Tim Tszyu almost quit boxing. Now he has the chance to cement his legacy

There was once a time, when his record was unblemished, that boxer Tim Tszyu spoke about retiring his opponents.And yet, it wasn’t so long ago that Tszyu himself almost quit. Worn down by boxing politics, family fractures and a series of beat-downs – including the loss of his world title belt – the Sydney-based pugilist lost the love of a sport that has been his life.“It wasn’t from my losses,” Tszyu explained. “To a certain extent it was the politics of sport, I was thinking, ‘This is not worth it.’“I joined the sport for the love of it, the thrill of it, the challenge of it. There are a lot of obstacles at certain times trying to stop me from doing that.“That’s a time when I was thinking of retirement and giving it up … I won’t go into detail, it was just life.”There were several low points. His first loss, at short notice, to Sebastian Fundora, in which a horrific head cut cost him a chance of retaining the WBO super-welterweight world title he had wanted so much. His devastating knockout defeat to Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev, followed by a subsequent KO loss in his rematch with Fundora.Tim Tszyu shadow boxes ahead of his fight against Errol Spence Jnr.Sam Mooy“There were a lot of people in the change room after victory in the Tony Harrison fight, a lot of people for that,” Tszyu recalled, referring to his defeat of the American in 2023 to claim the interim WBO super welterweight belt.“But after what I went through in the Bakhram fight, there weren’t many people in the hospital, let’s just say that. You learn who is there and who is not. You learn about the ugly truth about the sport.”But Tszyu’s decision to endure has been rewarded. After overhauling his mindset and team – legendary boxer-turned-trainer Jeff Fenech is in his corner – Tszyu will on Sunday step into the ring for the biggest fight of his career.The 31-year-old will take on Errol “The Truth” Spence Jnr in a blockbuster middleweight bout at Sydney’s Afterpay Arena. Spence is a future hall-of-famer, whose only loss was against Terence “Bud” Crawford, who became the first undisputed welterweight champion of the four-belt era.Tim Tszyu is ready for business.Sam MooyWhile a world title isn’t at stake, it is a chance for Tszyu to take on the opponent who has been at the top of his hit list.“This is way bigger than a world title,” Tszyu said. “This is hall-of-fame status, we’re talking about one of the fighters of our generation. I get to take him on and cement myself. It’s a blessing.”When he first rose to prominence, Tszyu was dubbed “The Soul Taker”. But after a wretched run that included three loses in four fights, he has been rebranded as “The Phoenix”.“All these nicknames – I’m Tim Tszyu,” he said. “The Phoenix was like a new chapter in my life to burn from the ashes from what happened and go onto the new. That’s what it is, this new phase of my life.”Tim Tszyu poses for a photograph at the Overseas Passenger Terminal ahead of the fight against Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. on Sunday.Sam MooyAfter a series of team changes, in a bid to start “controlling the narrative more” in his career, Tszyu has settled on Fenech as his mentor.“There’s not many people you can ask for advice who have been there and done that,” Tszyu said. “I’ve never been in a team where someone has felt exactly what I felt.”It appears a peculiar comment given his father is hall-of-famer Kostya Tszyu, while his brother Nikita is an undefeated fighter closing in on his own world title shot. However, except for grandfather Boris – “he’s stayed with me through thick and thin” – Tszyu has a complex relationship with his family.Kostya has for a long time lived in Russia, there has been a falling out with Nikita and there has been tension with others who were close to him.Errol Spence Jnr has arrived in Sydney in supreme shape.Sam Mooy“Everyone goes through different issues in their families,” Tszyu said. “We are going to get through this fight and then we need to sit down and hug it out.”Fenech, a hall-of-famer who won four world titles in four weight divisions, has noticed a change in Tszyu since becoming his trainer.“The person I saw in Tim prior to this is someone who had 110 things in his head, said some stupid things about opponents,” Fenech said. “I told him the only thing that will sell fights is not publicity, it’s not shit talk. Your fists will sell fights.“I’m not trying to change Tim. I’m just trying to make him a better Tim. The one thing I have changed is I have a happy guy.”Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. shadow boxes at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.Sam MooyGiven Spence’s long lay-off – he hasn’t fought for three years – and Tszyu’s poor record in big fights, the loser could be forced into premature retirement. Having previously contemplated walking away from the sport, the Australian believes he is about to leave his mark on it.“I still believed in myself, I still got through it,” Tszyu said. “And here we are, on the verge of doing something special.”News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.From our partners