.

“I like him. I don’t think he understands how corny he is. I like him though.”

Tszyu hit back: “That was a bit of a low blow ... that’s not right.”

As he showed in the uncomfortable, grandiose statement he made in the ring after the fight, Harrison may in fact be right. He may not.

Tim Tszyu makes one hell of an entrance. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Tim Tszyu and Tony Harrison had very different outfits. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Tszyu’s showmanship, boxing and the man underneath all the bravado will be tested like never before when he heads back to the United States to finally trade blows with Charlo — six months after he was cruelly denied his shot at the unified super welterweight title in January when Charlo suffered a broken hand.

Even if it perhaps doesn’t come naturally, you would be a fool to think Tszyu and Charlo combined couldn’t sell ice to an eskimo when it comes to spruiking this fight — suddenly one of the biggest fights on the global boxing calendar this year.

It seems, like everything he does inside the ring, Tszyu’s typically meticulous approach has helped his salesman skills grow in the same way his power, speed and boxing craft have.

From the day he destroyed Jeff Horn in Townsville three years ago, Tszyu’s story — of escaping his old man’s shadow — has had a hook that extends outside of traditional boxing audiences and into the sporting mainstream.

“I just want to let everyone know my name’s Tim, not the son,” Tszyu said after the first major win of his career.

“This is only the beginning.”

He is now the one holding the torch of Australian boxing and the world will be watching.