SYDNEY, Australia – Tim Tszyu is planning an imminent return to Miami to resume working with his new trainer Pedro Diaz in an attempt to be ready to fight early in 2026.
The Australian convincingly outpointed Anthony Velazquez on Wednesday in his first fight under the Cuban’s guidance, and for all that he spoke positively about what unfolded during 10 largely one-sided rounds at the TikTok Entertainment Centre, he and Diaz will recognise that if he is to again be competitive at the top of the junior-middleweight division he will need to significantly improve.
Tszyu, 31, threatened to stop Velazquez in the middle rounds before a gaping cut under the American Puerto Rican’s left eye both presented a target for him to pursue and contributed to Velazquez prioritising attempting to survive.
The two scores of 100-90 and the third of 100-91 reflected his dominance from the opening bell, but if Tszyu’s limitations weren’t a reflection of the adjustment process required after recruiting a new trainer it is difficult to conclude that 29 fights into a bruising career he isn’t in decline.
Tszyu recruited the Miami-based Diaz – and indeed new co-managers Mike Altamura and Darcy Ellis, and an advisor in Jeff Fenech – to replace his uncle and long-term trainer Igor Goloubev and Glenn Jennings, his long-term manager, in response to his third defeat in four fights, by Sebastian Fundora in July. The rematch with Fundora had followed the victory over Joey Spencer but the overmatched Spencer came after Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev had inflicted on him successive defeats.
In the space of 18 damaging months Tszyu went from perhaps the world’s leading junior middleweight to fighting for his future in the world’s most competitive weight division, and while there has never been cause to question his fearlessness, attitude, commitment and professionalism, there increasingly exists cause to conclude that he is past his prime.
The sharpness with which he started Wednesday’s contest was gradually replaced by a hint of sluggishness that owed in part to Velazquez’s decreasing threat and ambition but far from reflected how “rejuvenated” by Diaz he insisted he had been.
Tszyu’s reputation, popularity and marketability means that he will remain in contention to fight the world champions at 154lbs during 2026, but unless Diaz can oversee considerable improvement before then it is difficult to be confident in his chances of succeeding. His performance again suggested it may even prove naive of him to not instead prioritise a period of rest.
“I still wanna get back to where I wanna be, with the big boys,” he said. “My [previous] team have stuck by me throughout my whole career. It wasn’t like they did anything wrong. I just needed a change in my career. It was just simple, man. I’m very blessed now to meet these new boys – new coaches; new managers – that we’ve got a special bond together. It’s only been one fight, but it goes deeper than just one fight.
“Everything was different – from the warm-up, to the whole thing. It was something that I had to adapt. I’d been with my previous guys my whole life; it wasn’t like a small change, it was a big change. From my hand wraps; from my warm-up; the time I get to the back stage; for my press conferences; to the people picking me up; the faces I see; the people I communicate with; it’s a whole different change, and maybe it takes one or two fights to adapt, but the first fight was successful, and the partnership worked.
“I’m always trying to get the KO, and unfortunately when you try too hard you sometimes tense up and you make mistakes, and I think I’ve paid for that. I’ve learned my lesson, and I feel like if it comes, it comes. At certain times I could feel it coming, but the opponent was game, man. He sort of went into survival mode; changed the distance – he’s supposed to be a forward fighter, which he did in the beginning, but – once he felt the presence and the distance, what I’d been working on, he went back.
“He was always loading up with a counter. His counters were quite big ones. They weren’t little touches. They’d come from here, like a Deontay Wilder windmill.
“I’m glad, man. I’m glad. But it was a lot of hard work. I’ve sacrificed so much, man. I went away from home and from the family, so I wanted to put on a clinic; a performance. For 10 weeks I’ve been working on this jab, non-stop. Bah-bah; bah-bah; bah-bah. I’ve been watching the jab; so obsessed with it. I wanted to get in there and just work a stiff jab.
“You can’t make too many mistakes, and you have to find a solution and then work on it. I dedicated my whole life to this sport. You see just glimpses of where I am. But I miss a lot of family moments; weddings; I miss different events that are supposed to happen in your life. But I’m solely dedicated on this boxing career; I want to put everything else aside and just focus on this. Some people see it; some people don’t; a lot of people don’t. But this is what it takes, with an obsessive mindset and relentless drive, to get back to the top.”
