Kostya Tszyu may be unofficially banned from being at ringside of his son’s fights, but Tim revealed he’s still supporting from thousands of miles away in Russia.
Tim Tszyu took apart Dennis Hogan inside five rounds on Wednesday night in Newcastle as he moved himself on the brink of a world title fight after extending his unbeaten start to his career to 18-0.
A notable absentee from Tszyu’s fights during his rise to the top of Australian boxing has been his father, the former long-reigning undisputed light welterweight world champion, ever since a chaotic and unexpected appearance for his son’s debut back in 2016.
And although not even in the country for his son’s latest impressive performance, Kostya was watching every punch from a television studio in Moscow, where it was being shown live.
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“Just spoke to him then,” Tszyu said of his father after the fight. “I couldn’t really hear him too much, but he was pretty happy.
“He was on the channel in Russia, because they televised it there. You could tell he was happy.”
Kostya later took to social media to revel in his son’s latest success, responding to a post by Tim on his Instagram page with a heartfelt message.
“Love you and so proud,” he wrote.
Tzsyu is determined to make his own name in boxing and not just be known for his father’s achievements, but knows there is a long way to go before he can even dream of emulating those.
“I’m not satisfied, I haven’t achieved anything in my eyes yet,” he said. “My dad was an undisputed world champion for 10 years, what have I done?
“Again, give me a few years. I’ve got a long way to go, my comparisons and my goals are out of this world and that’s what I’m going to be striving for.”