Kostya, Tim and Nikita Tszyu: a father making up for lost time

It is nearing 20 years since the great Kostya Tszyu was last an active fighter, against Ricky Hatton in one of the fights of the year.

It is eight since he attended one of his eldest son’s fights – the occasion of Tim Tszyu’s professional debut, a victory over Zorran Cassady in December 2016.

When on Thursday Kostya arrived in Orlando to be present for Tim’s IBF junior-middleweight title fight with Bakhram Murtazaliev, perhaps most significantly of all he then saw Nikita – Tim’s younger brother – for the first time in 11 years.

In so many ways fittingly, so little has been seen of him since 2005 when he encountered Hatton. 

In 2011 he was rightly recognized for a career in which he established himself as among the finest of junior welterweights by being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There was his appearance at Tim Tszyu-Cassady, in 2016, and interviews conducted in the build-up to his son’s victory over Jack Brubaker three years on. 

Tszyu has regardless otherwise kept a lower profile in Moscow, Russia, where he has become obscure among the city’s population of 13 million people. The murderous puncher has taken to civilized life in the recognizable metropolis, and while blending in with his surroundings he is raising a new family from a new life and home.

“No time,” the 55-year-old told BoxingScene, when asked why so little of him has been seen. “It’s a new life for me. I’ve got a new family; kids. I’ve got two young kids, 10 and eight years old – Alexander and Victoria [with second wife Tatyana].

“I’ve got many, many things. Public speaking a lot. I’ve got a boxing gym; I’ve got a restaurant. I’ve got lots of businesses.

“Lots of things. Clothing. Not everything I can say. Some other business stuff.

“Actually, I do miss [boxing], but at the same time I’m busy enough, and I do a lot of things in Russia – all around boxing – but I’m not officially putting myself there. I’m undercover.

“I’ve had my life [in boxing]. I know the value of my life now. I’m happy – that’s the important part. I’m not regretting anything, and I’m satisfied with my life.”

Unlike so many of his contemporaries there have rarely been suggestions that Tszyu is unhappy in retirement, struggling financially, or agonising over returning. 

That he bowed out at the very highest level and after the most entertaining and competitive of fights may have contributed – his conqueror Hatton, a considerably more tortured soul, himself later spoke of wanting to end his career similarly – ensuring that Tszyu recognises that not only did he retire after building so memorable a legacy, but that none of those who came to admire him throughout the course of his decorated career will remember him in any way other than as he was near his intimidating best.

“My mum [Valentina] – honestly, this is an important message,” he says. “My mum asked me, ‘Don’t fight again; don’t do this again – please’, and I said, ‘Okay’. After that fight, she said to me, ‘Please don’t fight again’, and I did promise to her that I would never fight again. She’s close to 80.

“It’s their decision [if Tim and Nikita want to fight]. This is their way. They asked me. I said, ‘If you want it, I’m on your side.’

“It’s their decision. Their lives. I’m very proud [of the] the way they chose a not easy life. They could do it the easy way, but they’ve never done it the easy way. 

“As a father – as a person who knows what it’s all about – I have to be 100 per cent confident in Tim’s ability, to give him extra motivation; extra strength. That’s 100 per cent.

“Wait for Nikita now. Do you know how many father-sons have been world champion? Not many. It’s very rare. But we’ve never had two sons and the father world champions.”

Earlier in 2024 the 29-year-old Tim and Kostya had spent time together in Thailand, when under Kostya’s supervision Tim trained in the heat. 

In March, against Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas, he lost for the first time, and largely because for 10 rounds his head was a bloody mess. His reputation was harmed so little that he has been rewarded, in his following fight, with the opportunity to reclaim a world title; there also exists the reality that Premier Boxing Champions recognize the marketability that complements his having a household name.

“[Murtazaliev’s] a good fighter,” said the Serov-born Kostya. “I haven’t seen him train; I’ve seen him in the ring just briefly, but he’s a good fighter.

“He’s a good fighter. He’s a world champion. But to be honest I never wanted my son to fight Russians – but he has, and he’s got, something that’s supposed to be in Tim’s hands. His belt. It’s nothing personal. But he’s got something that’s supposed to be Tim’s.

“I never fought Russians. Tim’s Australian, but he’s [also] Russian, and I really want him to fight one day in Russia. All the support he’ll get – he’ll get much bigger support if he doesn’t fight Russians. He handles it very well. [Tim’s] attitude is completely right. Not many have got that.

“He handles [the pressure that comes with his surname] very well. We’ve discussed this matter – his team – and I said, ‘Look, what I did, it doesn’t matter. What you do – this matters. We discuss, but I never compare myself with you, and I don’t want you to compare yourself with me – we’re different.’ We have different backgrounds; we have different hunger. 

“Tim’s doing everything – so much that I’m so proud of. I think it’s very important, when a father is proud of his son – and I am… I’ve already said, the way he conducts himself in the ring, and outside of the ring, makes me enjoy what he’s doing.”

Tim had previously been reluctant to have his father ringside, owing to how animated a spectator Kostya became in 2016. In Nikita’s two-and-a-half-year career his father hasn’t once been present. The scars of Kostya’s separation from his wife Natasha Anikina – Tim’s and Nikita’s mother – can still be detected, but for all of the independent Tim’s unmistakeable conviction in his identity, it was the 26-year-old Nikita, with Natasha’s encouragement, who paid for Kostya’s flight to ensure that he will be ringside on Saturday night.

“I love [seeing Nikita],” says Kostya, a 13-year professional. “I miss the kids. They’re still kids for me. We do talk, but not often enough.

“He’s a bugger – not bloody answering his phone. That’s the problem. Not only to me – to many people. It’s not easy to call from Russia. It’s only a particular time I’m able to reach him. I get him sometimes at my parents’ place – using Skype we can talk to each other; see each other. Usually he’s not answering. 

“But, it’s good, and I’m hoping [for] a new future – we’ll go to a training camp together, probably in Thailand.

“Of course [it makes me sad]. But I can’t change it.

“I am an emotional guy. I can be myself in the family, and I’m myself with them.

“I’m very different to how I used to be.

“I’ll spend some time with the kids. We’ll spend time and we’ll have a good talk. 

“[But] I won’t put pressure [on Tim]. I want to be just a father – that’s all.”