Tim Tzsyu is likely done with Aussie fighters – the boxing star is now eyeing international opponents and ultimately a world title.
Tszyu delivered a savage third-round TKO of Steve Spark in Newcastle on Wednesday night, showing no mercy to the man who at the last minute replaced Michael Zerafa.
The 19-0 (15 KOs) super welterweight said that he wouldn't grant Zerafa another chance after his shock withdrawal from their fight and was now eyeing off bigger fish on the world stage.
Ultimately, he wants to winner of Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano's world title unification fight, set for July 17 (July 18 AEST) in Texas. He said that he'd sent a message to the champions with his ruthless disposal of Spark.
"[They'll see] danger, because I get rid of my opponents quite early now and I hurt them. It's a risky fight for them as well," he said.
"I think Charlo is going to win. Outboxes him. Keeps him at distance. Counters him, does simple boxing, doesn't hurt him or anything, just outboxes him."
Promoter George Rose said "The big fight that's coming in two weeks is the world title fight. We're going to be watching Charlo and Castano closely.
"Tim is the No.1 rank in the WBO, the win tonight should push him to No.2 in the other bodies. With that being said, he's the highest-ranked super welterweight across all the major organsations; with that in mind he's got to be pushing for that world title.
"It's a fight the top guys wouldn't want. Tim's a dangerous guy. We want that world title fight. If we don't get that, we'll knock off an international."
A potential twist is that Charlo wins and moves up in weight, potentially vacating the super welterweight belts.
"I'm not surprised he's thinking about doing that. From what he said in that interview about Tim, he knows how dangerous Tim Tszyu is. He doesn't want to face him and fair enough," Rose said.
Rose said that Tszyu may need to earn mandatory challenger status to seal a crack at the world title. Meanwhile, Tszyu's handlers are eyeing off three other potential opponents, with the intention to fight them in Australia.
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"We're well deep into our next fight. We're looking international. It will be a top 10, most likely a top five," manager Glen Jennings said.
"Quite possibly a former world champ and right now the names on our list that we're deep in with are Liam Smith of the UK, Danny Garcia is now on our list and Tony Harrison from the USA.
"Matty [Rose, Tszyu's promoter] and I have been going at this for a while now and it's very close. So we should be confident and I think Georgey would be happy to say that we're trying to get this on in Australia in September.
"It's exciting. It was a bit of milestone for us tonight because technically, we're now done domestically and we're moving on to the international stage. It's a great feeling for all of us."
Tszyu's team are also determined to have him challenge for the world title on home soil, yet said they'd have no problem heading to the US if that's how the fight is made.
"That's the goal is to have a world title fight here. If that next fight is a world title fight, we want to do it in front of a sold-out Australian crowd," Rose said.
Jennings said of a mission to America: "We'll go, we've got no issue with going. It's primarily driven by COVID and our response as a team to COVID.
"No Limit [Rose's promotion company] have been patient with the fact we've not wanted to go. But as I said earlier, we're now flipping a new page and once we go international, plans are in place for us and we will be ready to pack our bags and go if the opportunity presents itself in the next week, the next month or the next year.
"But it's also in the back of our minds and as a group we've always said, because Timmy has done such a beautiful job in Australia and the support here, we would love to be able to do that here first and keep travel as a secondary."
Another magnificent possibility is quietly looming, a long-time dream of Tszyu and his legendary father, former world champion Kostya Tszyu.
Fighting in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia. The motherland of the Tszyu family. Unbeaten Russian powerhouse Magomed Kurbanov (22-0, 13 KOs), who beat Smith by unanimous decision in his last fight, is a potential opponent.
"There's been talks about that," Tszyu said. "Maybe next year.
"I'd love to fight in Russia. I've been fighting here my whole career and I'd love to have a fight in Russia. It's something that I've always dreamt about.
"That (Fighting Kurbanov there) be massive. I'm an Aussie until I die but it's just always been a dream of mine and my dad was never able to do it."
Tszyu called out Kurbanov in the ring after beating Spark.
"There's Liam Smith, Kurbanov and Danny Garcia, they're the three boys I'm going for," Tszyu said. "If you're watching boys, I'm coming for you."
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