Hanging Out with Tim Tszyu at the Mayweather Boxing Club

Tim Tszyu makes his U.S. debut in Minneapolis on Saturday, March 26, with former U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha in the opposite corner. Showtime will televise.

Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs) is a big star in his native Australia. His last nine fights have been pay-per-view in the Land Down Under.

Tszyu arrived in the U.S. this past Sunday. With him were his manager Glen Jennings and his trainer Igor Goloubev who also happens to be his uncle (married to his father’s sister). After a five-hour layover in LA they decamped for Las Vegas. They head off to Minnesota on Tuesday.

Yesterday (March 15), Tszyu had a hard sparring session with Money Team welterweight contender Kevin Johnson at the Mayweather Boxing Club. At the conclusion, although draped in sweat, he was relaxed and welcoming to the handful of strangers who wanted to chat with him. “It’s a lot noisier in here than what I am used to back home,” he says, clearly relishing the difference.

Few news stories about the Aussie boxer fail to mention his pedigree. Tim’s father Kostya Tszyu, who represented the Soviet Union as an amateur and then turned pro in Australia, stands as one of the best junior welterweights of all time, an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee in his very first year of eligibility.

Kostya Tszyu wasn’t around as his son was climbing the professional boxing ladder. He had returned to Russia where he remarried and started a new family. But Jennings and Goloubev were both involved in Kostya’s career, so his dad’s imprint is omnipresent.

“In terms of his dedication, Tim is just like his dad,” says Jennings. One obvious difference between them is that the elder Tszyu — perhaps because English wasn’t his first language – came across as more of an introvert. Conversationally, he had little to offer the media.

Will Tim ever escape the shadow of his famous father? “It has started to happen in Australia,” he says. “A big turning point was my fight with Jeff Horn.” (Tszyu dominated the former world welterweight title-holder, best known for his upset of Manny Pacquiao; Horn’s corner tossed in the towel after eight one-sided rounds.) “In the United States, I know it will take longer.”

Las Vegas holds a special meaning for the Tszyu family. Kostya Tszyu won his first world title here, steamrolling Jake “The Snake” Rodriguez, and unified the title with a second-round stoppage of Zab Judah in one of his most famous fights. Both of those bouts were staged at the MGM Grand where Tszyu hopes to perform some day.

That may happen before the year is out. Rated #1 by the WBO at 154 pounds, Tszyu is that organization’s mandatory opponent for the winner of the forthcoming rematch between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano, a match in which all four belts will be on the line.

Back home in Australia, Tszyu has a special someone and says he is married for all practical purposes. In his free time, he enjoys tinkering with his cars. “Classic American automobiles are very rare in Australia,” he says, “but I’ve managed to acquire four.” His acquisitions include a 1969 Mustang and a 1982 Corvette.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Tim Tszyu became the face of boxing in Australia after he crushed Jeff Horn, the pride of Brisbane, but in recent months an interloper with an identical 20-0 record, George Kambosos, has stolen his thunder. Both hail from Sydney.

Does Tim mind having to share the spotlight with the conqueror of Teofimo Lopez? “Of course not,” he says, smiling at the silly question. “I’m not the jealous kind. I’m happy for him.”

A new kid on the block may someday surpass both of them in name recognition and Tim wouldn’t mind a bit. The newcomer is Nikita Tszyu, Tim’s younger brother. Nikita, four years younger than Tim at age 23, made a smashing pro debut earlier this month on a card in Nathan, Queensland. Nikita is also handled by Jennings and Goloubev.

They didn’t pick a softie for Tim Tszyu’s U.S. debut. Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) looked super-sharp in his last start, whacking out Jamontay Clark, a seemingly treacherous opponent, in the second round. The Cleveland product has become something of a forgotten man after opening his career 20-0, but both of his losses were to top-tier guys, Erislandy Lara and Erickson Lubin.

Gausha has never been stopped. If Tim Tsyzu can turn the trick, his international profile would increase 10-fold and a match between him and Jermell Charlo or Brian Castano would undoubtedly be a pay-per-viewer everywhere. Kostya who?

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