{"id":93906,"date":"2021-07-01T09:57:40","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T09:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=93906"},"modified":"2021-07-01T20:57:29","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T20:57:29","slug":"tszyus-ice-cold-words-for-likeable-saviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=93906","title":{"rendered":"Tszyu's 'ice-cold' words for 'likeable' saviour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Spark is the most likeable character in Australian boxing at the moment, having stepped up to fight Tim Tszyu<\/a> to emerge as a hero in the eyes of pundits.<\/p>\n

Tszyu also agreed to a ringside selfie with Spark on the night of Paul Gallen's duel with Lucas Browne in April – and he describes the Queenslander as "not a bad guy".<\/p>\n

But no boxing fan should think for a second that Tszyu will take Spark lightly when they touch gloves at Newcastle Entertainment Centre next Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Tszyu, who's long declared he's a class above every one of his Australian boxing rivals and is destined to thrive overseas, says he's zeroing in on the Spark clash with a merciless mindset.<\/p>\n

"We've met a few times, he's not a bad guy. But right now I've got this fire burning within me," Tszyu said.<\/p>\n

"Likeable, not likeable, there's no emotion in this anymore. This is all business. You've got to be all business. You've got to be ice-cold in this world if you want to succeed."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/COiFvEwneEL\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp<\/a><\/p>\n

Spark appeared from the blue as Tszyu's next competitor when Melbourne boxer Michael Zerafa made a stunning withdrawal yesterday evening<\/a>, citing financial and health concerns amid the COVID-19 dilemma.<\/p>\n

Australian boxing great Billy Dib described Zerafa's move as "weak"<\/a> and the extraordinary bail appears all but certain to tarnish the reputation of the former Commonwealth super-welterweight champion.<\/p>\n

Tszyu's new opponent, 24-year-old Spark from Toowoomba, lays claim to a professional boxing record of 12-1-0, including 11 knockouts.<\/p>\n

He clinched an upset victory over Jack Brubaker, who's trained by Australian boxing icon Jeff Fenech, via a unanimous decision on the undercard of Gallen's clash with Browne in April.<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/p>\n

"He's talented, he's dangerous, he's coming in with that winning mentality that there's nothing to lose," Tszyu said.<\/p>\n

"That always provides a dangerous fight, when you've got someone coming in with that type of mentality.<\/p>\n

"I've seen it in the past (where) people underestimate, for example, Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz – late replacements. But these are the things you have to adapt to in boxing.<\/p>\n

"It's all part of the experience, all part of the journey for me. I'm switching the whole Zerafa thing off, he's now in the past, my main thing is what's happening right now and that's Stevie Spark.<\/p>\n

"He's good, he's very decorated, he's had a great amateur career, a 90 per cent knockout ratio.<\/p>\n

"But I believe there are levels in boxing and I believe I'm levels above anyone here in Australia."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Spark is the most likeable character in Australian boxing at the moment, having stepped up to fight Tim Tszyu to emerge as a hero […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93906"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93906"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93908,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93906\/revisions\/93908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}