With Tim Tszyu set to defend his world title against Brian Mendoza this weekend in his native Australia, Tszyu talks to media reporters about what he expects to be his last big fight Down Under and what he makes of the opponent who will be standing across the ring from him. Check out some of what he had to say below.
Tszyu on how he rates Mendoza
“Every fight, every next fight is the hardest fight. So just taking it as the hardest opponent.”
“I think we’re at the 1% now. There’s no such thing as flops at this level. So everyone’s a warrior, everyone’s here to fight, it’s the very top.”
On Mendoza questioning his knockout power
“Wait until he feels it. Simple, man. Boxing’s simple. Just show it, I don’t like to talk too much, I show it.”
On how he rates Mendoza’s knockout power
“What about the rest of his career? People talk about the last two (fights), great. I’m not concerned anyway. I’m focused on myself. I’ve proved it over and over again and I keep proving it.
“They’re talking about his two-fight win streak, what about my 23-fight win streak? This is number 24, one of my favorite numbers. Kobe Bryant.”
On how he feels about the year he’s had
“Not satisfied at all. You know how it is, we keep turning it up, keep putting it on, keep creating these memories and keep doing what I’m doing.”
On defending his world title in his home country of Australia
“I think for myself, it doesn’t matter. It’s everyone here that comes and supports. Even all you guys, man. We’ve been working since day one. We’re all climbing up together and it’s just a proud moment to be able to fight as a world title fight and to be doing it here in Australia.
“It’s the last hurrah. We spoke about it with my team a couple months ago and this would be the last one. It’s harder to make fights. The opponents are more expensive, everything rises up, so I completely understand. So for me, I need to chase my dream. I’ve always wanted it. COVID stopped me at one stage to go overseas but once I came back after the Minnesota fight, came back here and started feeling the love from the people, it’s an addictive feeling man. It’s hard to get back. But we’ve said ‘that’s it,’ this is the last hurrah.”