Nikita Tszyu has spoken about the wild moment he nearly broke the neck of a sparring partner as he puts the finishing touches on his pressure-cooker showdown with Gold Coast fighter Ben Mahoney (17-0-1).<\/p>\n
Long considered an offbeat character in Aussie boxing, Tszyu has been known to eat snake hearts and drink breast milk in the past. <\/p>\n
He says he doesn\u2019t remember the sparring incident clearly as he revealed boxing forces him to go to dark places. <\/p>\n
This is even more interesting considering Doyle\u2019s Boxing Gym\u2014his new training base \u2013 used to be a church. <\/p>\n
The converted building still has yellow stained glass windows, a raised floor that used to be the altar, and a recess in the wall where three confessional booths once lived.<\/p>\n
Tszyu doesn\u2019t need a booth to confess. <\/p>\n
Instead he tells Code Sports the wild tale from his own confessional area: the boxing ring. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something ethereal about this place,\u201d he says of the gym. \u201cI like the yellow light that comes through the windows \u2013 it\u2019s warming. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s interesting\u2026we\u2019re training in a church, but I\u2019m like the devil.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn unwanted entity training in the church.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoxing is a very spiritual act though. You have to harness parts of yourself that are usually dormant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat spiritual side, I like to dabble my feet in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu is training at the gym after leaving the family\u2019s long-time base at Rockdale PCYC. <\/p>\n
\u2018The Butcher\u2019 was locked out of the Tszyu Fight Club in April and forced to relocate after a fallout with older brother, Tim, and says he\u2019ll never go back. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo, that\u2019s over,\u201d he says of the third-floor gym where his father, Kostya, once trained. \u201cThat\u2019s a door that\u2019s been closed for sure. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, definitely not. No chance. <\/p>\n
\u201cPlus, this is better for my granddad. He doesn\u2019t have to walk up any stairs, there\u2019s toilets right nearby. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt Rockdale you have to do a marathon just to do a piss. Three sets of stairs, it\u2019s too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite being just a week out from the next big test of his young career, Tszyu is relaxed and easy going in the warm afternoon light of the former church. <\/p>\n
The change comes when he steps into the ring. <\/p>\n
Which brings us to that recent sparring session against the Australasian super-middleweight champion Ralph Etienne. <\/p>\n
Tszyu was in full fight mode that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the fighting version of me comes out, he\u2019s in charge, and I do what he wants,\u201d Tszyu says. \u201cRalph told me after one of our sparring sessions recently, \u2018Man, you\u2019re actually a psychopath\u2019,\u201d Tszyu says. <\/p>\n
\u201cApparently in sparring, we clinched up at one point \u2013 and I don\u2019t even remember doing this \u2013 but apparently I grabbed his head with my hands in my gloves and I tried to twist it. <\/p>\n
\u201cLike breaking his neck.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was like, \u2018dude, I didn\u2019t know what to do\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a different personality that takes over in the ring. I don\u2019t even remember doing it. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe laughed about it, I said sorry I didn\u2019t mean to do it. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just funny how the switch happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu flies to the Gold Coast on Thursday for the final stretch of his 13th training camp as a professional. <\/p>\n
A win over the undefeated Mahoney can propel him into world title contention, but all that is far from his thoughts now. <\/p>\n
And so is that \u201cevil\u201d other side of him. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there\u2019s a need for that kind of energy, it will find its way out,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen there\u2019s no danger in front of me, I\u2019m relaxed. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m chill as a cucumber. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, that\u2019s not the personality that\u2019s in me right now. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter fighting, the thirst has been fed, and I go back to normal. I\u2019m not walking around wanting to break people\u2019s necks. <\/p>\n
\u201cWell, maybe if the wrong person cuts me off in traffic\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n