Tim Tszyu says he’s preparing for a “big moment in Australian sporting history” when he fights undisputed world champion Jermell Charlo in a long-awaited Las Vegas showdown next year, but admits he’s nervous about the challenge.
The Australian light-middleweight champion departed for the US on Monday for almost two months of training before the January 29 fight, with all four super-welterweight belts – IBF, WBC, WBA and WBO – on the line. If he succeeds, he’ll join an elite club of only eight undisputed champions in the four-belt era.
Tim Tszyu is set to face Jermell Charlo in January.Credit:Louise Kennerley
Tszyu has previously said a win was “guaranteed” against the two-weight world champion, and the confidence continued as he prepared to leave Sydney.
“I’ve got a big task ahead of me, there’s no denying that,” he told reporters before boarding his flight to Los Angeles, where he’ll be based for the rest of the year before moving to Las Vegas. “But I’m no stranger to this. I accept any challenge and this is the biggest challenge there is out there right now.
“I’d say there’s a little bit of nerves. But it’s just kill or be killed right now. I’m going hunting.
“This is the time for me to take things to that next level. I’ve done the groundwork here in Australia, I went to Thailand [and] got my conditioning sorted, so now it’s just making plans for the fight, working on skills, and just levelling up.”
Tszyu defeated Terrell Gausha in the US earlier this year, and is aiming to replicate his successful preparation for that fight, adopting a “tunnel vision” approach as the bout draws near.
“I get to eliminate distractions,” Tszyu said. “I haven’t had that for a long time. I feel like I haven’t achieved nothing until I get these four belts around my waist. For me, I haven’t done nothing yet.”
The move will also motivate the 28-year-old after he found himself “bored” in Australia following his 2020 fight against Australian boxing royalty Jeff Horn.
“Once I defeated Jeff Horn, it sort of became, I don’t know, boring,” he said. “If you’re surrounded by people that are obviously a little bit higher in class, you grow as a fighter … we’ve got plenty of talent here in Australia but not as much [as America].”
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