Tim Tszyu looking to continue a family tradition
By Anthony Cocks
Some names are synonymous with certain sports.
Think Jordan, think basketball. Say Gretzky, and peoples’ minds immediately turn to the ice. Beckham will be forever associated with ‘the world game’ just as Bradman’s name is still whispered in reverence amongst cricket tragics almost 70 years after he last wielded the willow in anger.
Mention the name Tszyu and memories of famous boxing bouts come flooding back.
The destruction of Julio Cesar Chavez. Walking down the highly-regarded Sharmba Mitchell and stopping him – not once, but twice. Out-brawling Diosbelys Hurtado. Rafael Ruelas, Miguel Angel Gonzalez and Jake ‘The Snake’ Rodriguez. None of them lasting to hear the final bell.
Then there was Zab Judah doing his now infamous the chicken dance, looking for all the world like the drunkest man at the party asking for his keys. After rising from a second round knockdown the brash Brooklynite reeled around the ring, remonstrated with referee Jay Nady, lurched forward on wooden legs and pitched face first to the canvas.
HBO boxing analyst and Judah’s biggest booster Max Kellerman, who was with ESPN at the time, was in shock. Jim Gray, roving reporter for broadcaster Showtime, was indignant at the result and let it show in his post-fight interview with the newly crowned undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world.
It all combined to create one of those memorable moments that many fight fans still reminisce about when discussing their favourite memories of the sport.
It’s a lot to live up to for 22-year-old Tim Tszyu, the eldest son of Kostya and Natalia, who turned professional less than nine months ago.
“There’s good and bad,” says Tszyu, 6-0 (5), of his famous family name. “Good because there is interest and support from the fans, everyone is getting behind me. My last name is on a level where it’s respected, it’s not put down. It’s never put down and I tend to represent my last name the same way. It’s good that some fighters fear it as well. Other fighters don’t fear it but they want to get a piece of it, so it’s good to get opponents at the same time.”
Boxing has been a part of Tszyu’s life for as long as he can remember. One of his earliest memories is of being woken up in the mornings to a rhythmic banging sound.
“I remember in the mornings I used to hear my dad smacking the tyre,” recalls Tszyu. “He was smacking the tyre with the hammer, it was like ‘boom-boom-boom’ at six, six-thirty in the morning. That was our alarm when we were very young. Then we started doing it with him afterwards, when we started playing soccer.”
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald last year, Tszyu said he has a photo of himself on his wall showing him throwing punches in his first pair of boxing gloves when he was just old enough to stand but still hadn’t learned to walk.
It comes as no surprise then with his family background in the sport that he had a successful amateur career, amassing a very respectable record of 33-1 with his lone loss coming to future Australian Olympian Daniel Lewis at the NSW State Titles in 2011.
Yet despite this, it didn’t always look like boxing was going to be a part of Tim’s destiny.
Two years after the loss to Lewis, an 18-year-old Tszyu broke his right wrist boxing. At first, Tszyu thought it was simply sprained and continued boxing at the Golden Gloves tournament without seeking treatment. Unluckily for him, he was matched with a southpaw, forcing him to throw the right hand over and over again. It only compounded the injury.
After the tournament he finally decided to see a doctor, who told him that there was no blood going to the bone so it had “just collapsed”.
The delay in seeking treatment combined with the continued use of his injured arm to box meant that Tszyu ended up being sidelined for more than seven months.
And while the injury slowly healed, Tszyu’s interest in the sport slowly waned.
It wasn’t until he was 21 that the boxing bug bit him again.
“When I got back into it I thought, this is all I want,” says Tszyu. “There were a lot of influences as well, from family, from mother, because boxing isn’t easy. It’s the toughest sport, toughest industry, toughest office job you can ever have. And no-one in my family wanted me to do it, just for that reason. Because there’s a lot more to boxing than having your hand held up high, when you’re flashing money, when you‘ve got everything and people only see the success, the limelight, the fame, the glory. There’s a lot more to do with boxing than that. And I think that’s what my family feared. But again, I was brought up with it, I was born with it, and it’s something that’s always been in my heart and I’ve always wanted to do it. It’s brought me back into it and it’s like a drug. It’s like an addiction that you can’t give up.
