OUT OF THE SHADOWS: EVEN AS A CHAMP, TIM TSZYU TRYING TO SET HIS OWN COURSE

Tim Tszyu, above, defends his WBO junior middleweight world title against Sebastian Fundora Saturday night in Las Vegas. Mark Evans/Getty Images

 LAS VEGAS -- Tim Tszyu shadowboxes at the Split T Boxing Club just off The Strip on a Friday morning in February, seven weeks before his name flashes all over the marquee in the fight capital of the world.

That Tszyu surname is a well-known commodity to fight fans, of course. His father, Kostya, is a Hall of Famer, but these days it's Tim who is charting his own path in boxing to prove he's far more than simply the son of a legend.

There's a striking resemblance to Kostya, the explosive puncher who tore through the junior welterweight division throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. And as Tim Tszyu hits the heavy bag on this day, he's guided by the same coach who trained his father in the Soviet school of boxing. Igor Goloubevk is Tim's uncle and Kostya's brother-in-law, a man who helped develop Tim's fierce discipline as a child running the dunes in Australia.

If Tim grew to prominence in Australia years ago due to his familiar name, he's since shown he's a serious fighter worth keeping an eye on all his own. The aggressive pursuit of his opponents both inside and outside the ring. The confident demeanor. The way he strings together combinations seamlessly. The power.

It was all on display last year in his breakthrough campaign that began with a ninth-round TKO win over Tony Harrison and ended in October with a decision victory over Brian Mendoza.

With each fight that passes, Tszyu appears to improve just a little bit more and inch just a bit closer to his goal of genuine stardom the world over. The opportunity to add a recognizable name like Keith Thurman to his resume -- and a victory no doubt -- would have bolstered his credentials.

However, Thurman suffered a biceps injury and was forced to withdraw. In his place steps Sebastian Fundora, a 6-foot-5½, 154-pounder with a vastly different frame and style from the one Tszyu was preparing for.

Fight cancellations aren't anything new to Tszyu. The 29-year-old (24-0, 17 KOs) was set to challenge for the undisputed junior middleweight championship last January before Jermell Charlo suffered a hand injury. That fight being scrapped was a disappointment, but it afforded Tszyu the opportunity to continue to build his own brand, displaying his fighting spirit by staying active against tough opposition rather than waiting for the champion to heal.

After Thurman's withdrawal, delaying his career longer wasn't an option. Taking this fight on 11 days' notice, Tszyu is primed to establish himself as a star, beginning with his first major fight in the U.S. for the WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles. He'll headline PBC's inaugural PPV on Prime Video (8 p.m. ET).

"It's a great launching pad," Tszyu tells ESPN. "It's a big [Las Vegas] debut, T-Mobile Arena. For me, it's always been a big dream of mine, but the possibilities after this are endless. The sky's the limit. The super fights are waiting, and that's what I've been wanting my whole life."

Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, left, with his son Tim Tszyu, who's defending his 154-pound title against Sebastian Fundora on Saturday. Jenny Evans/Getty Images

TSZYU HAS BEEN surrounded by boxing for as long as he can remember. He was born in Sydney, Australia, in November 1994, two months before Kostya challenged for his first world title, a sixth-round TKO victory over Jake Rodriguez in Las Vegas to become the IBF junior welterweight champion.

The elder Tszyu defeated Roger Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather's uncle and longtime trainer, in his first defense back in Australia and went on to star in the division as a pound-for-pound boxer until his final fight in 2005, when he was stopped by Ricky Hatton in Manchester, England.

""I want to be a throwback fighter, man. Just keep it old school. I look up to those guys that actually fought in the ring a lot of the times.... I still remember [Juan Manuel] Marquez, [Manny] Pacquiao, [Erik] Morales, [Marco Antonio] Barrera, [Marvin] Hagler, Tommy [Hearns]. These are the types of things that you don't forget. And I want to be one of those types of things that you don't forget."

