Team Tszyu: “We’re trying to get the Australian title”

WHEN it comes to the guidance of Tim Tszyu’s career, it’s very much a family affair.

Ahead of his looming bout, Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings admits that keeping business in-house is proving to be the best approach.

Tszyu (10-0, 8 KOs) will headline the latest instalment of the highly successful ‘Battle on the Goldfield’ series for Hosking Promotions, facing Argentine Marcos Cornejo (19-3, 18 KOs) at the revamped Bendigo Stadium on Saturday night.

“For Tim, it’s family and it’s very much a family affair.” Jennings told Aus-Boxing.

“Kostya and I have been mates since he first arrived in Australia, I was there when Timmy was born,”

“That’s how our relationship started, as mates first and foremost, opportunities then arose for me to assist with his career. I had a good fifteen year run with Kostya and then reverted back to my own business when he finished.”

“Tim will leave a mark in boxing, hopefully similar to his father. But it remains to be seen if he can reach the heights of his father.”

Flanked by Tszyu’s long-time trainer Igor Goloubev, who is best known for his work moulding George Kambosos, Jennings has carefully selected a team of like-minded staff, who all share the common goal of developing the career of their young prospect.

“We are not a big team, as weren’t with Kostya, we humble go about our business.” he explained.

“I’ve known Igor for a long time – he is what he is and that works nicely for us – Igor takes care of business. It’s part and parcel of the team environment, we provide Tim with the environment he needs to flourish.”

“Igor is a gifted coach who has years of amateur and professional experience, we’re very lucky to have him. His record speaks for itself, he’s had some wonderful results.”

“I’ve been mentoring him along, with business stuff, and making sure he stays busy in the ring. I’m doing everything a manager can do to bring his career along.”

The 23-year-old’s meeting with the hard-hitting Cornejo will mark the Victorian debut for the prodigious talent, including a fourth state in his short career.

“Tim has been able to fight in New Zealand and all around Australia, including regional Australia,” said Jennings.

“Bendigo will be another one when Tim fights there on Saturday night. We’ve been able to strategically pick places and the promoters in those places have been terrific to work with, we’ve always been invited back.”

“Tim was supposed to fight in Melbourne last year, but picked up an injury with his foot.”

“We couldn’t fight, but still came down and attended the event. That was the first time we met Lynden Hosking and I assured him then that we would come back, as a sign of good faith, and finish the deal at another time.”

“The Bendigo fight came about through Lynden, because the Bendigo Council (City of Greater Bendigo) wanted a big name to open their new stadium, so Timmy got the nod.”

Having put a disappointing one-round showing against Stevie Ferdinandus behind them, Tszyu’s team will shift focus to a potential Australian title challenge against Samuel Colomban, providing both parties can avoid injury.

“That fight [against Ferdinandus] was probably the most disappointing part of Tim’s career so far,” he quipped.

“For whatever reason, the other guy chose not to be interested, so those things are going to happen. We all wish it hadn’t happened, but we’ll continue to look forward.”

“We’re trying to get the Australian title. We had an eight-week camp prepared for Samuel Colomban, we gave him the upmost respect as a fighter, we expected it to be Tim’s toughest test as a fighter.”

“It’s sometimes not an easy task to find a replacement when someone gets injured and on that occasion, the replacement let everyone down.”

“Tim would love to have the Australian title. It means something to all of us, it’s a prestigious title regardless. We will continue to try and get that fight with Samuel Colomban, I understand that he’s got an injury causing him grief.”

“It’s certainly not off our radar and if the opportunity arose, we would look at it.”

Given the high-profile name that his undefeated charge has, Jennings concedes that Tszyu’s rise will be monitored by many. However, he sees this as a positive, citing the star power of some of Australia’s best talents.

“The two things that matter are marketability and ability,” he concluded.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s pay-per-view or streaming, those two things drive the desire to put a fight on a screen. Timmy has both, as does Jeff Horn, George Kambosos, Jai Opetaia and Bilal Akkawy.”

“These guys will always do well because they have both.”

Tickets for ‘Battle on the Goldfields 3’, hosted by Hosking Promotions, can be secured throughTicketek.

Photo: Getty Images