A bit of trivia!
Born and raised in Serov, an industrial city in Russia east of Moscow, Tszyu was introduced to boxing by his father. As the smallest and the youngest in the gym, it took quite a while for Tszyu to enjoy the sport.
"The first time I walked into a gym, I was six years old," Tszyu said, "but I was not really interested. Everyone else there was older. I went back three years later. At that time, everyone was the same age. Then it was more interesting. I was happy to be there. Of my first 100 fights, I won 99."
By 15, Tszyu was part of the national training squad and earned more money in the Soviet "amateur" system than his father, Boris, made in the steel mills.
Tszyu traveled to Australia in 1991 and won a world championship at 139 pounds. While there, he fell in love with the country. With the Soviet Union breaking up, he elected to pass up the 1992 Olympics in order to settle Down Under and turn pro.
When Tszyu relocated to Australia, his girlfriend, Natasha, went with him. Soon after relocating, the two married. He had just turned 22, while she was a 19 year old who had never left her parents' home. Neither could speak English.
Kostya's grandfather was either Russian Chineese or Korean. His got his grandfather's and father's last name. Otherwise, he is "plain" Russian.
Actually almost every Russian has a significant proportion , maybe 10-25%, of Asian blood, which is either Tatarian or Finno-Ugric (Komi, Muroma, Permiaks, and other endogenous ethnicities that originated thousands of years ago in Altai). This has been due to a thousand year long mixing of different Caucassian and Asian ethnicities. Interestingly, many of the Russian well-known lastnames have Tatarian roots (Korsakov, Rahmaninoff, Suvorov etc).
He's of asian ancestry. Russia after all is on the continent of Asia. Where he's from in the old Soviet Union shares a border with China. There's only a mountain chain that separates them (Caucausus I think it's called???) Like most countries that border other countries of different ethnic groups there's usually lots of mixing in border places. His father is more Asian looking than Kostya.
I think he is about as Asian as James Toney. His eyes are a little almond shaped and that's what you guys are seeing. He looks alot different than he did first coming up. His face is definitely showing the wear and tear of fighting for a long time.
He's of asian ancestry. Russia after all is on the continent of Asia. Where he's from in the old Soviet Union shares a border with China. There's only a mountain chain that separates them (Caucausus I think it's called???) Like most countries that border other countries of different ethnic groups there's usually lots of mixing in border places. His father is more Asian looking than Kostya.
What's that story behind the Caucausus mountains? You know the one talking about how black and white people were made...
I just watched a video of him @ Maxboxing.com and I know I noticed an australian accent, but damned if he don't look asian to me.
He's of asian ancestry. Russia after all is on the continent of Asia. Where he's from in the old Soviet Union shares a border with China. There's only a mountain chain that separates them (Caucausus I think it's called???) Like most countries that border other countries of different ethnic groups there's usually lots of mixing in border places. His father is more Asian looking than Kostya.
Yeah he does look asian
http://www.theage.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1041990178803_2003/01/12/s-kos.jpg
Well, damn it, we white folks are still going to try to claim him!