Tim Tszyu believes that his fight on Saturday evening with Sebastian Fundora is the latest demonstration of a “golden era” for Australian boxing.
The WBO light-middleweight champion is the main attraction of the promotion that is launching the collaboration between Premier Boxing Champions and Amazon Prime, which takes place 24 hours after his fellow Australian Liam Wilson fought Oscar Valdez.
On May 12 George Kambosos Jr fights the great Vasyl Lomachenko in Perth, on June 15 Liam Paro challenges Subriel Matias, and Jai Opetaia is the finest cruiserweight in the world.
Tszyu and the 26-year-old Fundora contest the WBO and WBC titles at The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas a week before Skye Nicolson fights Sarah Mahfoud for the vacant WBC featherweight title in the same city, and asked if between them he and his compatriots were delivering a golden era for Australian boxing, Tszyu replied: “One hundred per cent.
“You’ve got me; George. You’ve got other boys – Jai Opetaia [the world’s leading cruiserweight] – representing all of us. It’s good for us Aussie boxers to all support each other, and have a crack. We’re all having a crack and we’re all in this together, rather than taking sides. There’s tremendous tasks and challenges ahead for all of us. We’ve just gotta stay focused and try and get the job done.
“We’re only at the start. There’s so many bigger fights and opportunities to come. I’m only really at the start. [I need to fight] big names. Unify, and then take out a couple of big names. Simple. My dad [the retired Kostya] has already done half of it. Now it’s my turn to finish off the next half.”
The great Kostya Tszyu, an inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, is perhaps Australia’s finest ever fighter.
“Of course there was a certain point [I felt in his shadow], but they’re not mentioning Kostya Tszyu right now,” continued his son, 29. “They’re talking about Tim Tszyu.
“The dynamic has shifted. In Australia it would have been the [in 2020, Jeff] Horn fight; worldwide it would have been [in 2023, Tony] Harrison.”
