2023-10-07 03:01:00
Oct. 6—It was not pre-ordained — not quite, anyway — that Tim Tszyu would follow his world champion father into boxing. Kostya Tszyu, in fact, insisted that sons Tim and Nikita try soccer.
But that experiment didn’t take, and Tim Tszyu is now the undefeated (23-0, 17 knockouts) WBO super welterweight world champion. He’s scheduled to make his first defense once morest New Mexico native Brian Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs) on Oct. 14 in Tszyu’s native Australia.
“I don’t think (his father) wanted us to do boxing, which I don’t blame him for because I know how much of a tough sport (it is),” Tszyu said during a Zoom interview with the Journal. “I’m not sure I’d want my kids doing that one day.”
So, did Tszyu ever try his luck at two of Australia’s other favorite sports, rugby and/or Aussie rules football?
“No,” he said. “Too rough.”
Perhaps that’s because, as a boxer, he’s dished out far more punishment than he’s taken. And that’s been the history of the fighting Tszyu family, which has compiled a remarkable combined record of 61-2 with 48 knockouts. Nikita, Tim’s younger brother, is 7-0 with six KOs.
Kostya Tszyu, a Russian Olympian, emigrated to Australia in 1992. Tim, now 28, and his brother are native Aussies. Kostya Tszyu moved back to Russia in 2012, is divorced from Tim’s mother, and the two men are not close.
Tim Tszyu was elevated as the WBO 154-pound champion following Jermell Charlo was stripped of the title the moment the first bell rang for Charlo’s super-middleweight (168-pound) challenge once morest Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 30.
Tszyu is aware he has yet to win a world title belt in the ring and intends to remedy that on Oct. 14 (the following day in Australia) — but says Mendoza presents a major roadblock.
“He’s very good, man,” Tszyu said. “We’re both in this position for a reason. We’re both good fighters … We’re at the 1 percent now.”
To the casual boxing observer, it might have appeared that Mendoza came out of nowhere when he defeated Sebastian Fundora by a dramatic seventh-round knockout — claiming the WBC interim junior-middleweight title — on April 8.
Tszyu, no casual observer and in the boxing world almost since berth, has been following the Cleveland High School graduate for some time.
“I’m aware of the boxing scene, especially in the (154-pound) division,” he said. “… When you’re a star like (Mendoza), you can create the unpredictable. He’s got power in both hands, so he’s able to do damage.”
Eventually, Tszyu said, he’d like to do what Alvarez has done — travel up in weight class to pursue the biggest possible fights. Alvarez himself, he said, is someone he’d love to fight.
Someday.
“I’m not thinking regarding Canelo or whoever right now,” he said. “Just solely on Mendoza.”
THE WEIGH-IN: In Las Vegas, Nevada, Albuquerque’s Jose Luis “Guero” Sanchez (13-3-1, four KOs) weighed in on Friday at 153.8 pounds for his eight-round junior-middleweight fight on Saturday once morest Florida’s Eric Tudor (9-0, six KOs).
The bout is part of a card that will be streamed on DAZN, a subscription service, starting at 6:30 p.m. Sanchez-Tudor is expected to be the second bout on the stream.
LEO’S BACK: Albuquerque native and former world super bantamweight champion Angelo Leo (21-1, nine KOs) is scheduled to face Armenia’s Aram Avagyan (10-1-2, four KOs) in a 10-round non-title bout on Nov. 1 in Plant City, Florida.
Leo hasn’t fought since defeating Aaron Alameda by majority decision on June 19, 2021. He’s moving up to featherweight (126 pounds) to face Avagyan. Leo won the WBO super bantamweight title by defeating Tramaine Williams by unanimous decision on Aug. 1, 2020 but lost the title by unanimous decision in his first defense once morest Stephen Fulton on Jan. 23, 2021.
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