The hand that could propel Tim Tszyu to an undisputed world title, the one he believes will be held up in victory after his fight against Jermell Charlo, can’t hold a tennis racquet.
“My mobility in my hand isn’t the best,” Tszyu admits, pointing to his wrist. “My bone slowly started dying off when I was younger. I had an operation to put some of my hip bone into it. I can’t move it too much, but I can keep it in a knuckle, that’s the main thing.”
Tim Tszyu during his Los Angeles training camp.Credit:Grant Trouville/No Limit Boxing
Tszyu is literally making a fist of it. There was a period when that injury setback, coupled with a desire to experience something other than the family business and the spartan lifestyle that comes with it, prompted him to quit boxing at the age of 17.
“It wasn’t just the hand. I gained a bit of weight and was in a different mindset for a period of time,” he recalls. “I lost concentration for a little bit, I wanted to do something else for a bit of my life. The sport brought me back.”
After a four-year sabbatical, Tszyu returned to boxing. Now, at the age of 28, he has the chance to become one of its biggest stars. Should he prevail against Charlo, he will become just the ninth man in history to hold all four major belts. Not even his father – hall-of-famer Kostya, who fought in the three-belt era – has that on his resume.
As the bout draws nearer, the American media will undoubtedly begin measuring the son against the father.
Tim Tszyu has made Los Angeles a temporary home.Credit:Grant Trouville, No Limit Boxing.
“It’s never been a competition between me and Dad. Never will be,” Tszyu says. “The thing is, he is our greatest boxer of all time.
“Looking back at his record, he’s got like 20 title defences. That’s unheard of. In boxing now, you win one, you lose the next fight. It’s happened to most world champions from Australia. But Dad held it for a decade. I’m just challenging myself, being the best I can be.”
‘He’s going to be undisputed’
Before he became the chief executive of No Limit Boxing, the promoters of Tszyu, George Rose was a premiership-winning, ball-playing prop in the NRL.
“During my career, under the tutelage of the great Des Hasler, I learnt that flying under the radar is the best way to do things,” Rose says of his time at the Manly Sea Eagles.
Tim Tszyu enjoys some rare down time on Venice Beach.Credit:No Limit Boxing
“You sneak straight through and shock the world. They won’t know what happened to them once it’s all done. That’s what’s going to happen with Tim.
“In Australia, we’re all behind Tim. Over there in America, it’s a whole different story. He’s under the radar. But he’s going to be undisputed and take the mantle to become the star he deserves to be worldwide.”
This fight is for all the marbles; the WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC titles. Significantly, there is no rematch clause. Should Tszyu prise the belts from Charlo’s grasp, the cocky American doesn’t have an automatic trigger to reclaim them.
With so much at stake, nothing is being left to chance. Tszyu is acutely aware of the enormity of going into the backyard of the champion and emerging victorious.
Tim Tszyu works up a sweat at the famous Ten Goosen Boxing Gym.Credit:Grant Trouville, No Limit Boxing
On the same Las Vegas strip Tszyu will be fighting on, fellow Australian Jeff Fenech was famously robbed of a deserved victory against Azumah Nelson. It was a decision that took more than two decades to overturn.
It’s why Tszyu is aiming to take it out of the judges’ hands.
“For sure,” Tszyu says. “There are certain punches that I’m practising that I feel can do the job. I can only control what’s in front of me, I can’t control the rest.”
To that end, the “Soul Taker” has been punishing himself during his Los Angeles training camp, which the Herald attended. Most days are spent at the gym of legendary American trainer Joe Goossen, whose client list includes Shane Mosley, Amir Khan and Riddick Bowe.
Australian boxer Tim Tszyu, a special guest of the Los Angeles Rams, meets with star player Cooper Kupp. Credit:Grant Trouville , No Limit Boxing
“You have to work harder than the guy you’re fighting,” Goossen says. “If you normally run three miles, run five miles. If you like to do 25 rounds in the gym, do 30. You have to up your game. And I know he is doing that. He has put in the work, he’s paying the price. It almost always pays off.”
Overseeing everything is Tszyu’s long-time coach Igor Golubev. Golubev is literally part of the family after marrying Kostya’s sister back in the pigtailed champion’s pomp. Everything Golubev learnt from the father has been transferred to the son.
“I try to increase it for Tim. I build it up a bit more, with what I know,” Golubev says. “Every time I do a preparation, I try to push Tim to beat his personal best on everything; on the push-ups, the chin-ups, on bench, on the run, on the number of punches on the explosive punching bag.
“I don’t know what he is doing now, but at one stage he did 50 chin-ups, about two years ago. It’s why he is so quick to get from his first fights to the championship rounds level. And strong as well.”
For Tszyu, it’s just a normal day in the office.
“You’ve got to embrace the grind,” he says.
‘You don’t know what’s under the trunk’
Tszyu loves cars. Particularly the fast and expensive ones. He’s even owned a few flashy models over the years.
But when you need a vehicle to get the job done, Tszyu reckons you opt for something reliable.
“I remember this quote from my dad,” Tszyu says of something his father said ahead of his iconic victory over American star Zab Judah. “[Judah] was like the Ferrari of the time, but dad was the Landcruiser.
Eyes on the ball: Tim Tszyu.Credit:Grant Trouville, No Limit Boxing
“They don’t remember that Landcruisers can go for 300,000 miles. That’s one thing my dad said, that they underestimate the Aussie guy.”
So if Tszyu junior was a car, what make and model would he be?
“Right now, the comparison is the GT500 Elanor [Mustang]; you don’t know what’s under the trunk,” he replies. “You’re playing against a Lamborghini V12. You know what’s under the trunk.”
Indeed, Tszyu will need to be fast and flawless. Charlo deserves to be considered among the very best pound-for-pound boxers in the world after claiming the WBO title with a masterclass against Brian Castano.
Tszyu has previously stated that beating Charlo would be his “Zab Judah moment.” It will also be a significant one in Australian sport should it come to pass. It all began in the Tszyu Boxing Academy in Rockdale, which is adorned with old fight posters of Kostya. As it stands, only a handful of posters feature Tim or his brother Nikita.
“There’s a nice spare wall here,” says Rose, pointing to some available real estate in the gym.
“It needs to be because there are a lot of big fights that will line that thing. That will be Timmy’s wall.”
Adrian Proszenko travelled to Los Angeles as a guest of No Limit Boxing.
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