Tszyu revealed that he and his wife Alexandra will go on holiday to Iceland, but that after that he plans to follow doing so by travelling to train with Diaz. He spoke of fighting in Las Vegas on the same week as the National Rugby League fixtures that take place on February 28, but it is unrealistic for him to do so.
He also spoke of a potential future fight with the WBO champion Xander Zayas, who enters a unification with the WBA champion Abass Baraou on January 31 – the same day on which Murtazaliev and Kelly contest Murtazaliev’s IBF title – which is considerably likelier if Zayas wins. Regardless of his next move, the straight lines on which he increasingly followed Velazquez will need to be replaced by the “angles” Diaz had spoken of, pre-fight; as the fight progressed Tsyzu’s feet were too often flat.
“I’ve always shot for the stars, no matter what,” he said. “The boys were mentioning something about Xander Zayas. I was like ‘Yeah, I’m ready to go now – give me Xander Zayas now, let’s go’. I’ve just beat one Puerto Rican; let’s go for the main Puerto Rican.
“I’ve heard little rumours [about the date in Vegas]. It sounds about right for me to be able to get ready, right? And I want to stay active this year. We’ll see.
“Maybe a week or two with my wife would be nice. Then I’ll go [to Miami] after that. Sorry, babe.
“I haven’t really spoken to [Diaz] but he said ‘Good job; clinical work’. Every time I hit someone in sparring or something like that it’s ‘Eso’.
“Everything’s tactical; everything’s codes; every punch is a number. We’re communicating the language of boxing. He’s got Russian fighters that speak no English, and they communicate in the language of boxing. Going back to him has made me fall in love with the sport again – Cubans used to fight for nothing, just for the love, and that passion and love is what has conspired back on me.
“[I do this] just all for myself – I just do it for myself – and other people around me just understand that.
“Connect back with my boxing skills, rather than my boxing physique. Everything used to be, back in the [opponent in 2021] Dennis Hogan days – remember those days? – steamroll everyone. Not through skill, but relentlessness. I went into this Terminator mode – that’s what I used to call it. I need to know when to put that Terminator mode on, and when I can be slick and box and use a variety of skills.”
For the occasion of his first fight in his home city for almost three years Tszyu had rebranded himself “the Phoenix”. His promoter, No Limit’s George Rose, who as recently as August said he didn’t expect his leading fighter to fight again in 2025, also spoke with optimism about a potential fight with Xayas.
“If it’s the right fight at the right time, then we do it,” he said. “Along with the rest of the country and the rest of the team, we just wanted to get Tim back in the ring, and we did that, and we saw where he’s at; what he’s got, and I think he’s ready for anyone at anytime. I’ve always got 100 per cent belief in Tim and the team. If that’s the fight that he wants then that’s the fight we’ll work towards. That’s one thing that we always do – whatever he wants we make it happen. He shoots for the stars and we take him straight to the stars.”
Asked about the significance of Tszyu winning in his home city three days after the fight with the 29-year-old Velazquez had been jeopardised by the terrorist shooting in nearby Bondi Beach that so tragically claimed 16 lives and has traumatised that city, Rose responded: “For everyone in Australia, it’s not something that happens in this country. I think it was an absolute shock for everyone, and I think most people here live in Sydney, so it’s not something we see and not something that we’re used to. It was a bit shock, I think, to everyone, and the fact that all of the fighters were able to go through what they did with that in the back of their mind… It might have been in the back of the mind, it might not have for others, but for all of them to go through that and be able to still put on the performances they did… and Tim Tszyu topped it off.
“Australia’s a sporting nation. We grow up on sport; we live for sport; it’s something that brings us all together, and Tim Tszyu did a fantastic job of bringing us all together. The thousands of people that turned up here; the thousands and thousands that watched at home, across the nation. That’s what he does – he brings Australia together. It’s about him carrying the weight of the country on his back. When Tim Tszyu’s doing well, Australian boxing’s doing very well, and that’s how it’s been for a number of years. It’s an absolute credit to him. Tim Tszyu’s back doing what Tim Tszyu does, and it’s great for everybody else involved too.”
