Jeff Fenech has taken aim at the Australian boxing figures who questioned Tim Tszyu’s camp and wrote him off before Sunday’s blockbuster win over Errol Spence Jnr.
Still fired up after watching Tszyu defeat the American superstar over 12 rounds in Sydney, the Hall of Famer said the victory was especially satisfying because it proved so many doubters wrong.
UFC 330: Makhachev v Machado Garry | SUN 16 AUGUST 11AM AEST | UFC Welterweight Champion Islam Makhachev will return to the octagon for another tittle defence, where he takes on Ian Machado Garry in Philadelphia. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Fenech, who joined forces with Tszyu only 10 weeks before the fight following the boxer’s split from Cuban-American trainer Pedro Diaz, said there had been no shortage of criticism directed at the new-look team before the opening bell.
But after Tszyu controlled the bout to earn a unanimous decision victory — with scorecards of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 — Fenech was proud of what they achieved.
“Everybody was criticising us and bagging us,” Fenech told Raw Sports Media.
“We had boxers out there, Australian boxers, saying even if Errol Spence is 50 per cent we don’t have a chance of winning.
“That’s pretty disgraceful to me.
“Anybody who is Australian should be supporting us and trying to help us, not bag us and talk s**t about us.
“So to all you baggers and people who talked s**t about us, you know what you can do with yourselves.”
Aussie boxing icon Jeff Fenech blasts criticsSource: FOX SPORTS
Fenech expanded on those comments while appearing on The Punch Podcast.
“Jealousy is a real curse, yesterday I hope you learned a lesson by opening your mouth too many times,” he said.
“To all the people out there who doubt us… I don’t want to swear but you know what I’m thinking about you all.”
Fenech’s comments came after Anthony Mundine questioned his appointment, while several others doubted Tszyu’s chances against the former pound-for-pound great.
“If tomorrow Tim came to me and said I want to train with Anthony Mundine, I’d say good luck to you, go and do that,” Fenech said.
“I admire what Anthony Mundine has done for the sport.
“And then we’ve got Billy Dib… hopefully he’ll get on and apologise.”
The four-division world champ said he and Tszyu clicked almost straight away, with the trust between the pair growing throughout camp.
“After two weeks I think we really started seeing what each other really talked about,” said Fenech.
“We gelled really quickly and I’m blessed to be able to do what I did with him last night.”
Fenech said the partnership couldn’t have gone much better.
“We got the result we all wished and prayed for but the reason we got the result was because we all worked hard, we had a great game plan – and I was blessed to have a great fighter in the corner who listened,” said Fenech.
“The first thing I tried was to get him mentally right, because once that happens it’ll be much easier to train him.
“I worked hard on him mentally and everything fell into place.
“I made sure his life outside of boxing was happy, and he was very easy to work with.”
Fenech said the scenes after the final bell were made even more special by the presence of Nikita Tszyu, with the Aussie boxing icon hopeful the victory could help heal the well-publicised rift within the Tszyu family.
“Tim saw Nikita there and called him straight up (into the ring) which I thought was beautiful,” said Fenech.
“He was there applauding his brother which I thought was beautiful. His mother was there crying as she always does. Natasha’s beautiful.
“So hopefully something really positive will happen from this and their family will be exactly that, a family again.”
‘This could be it’ Tszyu’s honest reveal | 08:26
As impressive as the performance was, the Marrickville Mauler insists Tszyu is far from the finished product.
“What he did yesterday is 25 per cent of what I know he can do,” said Fenech.
“There’s still another 75 per cent improvement that I know is going to come with Tim in the next few months.
“He’s going to be ready for anybody that we fight.”