Tim Tszyu would have loved nothing more than for his next fight to have been for a world title.
When that couldn’t happen, the unbeaten second-generation boxer settled for the next best thing—simply, a fight.
Australia’s Tszyu (20-0, 15KOs) will make his U.S. debut when he faces Cleveland’s Terrel Gausha this Saturday, live on Showtime from The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Traveling stateside was always a goal of the 27-year-old junior middleweight contender, though less so than remaining as sharp as possible while waiting for his first major title fight to materialize
“I’m not here to sit around,” Tszyu told BoxingScene.com ahead of his sixth fight since the pandemic. “These boys in the division, they only have one fight a year. I don’t understand that.”
Tszyu—whose father Kostya Tszyu is a Hall of Fame former lineal junior welterweight champion—has only gone more than six months between fights just once in his career. That moment was entirely due to the pandemic shutting down the sport—and much of the world—during the first half of 2020. Tszyu headlined the second show in Australia following the first wave of the global health crisis, having consistently fought every three-to-four months ever since.
That trend continues this weekend, with Tszyu entering a little more than 18 weeks after a twelve-round decision win over former title challenger Takeshi Inoue last November 17. He remains among the most active top-rated male boxers in the sport, rivaled only by pound-for-pound king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (57-1-2, 39KOs).
“Canelo is the benchmark for boxing right now,” notes Tszyu. “He’s the best in the sport, and he’s fighting three, four fights a year. That’s where fighters should be aspiring to and taking advantage of.
“These other boys in the division, they fight once a year and then they go on vacation for eight months. I’ve never understood that.”
Gausha (22-2-1, 11KOs) fits the mold of the sport’s current—and ugly—trend of inactivity among the contender and even upper tier prospect level. The 2012 U.S. Olympian and veteran gatekeeper has not fought since last March, entering Saturday’s fight having fought just two rounds in more than 18 months.
Tszyu has fought 21 rounds in four fights during that same stretch in emerging as the mandatory contender to WBO junior middleweight titlist Brian Castano. The expectation is—with a win this weekend—to next challenge either the winner of undisputed championship rematch between Castano (17-0-2, 12KOs) and Jermell Charlo (34-1-1, 18KOs) or for the vacant WBO title and then make at least one title defense before year’s end.
“We’re in this sport for such a short period of time. Have as many fights as you can,” insists Tszyu. “Make as much money as you can. Enjoy the whole process about it. Win and then retire.
“I’m very certain I’ll be fighting three times this year.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox