Tim Tszyu: can he break out of his famous father’s shadow?

Tim Tszyu is now the biggest name in Australian boxing. But it’s tricky carrying the expectations of that famous name.

Kostya Tszyu. Even if you don’t follow boxing, you’d recognise the name because this Russian-Australian champion known as the “Thunder from Down Under” occupies a special place as one of the all-time great light-welterweights. He hung up the gloves 16 years ago, but the name lives on in his son Tim, now the biggest name in Australian boxing.

It’s a tricky place to be, in the shadow of a famous father carrying the expectations of that famous name. But as journalist Will Swanton writes, Tim looks to have it sorted. “My dad’s the greatest Australian boxer of all time, and he always will be in my eyes,’’ he told Will. “The dream is to step away from who my father was and to do those incredible things myself. To be my own man.”