For Aussie fighters, it can help to be an underdog. The battler narrative is one that has been embraced as long as we’ve been sending boxers abroad to carry the Southern Cross into the opposing corner.
But the homecoming: it’s less simple. When you think of the greatest moments in Australian boxing history, it’s startling how few of them took place on home soil.
Kostya Tszyu, Tim’s father and our greatest ever fighter, fought once in Australia between 1998 and 2005, with his home fans unable to see him in action without travelling halfway around the world to Las Vegas or Manchester, where the end would come against Ricky Hatton.
George Kambosos, our most celebrated champion in recent years, exemplified the battler attitude. But when.he came home with titles in hand… less so.
He went on the road from 2017 until 2022, making his mark globally by outpointing former champ Lee Selby at Wembley Arena on the undercard of Oleksandr Uysk’s heavyweight debut, silencing the most partisan of home crowds in the process.
Then he went one better and took all the belts off Teofimo Lopez under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden in late 2021, a win that nobody predicted.
You could throw in the likes of Michael Katzidis, shutting London fans up with a win over West Ham fan Kevin Mitchell on the pitch at the old Upton Park, and going into the backyards of legends like Juan Manuel Marquez, Joel Casamayor and Ricky Burns.
Or Sakio Bika, taking on Andre Ward, Anthony Dirrell, Adonis Stevenson, Lucian Bute and Joe Calazghe on their terms.
Even Lucas Browne, at his peak, had the unusual fight path of winning on the road in Chechnya for a version of the world heavyweight title and fighting in front of a packed O2 Arena in London, with a home fight in between at a social club in Punchbowl. Such has been the lot of Aussie boxers in recent years.
Not Tim Tszyu. Through a combination of his talent and, yes, his name, the trajectory of his career has largely been built on relatively soft-touch home fights, domestic dust-ups with Jeff Horn and Dennis Hogan, and then one good win on the road.
His last fight on these shores, against Japanese fighter Takeshi Inoue, won him a title but, come on: Takeshi isn’t even the best fighter called Inoue and he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page.
It’s why this fight matters. Aussie fight fans got two chances to see Kambosos in action, and on both occasions, he failed to deliver and lost wide decisions.
We love a battler, but when the shoe is on the other foot, it fell apart for the home champ. It’s a different mentality if you’re expected to put on a show for your own fans.
Kambosos was facing a superstar in Devin Haney, but even then, it wasn’t close. George changed his nickname from ‘Ferocious’ to ‘The Emperor’, and seemingly changed tack with it. He was a far better underdog.
Tszyu is where Kambosos was in Melbourne last year, except he hasn’t actually won anything yet.
His road win over Terrell Gausha didn’t so much make the world sit up as it did make them lean forward slightly. Australian form doesn’t matter much elsewhere in the world, which is why our boxers spend so much time on the road.
It did, however, earn him a shot at Jermell Charlo, and while injury put paid to that, it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Tony Harrison, whom Tszyu faces this weekend in Sydney, will likely be a good stepping stone between Gausha – ranked outside the top ten globally – and Charlo, the clear number one.
Had Charlo been fit, that fight would likely have been Las Vegas and the stage set for another underdog, battling effort. That would suit the Aussie mentality.
Now, it’s a fight where Tszyu is a clear favourite, is ranked higher and has all the advantages of the other guy needing to travel. The crown has to fit this Sunday lunchtime at the Qudos Bank Arena. If it does, it will prove that Tim is suited to being a champion – and he will, finally, be one.
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