Kostya Tszyu wanted his son Tim to avoid fighting a Russian until learning that a world title was again at stake.
On Saturday, at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, the 29-year-old Tim Tszyu will challenge Bakhram Murtazaliev for the IBF junior middleweight title and to move on from his first professional defeat.
His father, Kostya, the retired junior welterweight and Hall of Fame inductee, will be present at one of Tim’s fights for the first time since the occasion of his professional debut.
The Russian-Australian Kostya lives in Moscow, and Murtazaliev, 31, is from Grozny, and has become one of Russia’s leading fighters.
Kostya’s faith in his son’s abilities contributed to his concern that it is a Russian he is preparing to fight, but after watching from afar when Tim Tszyu lost his WBO title to Sebastian Fundora in March, he recognizes that the opportunity represented by Murtazaliev was too good to dismiss.
“I’ve spoken to him about him, but my dad wasn’t too keen on [me] fighting a Russian first, just because it’s a Russian [and because of my dad’s background],” Tim Tszyu told BoxingScene. “But when he found out it’s for a world title, it doesn’t really matter who’s in front of you; what nationality. You’re just trying to take him out.
“He throws certain shots quite uncomfortably, so I think that presents a tremendous task. He’s awkward.
“He’s got little holes to exploit – [with] certain punches. I think he’s open to getting hit. I can’t really comment yet [on whether or not he’s a tougher fight than Fundora] because I haven’t really seen him in a dog fight yet, you know? I don’t think he’s fought anyone yet.
“I think he did well [when defeating Jack Culcay], but he did get caught a few times, so it’s exploiting that. I really don’t know [how tough he is]. We shall see.”
Tszyu admirably agreed to fight Vergil Ortiz Jnr before the damaging cut he suffered against Fundora dictated that he would not be ready.
The circumstances surrounding that fight mean that, unusually, defeat hasn’t set him back, but he recognizes that a second successive defeat on Saturday will do so, and therefore that it is a considerable risk.
“It’s back to looking at factory jobs,” he said with a laugh before being asked if he had ever considered a tune-up, and responding: “No, never.
“I would have said, ‘Get fucked’ [if anyone had suggested I take one]. ‘You’re fired.’”
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