Why Tim Tszyu won’t meet his new niece Curiosity before Sebastian Fundora rematch

Not even a life changing family milestone can pull Tim Tszyu’s mindset away from his upcoming fight, with the boxer staying firm on his preparations for Sebastian Fundora.

His younger brother just experienced a life changing moment by becoming a dad for the first time, but Tim Tszyu says he won’t meet his new niece until after his July 19 fight with Sebastian Fundora.

Tszyu flies out for Las Vegas on Friday afternoon, a little over a week after Nikita’s daughter, Curiosity, was born. 

And while he can’t wait to meet the newest addition to the Tszyu family, Tim says he’s too deep into fight preparation to see her.

“I haven’t been able to take it all in yet – I’ve just been so focused,” Tszyu told Code Sports after his last training session in Sydney before he jets out.

“When I finish, and after the fight, it will be different.

“But right now, I’m just hard. I don’t feel soft. Kids, babies, they make you slow down. They make you feel soft.

Tim Tszyu fights Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

“I don’t have that right now.

“I don’t have that feeling of, ‘Oh, I want to go see a little baby’.”

Tszyu only needs to go back to his fight with Bakhram Murtazaliev in October for a similar example of losing that hardness.

That was when Kostya Tszyu made a surprise fight week appearance, with heart-warming scenes of a long overdue family reunion.

But heart-warming isn’t the vibe you want when preparing for a world title fight.

“I don’t like to feel soft, or vulnerable before a fight,” he said. “It’s warrior mentality.

“The fact my dad was there, it was a little bit of emotions from that, but I’m more stoic when I get into the ring and before the fight. That’s how I like to feel.”

Tszyu is focused ahead of his rematch with Fundora. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Which is why he doesn’t want to see babies or have any more family reunions ahead of his must-win fight with Fundora.

Instead, Tszyu is channeling his old man’s cold blooded approach to the fight game.

There are dozens of examples of Kostya’s no-nonsense approach to boxing and life. Like waking Tim and Nikita up at 5am to go on morning runs when they were barely teenagers.

Tim reveals another one, this time from Kostya’s world title unification bout with Zab Judah in 2001.

Kostya held the WBA and WBC titles, but was the underdog against the flashy IBF champion Judah.

“My dad named the fight ‘Destiny’ and the whole thing was promoted as ‘Destiny’,” Tim said. “It was all roads leading to this one fight, this place.

Tszyu flies to Las Vegas on Friday. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

“Well, Zab Judah had named his daughter Destiny, and she’d just been born, but he had kept it real quiet.

“Dad found out what he’d named his daughter, and at the weigh-ins, he walked up to Zab Judah and whispered in his ear, ‘How’s your Destiny? My destiny awaits me tomorrow night’.

“And that rattled him. It rattled him big time.

“He was cold-blooded, and that’s my mindset right now too.

“I’ll always remember that, and that’s why, right now, I’m just in a hard, vengeance mode.

“No disrespect to anyone, but it’s just kill and vengeance on my mind right now.”

Meanwhile, after hand surgery kept him out of the ring for nearly a year, Nikita will make his long-awaited return on August 20.

After a series of recovery setbacks, he finally returned to sparring this week in preparation for his comeback.

No opponent or venue have been confirmed, but a win will likely see him propelled into a domestic pay-per-view blockbuster with Michael Zerafa in December.

Nikita Tszyu training for his comeback. Picture: No Limit Boxing/Gregg Porteous

Zerafa and Tim have a long and ugly history, but Nikita says he doesn’t buy into any of the drama.

“I couldn’t care less what he’s said in the past - I say stupid shit all the time,” he said. “I say things I don’t mean all the time. If he meant it, good on him, but I don’t care.

“I’m going to be respectful. I’ve had a long year behind me where I’ve had some reflection on how I want to conduct myself, and I’m going to try and be an adult...we’ll see how long that lasts.”

Nikita suffered numerous setbacks after requiring surgery on his hand following his dramatic ninth round stoppage win over Koen Mazoudier last August, but is confident he’ll be fully firing for his comeback.

“I’ve been punching for a couple of months,” he said. “I’ve been punching the heavy bag for about a month. (Punching) heads, one day.

“Usually I don’t feel anything, but in the morning I woke up and could feel the injury a little bit. But in sparring yesterday, it didn’t hurt, especially compared to March when I really busted it up.

“We’re good. We’ll be fine.”

Originally published as Why Tim Tszyu won’t meet his new niece Curiosity before Sebastian Fundora rematch