Tim Tszyu has revealed his brand new hit list, with the rejuvenated Aussie eyeing up a world tour with bouts against Erislandy Lara in Australia, Jermell Charlo in Las Vegas, Xander Zayas at Madison Square Garden in New York and Conor Benn and Chris Eubank in the UK.
Speaking from training camp in Thailand this week, Tszyu also revealed that younger brother Nikita “used to bash” superstar Conor Benn in sparring back in the day, before having a crack at Nikita’s last opponent Ben Mahoney.
Six weeks on from his bounce back win over Errol Spence, Tszyu is plotting his next move, and says fighting for world titles is his primary focus.
As first reported by Code Sports in July, that puts him on a collision course with WBA middleweight champion Lara.
That fight is loosely slated for December in Australia, with Tszyu keen to continue bringing big fights Down Under after the success of his PPV hit against Spence.
However, the 31-year-old also outlined a global itinerary for his ideal schedule over the next two years.
“I want to bring the big fights here, but a Madison Square Garden fight is still on the bucket list,” he said. “I have a proper hit list now.
“Xander Zayas in New York, Charlo in Las Vegas, Lara in Australia, Benn and Eubank in the UK.
“That’s the whole world.”
Former unified super-welterweight world champion Zayas is a fixture on the New York fight scene and a regular headliner at Madison Square Garden.
Tszyu and Charlo were supposed to fight in 2023, but the bout was cancelled when the American picked up an injury. A rescheduled bout was also scrapped when Charlo landed the chance to fight Canelo Alvarez later that year.
Tszyu is adamant he will meet Charlo in the ring sooner or later, but says big money fights with Benn and Eubank Jr also make sense.
Benn and Eubank are also the sons of former world champions, Nigel and Chris respectively, and fought a pair of multimillion dollar fights last year.
Benn faces Ryan Garcia in a pay per view blockbuster in Las Vegas this weekend.
“That’s a cool fight for the fans,” Tszyu said of a Benn showdown. “We both grew up the same way, with famous fathers and a fighting background.
“I’d even punch on with Eubank as well. Eubank would be easy work. I’d give him four rounds.”
Benn represents England, but spent several years growing up in North West Sydney, where he first began boxing.
“Nikita used to bash him in sparring!” Tszyu told Code Sports. “I used to watch it all the time – Nikita used to bash him back in my gym.
“Obviously Benn’s gotten better since then. He went to England, started his pro career and he’s taken off.
“Back in the day, they all used to spar each other. I was bit older, so I didn’t spar them, but they were the young bucks.”
Still on Nikita, Tim says they haven’t spoken much since a falling out earlier this year, but is adamant his younger brother beat Ben Mahoney comfortably in their controversial split draw last month.
“It frustrated me, the confidence that the other guy (Mahoney) came out with,” Tszyu told Code. “I was like, ‘Is this guy delusional?’
“He needs to re-watch the fight. He lost most of the rounds.
“He was acting like he won the fight. Bro, relax, it’s a draw. And he’s still going on about it three weeks later.
“I beat Spence and forgot about it in a week and moved on.
“These other guys draw to Nikita Tszyu and it’s like they need a red carpet at a parade. Get outta here man.”
Tszyu also confirmed that he touched up Mahoney in sparring on the Gold Coast five years ago.
There have been rumours of the sparring beatdown for years, and footage apparently exists, but has never seen the light of day.
“No comment… but yes I did,” Tszyu told Code when asked about the rumours. “Fox Sports have a video of me dropping him.
“They put it on their ad, then those guys had a little sook about it, so we had to tell Fox to delete the footage.
“It’s on video somewhere.”