“I enjoy boxing. I enjoy punching peoples’ heads in. I’m trying not to sound rude or anything, but I enjoy it, I enjoy testing my skills, learning new things every time. There always be new things I’m practicing with my coach and every time it’s been working, working, working. I enjoy it and I don’t feel the pressure because I’m doing it for myself, I’m doing it for the people around me. I’m doing it to satisfy everyone’s needs that are watching me fight.”
Competiveness and a will to win are the hallmarks of the Tszyu family name. Even as a young boy in primary school, Tszyu remembers this burning desire to succeed as something that set himself and younger brother Nikita apart from their schoolmates.
“Me and my brother, we had to come first in everything,” says Tszyu. “We are very competitive. We got taught that you cannot lose. In anything you do. Even at school we used to play soccer and [they] were like, ‘man take it easy, it’s just a game’. I was like ‘what do you mean it’s just a game, I’m coming first, we’re going to win this!’
“I don’t think anyone has got that type of mentality – and it’s because of dad – to always come first. So when me and my brother compete it hells out, we’re going to kill each other.”
Team Tszyu 2.0 is a small, tightknit group of experienced boxing professionals committed to ensuring that Tszyu has the very best chance of success in the professional ranks.
The team consists of manager Glen Jennings, who also worked with Kostya for the vast majority of his career; coach and uncle Igor Goloubev, who is also the head trainer at the Tszyu Boxing Academy in Rockdale; grandfather and cornerman Boris, a familiar face to Kostya fans; and Mark Gambin and Tom Lambert who handle the corner and cuts.
Tszyu credits the support of his family and close-knit team as critical factors in the early success he has had as a prizefighter.
“My family are very supportive no matter what you do,” he says. “They completely understand. I remember calling my dad up and saying ‘Look, dad, I want to turn professional’. ‘Son, whatever you do I’ll support you in whatever you do’. And you know it’s great to have support from your family, from the ones you love, and not just your family but your friends as well and everyone around them. It makes a big, big difference. Even just having the proper food around you. Even knowing the respect of not drinking alcohol in front of me. Not for the fact that I like to drink alcohol, just for the fact that we live a healthy life and it’s like a training camp. With my dad, when he went to training camp, we went to training camp.”
Tszyu, who was last in action against Chris Khan in July in Toowoomba, was scheduled to fight on Hosking Promotions’ Punches at the Park 5 last month but was forced to withdraw after injuring his ankle during a 20 kilometre weekend run. As a result his highly anticipated Melbourne debut has been pushed back to next year.
First up though he will be fighting experienced southpaw Wade Ryan 13-5 (3) for the WBC Asia Continental title on Sunday October 22 at Star City Casino in Sydney. The stacked Paul Nasari/Chris Carman card is headlined by welterweight Kris George 12-1 (6) defending his Commonwealth crown against the capable Jack Brubaker 13-1-1 (7) and the return of former world champ Sakio Bika 33-7-3 (22) in his second fight since launching his comeback when he takes on well-travelled Serbian Geard Ajetovic 30-16-1 (15).
“You know what, my job is just to fight. I’m not really following anyone, who’s there, who’s not,” says Tszyu of potential opponents in and around his weight class.
“My team has everything organised, everyone plays their own little role in the team. I don’t choose who I fight. I train, my trainer trains me, I rock up on the day and my manager tells me who I fight, I fight, get the job done, then move on to the next thing. See that’s how we intend to do our career, that’s the way my dad did it and it’s how we’re going to do it as well.”
Already four of his six pro bouts have taken place outside his native Sydney, something that Tszyu sees as critical to building his brand. On a recent trip to Russia to visit his father, Tszyu was amazed by how many people there recognised him and were following his career.
“I’m an Australian with a Russian culture and heritage and I’m getting fans from both side,” he says.
The added pressure that comes with a famous surname sits well with Tszyu, who takes the added responsibility in his stride.
“And you know what, sometimes having a bit of pressure is good,” Tszyu says. “It makes you want to train harder, make you more motivated.
“If you don’t have a bit of pressure, what’s the point of doing it, you know?”
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