The brother of WBO number one junior middleweight contender Tim ‘The Soul Taker’ Tszyu 21-0 (15) has warned undisputed 154-pound world champion Jermell ‘Iron Man’ Charlo 35-1-1 (19) that he has never seen his older sibling in better form or more focused.
The 28-year-old challenger from Sydney, Australia will attempt to wrest the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF titles from Texan Charlo, 32, at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 28.
Nikita Tszyu, who turned pro earlier this year and has amassed a record of 4-0 with three knockouts, started his camp in Australia before heading off to the United States a month before the bout to acclimatise and get better sparring.
Reports are coming in that he is looking better than ever.
“My grandad [Boris Tszyu] speaks to him everyday and he’s been saying he’s in a very good position, very good state of mind,” Nikita told news.com.au.
“They’ve been doing a lot of good sparring with some big American blokes helping him.
“He’s really zoned in. He understands the magnitude of this event, he understands the magnitude of the opportunity.”
Those comments were reflected by renowned American trainer Joe Goossen, who has been working with Tszyu stateside.
“You have to work harder than the guy you’re fighting,” Goossen said to The Age. “If you normally run three miles, run five miles. If you like to do 25 rounds in the gym, do 30. You have to up your game. And I know he is doing that. He has put in the work, he’s paying the price. It almost always pays off.”
Nikita added: “He’s so laser focused, it’s insane. Just watching him train here (in Australia), the way he’s approaching things is completely different. He’s so zoned in.
“Just doing some rounds of sparring with him before my last preparation, I saw this new animal come out of him.
“I feel sorry for Charlo, what he has to go through. Tim’s a scary bloke when he gets in the zone.
“He’s very technical. He’s very hard to hit, elusive. He’s been working a lot on his defence and stamina abilities.
“That mixed in with this terminator kind of style where he walks people down, it’s very difficult to fight against.
“It’s similar to [Gennady] Golovkin where he’s got the technique and he’s got the power as well and he’s always on your neck. It’s a very hard thing to deal with for a lot of rounds.”
