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Identity crisis Tszyu hopes to get respect by winning undisputed crown
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Ask Kostya Tszyu to talk about how he went from an amateur on Russia's boxing team to one of Australia's biggest sports stars and he gets a little irritated. Old stuff, he says, and a story that's been told too many times. Of much more interest to Tszyu is his immediate future. That's a story with a lead chapter that will be played out Saturday night when he meets unbeaten Zab Judah with all three major 140-pound titles on the line. For Tszyu, it's a chance to finally be recognized at the age of 32 as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters around. It's also a fight against a younger, faster fighter that he acknowledges is loaded with risk. "There's a little extra pressure for all of us," Tszyu said. "I'm expecting the hardest fight of my career. He's younger and really wants this fight." Tszyu, who holds the WBC and WBA super lightweight titles, finds himself in the rare position of being a 2.5-1 underdog against Judah, the IBF champion.
Judah is fast, flashy and powerful. But Tszyu is strong, confident and a lot more experienced than his 24-year-old opponents. "I've been here a long time as a champion," Tszyu said. "For Zab it's big pressure because he's really never been in a main event yet and he's stepping up where there's big guys like me around." Big might not be the proper word for Tszyu, who stands 5-foot-7 and has the kind of metabolism that has allowed him to remain for more than a decade in the weight class he fought in for Russia. It was while he was on that team that Tszyu fell in love with his adopted country when he won a world championship in Australia at 139 pounds. With the Soviet Union breaking up at the time, Tszyu passed on the 1992 Olympics and moved to Australia. He doesn't like to repeat the story because he's told it many times since. The short version is he settled in, began a family and has turned into one of Australia's big sports heroes. "I fell in love with the country," he said while sitting this week in a hotel suite overlooking the Las Vegas Strip. "They adopted me like one of their own. I became Australian. It's not only by passport, it's by mentality. I think like an Australian now." Indeed, Tszyu's near-perfect English carries a tinge of an Australian accent, and his brawling, straight ahead style is well suited to the type of boxing that Australians love. Some of Tszyu's Australian fans will endure 14-hour flights to be at the MGM Grand for the fight on tours arranged by his business associates. He's promising them a show that will make the long journey worthwhile. "I'm very motivated, very focused," he said. "The fight will be a little different than what he thinks. It will be him adjusting to my high pressure from the start." Tszyu (27-1-1, 22 knockouts) will be returning to the ring where he won the IBF title, stopping Jake Rodriguez in January 1995 in only his 14th pro fight. He followed it with five successful defenses, and appeared on his way to becoming a big star. Then he was stopped by Vincent Phillips in the 10th round in May 1997 for his only loss, and it was time to regroup and change a lot of things about the way he trained and the way he approached fights. "I was a professional fighting with an amateur's attitude," Tszyu said. "I realized I needed to make changes in my preparation with everything. I changed the way I train, the way I eat, everything I do." Tszyu came back to win the WBC championship by beating Miguel Angel Gonzales in August 1999 and the WBA title Feb. 3 by stopping Sharmba Mitchell. Though he was unimpressive in a decision victory against Oktay Urkal in his last outing on June 23, Tszyu is 9-0 with eight knockouts since losing to Phillips. "I feel very cool, relaxed and ready to go," he said. "I believe it is my destiny to become the undisputed champion of the world." Judah (27-0, 1 no-contest, 21 knockouts), of Brooklyn, N.Y., won the IBF title last year.
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