Having a boxing legend as a father might come in handy if you’re in pursuit of a world title, but Tim Tszyu has revealed why he doesn’t want any ringside help from his old man.
The undefeated Sydneysider also opened up about a widely rumoured incident where he dislocated his grandfather’s jaw with a right cross when he was just three years old.
He is set to take on Irish-Australian challenger, Dennis Hogan, 36, on Wednesday night in a fight to determine the next number one contender for the WBO super welterweight strap.
But Tim’s dad Kostya won’t be ringside cornering him at the Steel City Showdown in Newcastle because the last time that happened it drove the 26-year-old crazy.
Tim Tszyu (pictured) has revealed why he doesn’t want any ringside help from his old man
Tszyu (pictured right) is set to take on Irish-Australian challenger, Dennis Hogan, 36, (left) on Wednesday night in a fight to determine the next number one contender for the WBO super welterweight strap
Kostya has only ever watched one of his son’s fights in person. ‘If he’s able to watch Tim’s fight it can only be done if we do a livestream from here in Sydney and we can WhatsApp him,’ Mrs Tszyu said
‘My dad is a hard man, especially when he comes to watch my fights,’ Tim told news.com.au this week.
‘He’s only watched one of my fights and let me say it was … chaotic.’
Tim made his professional debut against Zorran Cassady back in 2016 and all he could hear during the bout was a thick Russian accent cutting through the crowd noise.
‘It was hard to deal with. It was just out of control. Because he’s a control freak, it’s hard for him to watch someone he loves fight in the ring. Especially for him.’
Despite the comparisons between Tim and his world title winning dad, they have never had much of a relationship since he returned to Russia.
Kostya split from Tim’s mother Natalia in 2012 leaving her with three kids and heading home to Russia, where he has now built a business empire, re-married and had two more children.
‘Kostya was here for only one of Tim’s fights, for the others we have done that which the promoter said is illegal but it is his father, he needs to know what is happening with his fights,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Kostya was never in the kids’ life, Kostya disappeared from the kids’ life when he left them at a young age. The kids have built their lives without their father.
‘I know that some people won’t want to hear this, but this is the truth.’
Tim kisses girlfriend Alexandra Constantine on the cheek after his win over Jack Brubaker last December
Kostya Tszyu and his second wife Tatyana (right) married in 2015 and have two young children
With the Soviet Union collapsing, Kostya and Natalia moved to Australia from Russia in 1992 with one goal in mind – for the boxing prodigy to become a world champion.
After marrying they settled in Sydney, where they had visited a year earlier for the world amateur boxing championships.
Then they got to work.
Kostya retired in 2005 after a decade as light-welterweight champion, when he took his family back to his homeland.
At the time Tim was in his late-teens and close to finishing high school.
Now 17-0, the signs Tim would have a stellar career inside the boxing ring were there from a very early age.
While playing around with his grandfather Boris Tszyu, Tim uncorked a right hand that would leave the boxing trainer unable to chew for weeks.
Natalia did not want her son Tim to become a boxer but said he had gloves on before he could even walk, with this Sports Weekly magazine front cover photo of him from 1995 proof of that
Tim Tszyu (left) lands an vicious uppercut on Jeff Horn who does his best to covers up
‘I still remember this. I’m standing on my knees and I’m play-boxing with Tim,’ Boris told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘My attention is diverted for a moment and you’re not expecting it, you’re not looking and you’ve got your mouth open.
‘And then BANG.’
But there weren’t any hard feelings – quite the opposite – Boris was impressed.
Now on the cusp of becoming a world champion, Tim said he dreams of winning the title for his beloved grandfather and hanging it on his wall.
But Tim is facing his toughest test yet against a seasoned opponent coming off two unsuccessful world title fights.
In 2019, most fight fans thought the fighting Irishman turned Aussie had won the WBO belt after defeating Mexican Jaime Munguia on points in Monterrey.
But a dubious home crowd decision handed the contest to Munguia.
Now with a record of 28 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw, Hogan is on the warpath and has Tszyu firmly in his sights.
In 2019, most fight fans thought the fighting Irishman turned Aussie (Hogan pictured) had won the WBO belt after defeating Mexican Jaime Munguia on points in Monterrey. But a dubious home crowd decision handed the contest to Munguia
’10 years ago now that I made a decision I had to make some changes if I wanted to win a world title,’ Hogan told the Daily Telegraph.
‘I had been in Australia about eight months and I was playing up quite a bit on the drink.’
The decision to turn his life around came after a phone call with his late grandfather who was battling emphysema after a lifetime of hard drinking and smoking in Ireland.
‘His last words were give up that drink son, and give it everything you’ve got. Then he passed the phone to my mum.’
Tonight’s undercard will begin at 7pm and be broadcast on Main Event, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
Tszyu and Hogan are expected to make their walk to the ring at about 10pm.
Tim (right) holds his father Kostya’s world title belt as he, wife Natalia (left) and youngest son Nikita (left) return to Sydney in 2002 after defending his world title in Las Vegas
