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EXCLUSIVE: Tim Tszyu explains the ruthless edge given to him by iconic dad Kostya

Aug 26th, 2020
Aug 26th, 2020

Tim Tszyu is the spitting image of his legendary father Kostya but that's not what's important.

That wasn't the undisputed world champion's true gift to his son.

What Kostya bestowed was ruthlessness, the quiet, internal savagery that made him a boxing icon.

The principles of hard work that he learned from Serov, his birthplace; a small Russian mining town shadowed by the Ural Mountains. Kostya famously did headstands to strengthen his neck, caught coins to sharpen his hand-speed, sliced paper to perfect his punching technique.

So does Tim. The old ways. The hard ways.

Training hard isn't something you do sometimes. Winning isn't something you do sometimes. They're things that you do every day of your life, using every means at your disposal, until there's nothing left to conquer.

"The fact that I'm never satisfied is what gets me up in the morning," Tszyu told Wide World of Sports.

Tim Tszyu unloads on Jack Brubaker in his last fight, during December 2019. (Getty)

"I'm always reaching towards something that I'm continually striving for. If you win one belt, you can win two. If you win two, you can win three. If you win one division, you can win two divisions.

"Some people aren't like that. My dad definitely was and those characteristics were brought up in me, growing up with a dad like that.

"That's how I am who I am and there's not many people like that, who continually aren't satisfied with anything.

"That's my ultimate goal: not just to reach the top but to stay at the top and it's two completely different things.

"I'm still on the road of getting there, I've got a long way to go. In my eyes, I haven't achieved anything yet."

For the unbeaten Tszyu's fight against fellow Australian and former world champion Jeff Horn (20-2-1, 15 KO), that mentality gained an even harder edge. It had to.

The fight was meant to happen in April but was brought undone by the coronavirus pandemic. They finally face off in their WBO super welterweight world title eliminator on Wednesday night in Townsville.

"I was training four, five times a day," Tszyu (15-0, 11 KO) said of his time in COVID lockdown.

"Because I knew it was not to maintain my fitness but to become better. It's a hunger that was built inside me during the COVID time, where it was just piling up, piling up.

"We're finally here and I want to show the world the real fighter that I am.

"There's two types of boxer in the world: the ones that are chasing the top dog and ones that have been top dog.

"Of course, once you get to the top, all the roles change and you're going to be hunted. I'm at the position now where I'm hunting and I want to get to the very top. That's why I'm taking this fight with Jeff so seriously."

Kostya Tszyu spars with son Tim before a fight last year. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Tszyu, 25, has not spared Horn, 32, a volley of barbs despite respecting his standing as a former world champion. He has downplayed his rival's famous win over Manny Pacquiao, remarked on how clearly he was outclassed by American superstar Terence Crawford when he lost the WBO welterweight title belt. Horn irked Tszyu by claiming that he was only fighting the rising star because of his famous name.

Horn has been favoured to win the fight by many pundits, as the more seasoned fighter. He remains no slouch, despite having added another loss (to Michael Zerafa, since avenged) after falling to Crawford.

Tszyu is intent on proving that he's merely a decorated stepping stone, a man who won't be done any favours by the seven-year age gap.

"Hopefully it does show up and in my favour," Tszyu said.

"The youth and hunger a lot of the time prevails. It allows you to train harder and be hungrier.

"I don't think he's on the way down yet. I don't know how his brain works or what he thinks, what stage he's at in his career and life.

"I don't worry about him, I just worry about myself. I'm a competitive person - I don't let anyone beat me."

Kostya and Tim Tszyu share an embrace in the gym last year. (Getty)

Kostya, as has been well-documented, has not been a constant figure in Tim Tszyu's professional career. He moved from Sydney to Moscow in 2011, when Tim was just 16 and five years away from his debut.

He lives in Crimea these days, with his second wife and their children, and has attended just one of his son's fights; though he supports from afar, as he will for the Horn bout. And being raised by Kostya, Tim learned to punch before he could walk.

Fighting is in Tim Tszyu's blood. He has the blood of a champion, even if he's taken the journey towards his own title belts without that champion by his side. He has the insatiable hunger for success that his dad taught him, by example.

"It's all up to me. I do this for myself," Tszyu said.

"I'm fighting for everyone of course but I've very competitive and that's the reason I started boxing. I like the one-on-one sport, the physical sport where you get to punch someone in the face. Nothing else even matters.

"I guess you're born with that, raised with it, the way you grew up. Everyone fights for different purposes and reasons.

"My boxing came from a young age. I remember growing up, every Sunday we used to watch the boxing.

"it's a sport where we live and breathe it. It not only gave us an opportunity in life but it made us move to this beautiful country, where I was born.

"Boxing has given us everything, especially as a family. My grandparents moved here too. Everything for us is boxing, so we see it in a different perspective to everyone else."

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