SYDNEY, Australia – Tim Tszyu described himself as feeling “bulletproof” after arriving back in his home city for his fight with Anthony Velazquez, his first under his new trainer Pedro Diaz.
The 31-year-old Tszyu and Velazquez fight at a catchweight of 157lbs at Sydney’s TikTok Entertainment Centre on December 17, when Tszyu will for the first time be testing his new relationship with Diaz, aware that his career is at risk.
Tsyzu responded to July’s stoppage defeat by Sebastian Fundora by separating from his long-term trainer and uncle Igor Goloubev and manager Glenn Jennings and turning to the Miami-based Cuban Diaz as his new trainer, Darcy Ellis and Mike Altamura as his co-managers, and Jeff Fenech as his advisor.
When he again lost to Fundora, Tszyu was defeated for the third time in four fights – before beating Joey Spencer he lost successive contests to Fundora, after which those around him were criticised, and Bakhram Murtazaliev – and he had planned to rest instead of fighting for a third time in 2025.
If there is little question that the future of Australia’s highest-profile fighter is being gambled with against Velazquez, it is a gamble that Tszyu – for all that his promoters No Limit and broadcasters Main Event have the potentially considerable incentive of his date with Velazquez being pay-per-view – ultimately encouraged.
When he spoke for the first time of his weeks spent under Diaz in Miami he spoke with a renewed sense of self-belief and purpose – perhaps most worrying of all for any invested in his career is the way that by the end of the rematch with Fundora, as opposed to during their first fight or against Murtazaliev, he had the air of a defeated fighter – and, at the start of the build-up to a date that could yet make or break his career, he was transparently enthused by the coming test.
“I’m very grateful for everyone I’ve met in the last couple months, that have gotten me to this position,” he said. “Right now I’m bulletproof, and the only thing on my mind right now is victory.
“It just feels like a whole new transition; a whole new chapter, you know? It’s not what you’ve previously done but what you’re about to do. You have to look forward to the present and the future. We’re both in the same position, because we’ve got to prove it to ourselves – that’s the main thing.
“I’ve just arrived, the first couple of days, so everything’s been nice and relaxing right now, but fight week starts, and that’s when things are going to ramp up. It’s all exciting now.
“In all honesty I just feel good – that’s the main thing. A lot of the changes are external; internally I feel better than ever.
“I knew what I wanted. I’m in a good position in my career, and this like the 2.0, incoming.”
Diaz is in Los Angeles with Norair “Noel” Mikaeljan, who on Saturday at Ace Mission Studios challenges Badou Jack for the WBC cruiserweight title, meaning that until the Cuban can arrive in Sydney, the final days of Tszyu’s preparations will be overseen by another newcomer – Stefan Hubert.
“Some of the things you just have to adapt with,” Tszyu said. “It’s not my first rodeo – I’ve done this plenty of times, so nothing out of the ordinary. I’m sweet.
“It’s just me. I’m doing it for myself. Nothing about anyone else, besides myself.”
