Tim Tszyu has reunited with his father Kostya Tszyu as he plots a return to the top following his shock loss to Sebastian Fundora in March.
Tszyu had a chance to unify the WBO and WBC light middleweight titles against Fundora but was left covered in blood after slipping into the Californian’s elbow and opening a substantial gash on his forehead.
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There’s been plenty of criticism of his corner and his doctor, but Tsyzu has made no excuses for the loss, despite dropping down the pecking order as Fundora will likely now face 40-0 pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford at the end of the year — a fight Tszyu could have been facing with a win.
But not one to wait around twiddling his thumbs, Tszyu will fight the 21-0 Vergil Ortiz in August.
Ortiz is a dangerous prospect with Boxrec rating Ortiz the top fighter at light middleweight — Tszyu is ranked No. 3.
Knowing this will be an enormous fight as he looks to regain his world title, Tszyu has pulled out all the stops, bringing in his dad and boxing legend Kostya into camp.
Kostya was the undisputed light welterweight champion of the world between 2001 and 2005, claiming 25KOs in a 31-2 (1 no contest) career record.
That was during the three-belt era, and Kostya defended his undisputed title twice.
So with Tim training in Thailand for a conditioning camp, Kostya has joined his team.
Tszyu shared a picture with his father across his social media channels, with the caption “Some random asked for a photo” on Instagram.
On Twitter, he added: “Reunited. Time for the old man to teach the young buck some new tricks. I am coming into this camp with a whole new mindset. Kill or be Killed. Back to old school. The roots I grew up in.”
It’s not just a holiday for Kostya either with Tim posting videos of the pair training.
The pair also shared one of them shadow boxing with fans marvelling at Kostya’s shadow boxing as one fan wrote: “Kostya still throwing bombs and he’s only shadow boxing.”
It’s believed that Kostya will spend two weeks with Tim, but there’s no word as yet as to whether he’ll be in Tim’s corner for the fight against Ortiz.
Incredibly, it’s the first time the pair have been together since 2019 when Tszyu fought Jack Brubaker as Kostya has largely kept his distance from both Tim and Nikita’s career, preferring to watch from afar.
Kostya was meant to be ringside for Tim’s fight with Fundora but pulled out late after reportedly having difficulties with travelling from Russia.
Tim has previously spoken about how his dad was “never there for us” during his childhood as he prepared to uproot the family and moved to Russia.
Tim is clearly proud of his dad’s achievements and the work ethic he instilled in him, proudly showing off a shrine to Kostya’s boxing career in his childhood home.
But he’s also intent on making his own name in boxing after spending his whole career listening to opponents claiming he was only in the spotlight because of his surname.
Tszyu famously said after his victory over Jeff Horn: “I want everyone to know, my name’s Tim, not the son.”
He speaks to his dad before every fight but takes Kostya’s boxing advice with a grain of salt.
Asked on the Hello Sport podcast if he ever gets sick of his dad telling him how to fight an opponent, Tszyu said: “A lot of times actually.
“Dad sometimes forgets. I respect what he’s done of course but we’re in a different era now. We do things differently.
“He says one thing and I’m like, ‘Nah I’m not doing that, I’m going to do it my way’. He’s like ‘Nah man you can’t do it that way’ and I’m like, ‘Man I’m doing it my way’.
“You haven’t lived here for what 20 years dad, it’s all good man I’ve got it figured, don’t worry about it.
“Of course I respect his opinion, what he’s gone through and done. He hasn’t been back for a long time.”
Back in 2021, Tim also revealed why he was happy for his father to stay away.
Having not seen Kostya for four years, the former world champion flew in for Tim’s debut with Zorran Cassady on December 17, 2016.
But as Tim fought, all he could hear was his father’s voice.
“My dad is a hard man, especially when he comes to watch my fights,” Tim told news.com.au in 2021. “He’s only watched one of my fights and let me say it was … chaotic.
“My first pro fight. It was chaotic. 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.”
But with Kostya joining Tim in camp, maybe this is finally about to change.