Tim Tszyu’s mum Natasha has revealed she wants him to train in Russia to avoid a repeat of the brutal beatdown he received in Florida over the weekend.
The Aussie boxing star was left heavily concussed from his battering at the hands of ruthless Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev in Sunday’s IBF super-welterweight mismatch.
Tszyu’s brother Nikita eventually threw in the towel midway through the third round after Australian boxing’s golden boy was sent crashing to the canvas four times at the Caribe Royal resort in Orlando, before Tim’s uncle did the same a second later.
Tszyu said he felt in tremendous shape before the bout, but his mother would like him to alter his preparation next time he steps into the ring.
Natasha told Australian Associated Press that she wants her son to spend time in Russia to undertake a gruelling Soviet-style training camp after witnessing him be dismantled by the power-punching Murtazaliev.
Tszyu’s mum and famous dad Kostya were both present at the fight in Florida on Sunday, with Natasha seen comforting her son backstage after the stunning upset.
The boxer spent over four hours in hospital, but has been given the all-clear and will fly home with his whole team on Monday.
Earlier in the year, Natasha predicted that Tim and his fiancee will give her a grandson who follows in his footsteps by becoming a boxer.
‘I’m telling you, I won’t be surprised if one day you are talking to me and I’m going to be a grandmother and my grandsons are going to be fighting,’ she told Fox Sports.
‘Honestly, I feel it.’
Natasha went on to reveal that her son made an eerily accurate prediction about his fighting future more than a decade ago.
She said she tried to ensure Tim and his brother Nikita didn’t take up boxing by putting them into a private school and changing their lives around so they would ‘live in a normal Australian way’.
‘Then one day, 12 years ago, Tim said to me, “Mum, I want to box. I see myself fighting in Las Vegas. And one day when my dad comes to Australia, I’m going to pick him up in a beautiful car and drive around Sydney,'” she recalled.
‘I stand here today and I remember that conversation. And the dream comes true.’
Tszyu is engaged to long-time partner Alexandra Constantine, who was also in Florida for the bout.
He has said the Sydney-born finance graduate has been a rock for him during his climb to the top of the sport.
‘She lives this as well. She is young, she could be going out to bars, hanging out with her friends, instead she’s stuck in a sauna with me on Saturday nights and then we have an early night,’ Tszyu said earlier in the year.
‘When I diet, she diets. She cooks a lot of meals, she actually keeps me grounded with my diet.
‘So it’s not just my victory when I win a fight, she deserves the spotlight too.’
The pair met at a boxing class in the southern Sydney suburb of Rockdale 2016, and it was love at first sight for Tszyu.
The fighter, who normally refuses to hold the pads for anyone else, was smitten by her smile.
Once the class ended the pair began chatting and the two have been inseparable ever since.
Constantine, who is fluent in English, French and Macedonian, has been ringside at almost all of Tszyu’s professional fights.
