Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\nTim Tszyu pictured with Jeff Fenech.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
Following a rough 18 months that has seen him lose three world title bouts against Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev, Tszyu says it now feels right to align with that famed bird from Greek mythology who rises from the ashes of its predecessor. <\/p>\n
The move comes only a fortnight after Tszyu also announced his new partnership with Cuban trainer Pedro Diaz, and sees the Sydneysider now following in the footsteps of fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Marvelous Margin Hagler, even Sugar Ray Robinson.<\/p>\n
Despite being only a few weeks into his new life with Diaz, Tszyu says he is already \u201carriving to each new session with so much energy\u201d thanks to the high range of technical changes taking place.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old has also been doing conditioning work on the same hills previously run by both Muhammad Ali and Roberto Duran.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the energy that comes with that,\u201d Tszyu says, \u201cman, it\u2019s something I\u2019ve never felt before\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tszyu\u2019s name change is certainly well understood by some of those biggest names in the fight game, with American superstar Floyd Mayweather having famously changed from \u2018Pretty Boy\u2019 to \u2018Money\u2019 and one juncture in his career.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the legendary Marvelous Marvin Hagler was also so attached to his own moniker \u2013 and so wanted ring announcers and journalists to use it \u2013 he legally changed his name to exactly that in 1982.<\/p>\n
Zerafa and Tszyu trade heated words | 04:05<\/p>\n
Even one of the sport\u2019s most recognised names, Sugar Ray Robinson, was adopted by the fighter born Walter Smith Jr.<\/p>\n
Aged 15 and wanting to fight to make his family some cash, Walter took the name of an older barman, who was an amateur boxer, so he could compete.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd for me, your fight name is like your alter ego,\u201d Tszyu said this week when asked about his decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of my identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd given everything that I\u2019ve gone through recently, I just feel like the Phoenix really is the true me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pushed on his name change, the fighter continued: \u201cYes, I\u2019ve been to the bottom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve crashed and burned.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I know there are now people counting me out. People who are going to say this or that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s all OK.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I understand that to achieve the major change I\u2019m going for, there are a whole heap of small changes required to get me there.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this is just one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu also suggested the name change reflects the idea that Australians enjoy a comeback story — and hopes to prove that everyone can bounce back from adversity — while also cementing, in every sense, his new life as an overhauled fighter moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019d think I would have made these changes already,\u201d Tszyu continued, speaking after a training session with Diaz.<\/p>\n
\u201cMade them after my first loss. Or even after my second.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I never did anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever made any changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now that I am, I feel different.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, I\u2019ve absolutely crashed and burned. But this is all about rising from the ashes for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked specifically about his decision to brush The Soul Taker, and Tszyu said he didn\u2019t feel aligned to the moniker so wonderfully coined by Main Event\u2019s Ben Damon.<\/p>\n
For the longest time too, a name that seemed apt as the fighter punched his way to world title glory via Tony Harrison, Carlos Ocampo and Brian Mendoza.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially, I never even wanted a fight name,\u201d Tszyu continues. \u201cBut now more recently I have begun thinking about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it was recently, while visiting Japan, where I really made some decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long time I\u2019d thought \u2018I need a change\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when I was over in Japan by myself, that\u2019s when I finally decided \u2018yes, I am making change\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019ve got a whole new team, a whole new outlook.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first time in my life that I\u2019ve really made changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got this completely new version of myself where physically, mentally, I have a whole new state of mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this new fight name represents that.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘The sport needs him’ Zerafa on Tszyu | 00:40<\/p>\n
Certainly some of the world\u2019s greatest fighters will understand, including Clarresa Shields, who now goes by the nickname GWOAT after initially starting her career as T-Rex.<\/p>\n
Asked once about her fight name by ESPN, Shields said: \u201cIt describes your alter ego.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people get confused when they feel like fighters are the same person they are inside the ring as they are outside the ring. A lot of us are completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyson Fury also spoke about the reasoning behind his nickname, The Gypsy King.<\/p>\n
According to the former world heavyweight champion, he has lineage on both sides of his family who also once carried the same name \u2013 bareknuckle brawlers Uriah Burton and Bartley Gorman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew I\u2019d become \u2018The Gypsy King\u2019 and that\u2019s the ultimate nickname,\u201d Fury said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always aspired to be the best, always wanted to be the heavyweight champion of the world. And there\u2019s a lot of honor and respect that comes with my inherited title because there\u2019s gypsies in every country in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fury said he had actually declined other awarded British titles of nobility because of his respect for the honor of being \u2018The Gypsy King\u2019.<\/p>\n
Tszyu, meanwhile, is relishing his new life in Miami, which this week included training with members of the Spanish Olympic team. Part of his shake up also involves signing on a new manager, Darcy Ellis, and matchmaker, Mike Altamura.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now working with my new team [towards his next fight], it\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Tszyu said. \u201cEvery day I\u2019m arriving at training with so much energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s because every day I\u2019m being confronted with something new. There are so many new ideas, from everyone. Heading into this new chapter I feel incredibly blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First, he switched up his team. Now Tim Tszyu is ditching \u2018The Soul Taker\u2019 tag. In preparation for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[12436,2095,43757,1724,64,63,2809,802,152768,117834,152770,40879,152764,152766,130933,152759,30027,152760,117844,152761,9239,140774,6758,152772,61519,152767,2755,26700,39983,941,27662,54815,5140,11850,117842,2823,86955,2782,2041,2067,140787,152765,140771,11832,152762,85,27487,5942,11859,152763,8691,2614,152773,152769,2836,152771],"class_list":["post-259333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-alter-ego","tag-america","tag-american-superstar","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ben-damon","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-needs-personalities","tag-brian-mendoza","tag-carlos-ocampo","tag-chris-eubank","tag-clarresa-shields","tag-comeback-bid","tag-comeback-story","tag-conditioning-work","tag-conor-benn","tag-cuban-trainer","tag-darcy-ellis","tag-ditches-moniker","tag-eastern-asia","tag-event-ring-walk","tag-family-legacy","tag-family-rivalry","tag-fight-game","tag-fight-name","tag-florida","tag-floyd-mayweather","tag-heavyweight-champion","tag-japan","tag-jeff-fenech","tag-marvin-hagler","tag-miami","tag-michael-zerafa","tag-mike-altamura","tag-muhammad-ali","tag-name-change","tag-nick-walshaw","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-pedro-diaz","tag-people-counting","tag-ring-walk-time","tag-roberto-duran","tag-soul-taker","tag-sports","tag-sugar-ray-robinson","tag-tim-tszyu","tag-tony-harrison","tag-trading-verbal-blows","tag-tyson-fury","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-walter-smith","tag-wanted-ring-announcers","tag-world-title","tag-world-title-bouts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}