All the indelible moments, from Las Vegas to England, from the stoppage victory over the great Julio Cesar Chavez and the second-round TKO over Zab Judah, left a big impression on Tim. He was six for the Chavez bout in Phoenix and seven for the Judah bout in Vegas, an infamous fight for Judah's stool toss and intimidation of referee Jay Nady.

"Sunday daytime was just -- I remember the Roy Joneses, and I remember just when they used to walk out and I used to just visualize even at a really young age, six, seven -- it's crazy to think that I still got the memories of that," says Tszyu, ESPN's No. 2 junior middleweight. "And then we'd go in the backyard and me and my brother [8-0 junior middleweight Nikita] would punch on, or me and my cousin would punch on and there'd be blood and broken teeth and broken noses, even at a young age. So I think the dream started then, and it's led to where I'm at now."

AS TIM CONTINUED to thrive as a young boxer, there was one man who was not actually literally in his corner -- his father. Sure, he had his father's support as he pursued the sport, but from a training standpoint, it was Igor who took the lead.

"I feel like a lot of the times dad would suffocate the kids, and I know that if my dad was in my corner, he would be suffocating," says Tszyu, whose father was born in the Soviet Union. "My dad lives in Russia, I live in Australia. He's never really been my coach, but we keep our relationship as just father and son rather than trainer and student. It's a conflict of interest. It's one thing being a trainer, one thing's being a father."

The father-son, trainer-coach dynamic is common in boxing but can come with serious issues and a fractured relationship. Kostya, Tim says, gives him advice, "but he usually says the same thing. It's quite generic. He just tells me 'don't get hit.' Yeah, that's the biggest pointer."

Tim Tszyu, left, and his trainer/uncle, Igor Goloubevk, at the Split T Boxing Club in Las Vegas. ESPN

Tszyu recalls cold showers each morning at age seven and 48-hour fasting challenges at that age, too, practices from his father, which he says he's maintained ever since.

"He grew up in Soviet Russia where the mentality is different," Tszyu says of his father. "Now I'm jumping in the pool every morning. I don't want to do it, but I still do it just because of the fact that every day has to be some sort of challenge. Something has to be difficult and there's no silver spoon here."

Kostya Tszyu competed five times in Las Vegas, but he won't be ringside Saturday for his son's Sin City debut. In fact, Tim's father has attended only one of his pro fights in person: his professional debut in December 2016 in Sydney. When Tszyu was asked if he was happy with his relationship with his father, Tim simply said "for sure."

The elder Tszyu and his family moved back to Moscow in 2008, but they later returned to Sydney. Four years later, Kostya Tszyu relocated full time to Russia and is now remarried with two children. He owns and operates a restaurant in Russia's capital.

"He's the man," Kostya told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2023. "He has proven to the world, to all the people that never believed in him, that believed it was only his name. I'm proud of it."

Tszyu's own rise in the fight game has far more to do with hard work and dedication than his last name, but his father still impacted his character in ways that continue to pay dividends.

"Discipline the same way [as his father]," says Goloubev, who began working with Kostya in 1997. "Always on time. ... Really disciplined and hard worker. Exactly the same. ... Vegas, it's mother of boxing. That's it. We're here ... now we just have to be the best."

Tim Tszyu, right, fought three times in 2023 -- three victories -- including a unanimous decision over Brian Mendoza in October. Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

TSZYU WAS WEEKS away from a career-defining showdown in Dec. 2022, a shot at Charlo and his undisputed junior middleweight championship. Then came the news on Christmas Eve -- Charlo suffered a broken left hand and the fight was canceled.

A choice laid before Tszyu: maintain his mandatory position with the WBO and wait for Charlo to recover, or look for another fight. Waiting is the route most boxers likely would have selected in today's risk-averse era, where fighters often compete once every 12 months. Especially boxers who are major draws like Tszyu is in Australia.

Only Tszyu had other ideas. Instead, he decided to fight former champion Tony Harrison -- a boxer who owned a win over Charlo -- and put his title shot on the line. Many observers thought it was a mistake to fight a legitimate, slick-boxing opponent rather than wait for Charlo and the career-high payday.

- Mike Coppinger, ESPN