First, he switched up his team.
Now Tim Tszyu is ditching ‘The Soul Taker’ tag.
In preparation for what will likely be a blockbuster December comeback, Fox Sports Australia can reveal Tszyu is set to compete under a new fight name — Phoenix — as part of his push back toward a second world title.
Speaking this week from his new training base in Miami, Florida, Tszyu explained how the new name – or “alter ego” – is his way of embracing everything now standing between himself and a return to boxing’s global summit.
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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.
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.
Despite being only a few weeks into his new life with Diaz, Tszyu says he is already “arriving to each new session with so much energy” thanks to the high range of technical changes taking place.
The 31-year-old has also been doing conditioning work on the same hills previously run by both Muhammad Ali and Roberto Duran.
“And the energy that comes with that,” Tszyu says, “man, it’s something I’ve never felt before”.
Tszyu’s 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 ‘Pretty Boy’ to ‘Money’ and one juncture in his career.
Elsewhere, the legendary Marvelous Marvin Hagler was also so attached to his own moniker – and so wanted ring announcers and journalists to use it – he legally changed his name to exactly that in 1982.
Zerafa and Tszyu trade heated words | 04:05
Even one of the sport’s most recognised names, Sugar Ray Robinson, was adopted by the fighter born Walter Smith Jr.
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.
“And for me, your fight name is like your alter ego,” Tszyu said this week when asked about his decision.
“It’s part of my identity.
“And given everything that I’ve gone through recently, I just feel like the Phoenix really is the true me.”
Pushed on his name change, the fighter continued: “Yes, I’ve been to the bottom.
“I’ve crashed and burned.
“And I know there are now people counting me out. People who are going to say this or that.
“But it’s all OK.
“Because I understand that to achieve the major change I’m going for, there are a whole heap of small changes required to get me there.
“And this is just one of them.”
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.
“And you’d think I would have made these changes already,” Tszyu continued, speaking after a training session with Diaz.
“Made them after my first loss. Or even after my second.
“But I never did anything.
“Never made any changes.
“But now that I am, I feel different.
“Again, I’ve absolutely crashed and burned. But this is all about rising from the ashes for me.”
Asked specifically about his decision to brush The Soul Taker, and Tszyu said he didn’t feel aligned to the moniker so wonderfully coined by Main Event’s Ben Damon.
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.
“Initially, I never even wanted a fight name,” Tszyu continues. “But now more recently I have begun thinking about it.
“And it was recently, while visiting Japan, where I really made some decisions.
“For a long time I’d thought ‘I need a change’.
“But when I was over in Japan by myself, that’s when I finally decided ‘yes, I am making change’.
“So I’ve got a whole new team, a whole new outlook.
“This is the first time in my life that I’ve really made changes.
“I’ve got this completely new version of myself where physically, mentally, I have a whole new state of mind.
“And this new fight name represents that.”
‘The sport needs him’ Zerafa on Tszyu | 00:40
Certainly some of the world’s greatest fighters will understand, including Clarresa Shields, who now goes by the nickname GWOAT after initially starting her career as T-Rex.
Asked once about her fight name by ESPN, Shields said: “It describes your alter ego.
“I 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.”
Tyson Fury also spoke about the reasoning behind his nickname, The Gypsy King.
According to the former world heavyweight champion, he has lineage on both sides of his family who also once carried the same name – bareknuckle brawlers Uriah Burton and Bartley Gorman.
“I always knew I’d become ‘The Gypsy King’ and that’s the ultimate nickname,” Fury said.
“I always aspired to be the best, always wanted to be the heavyweight champion of the world. And there’s a lot of honor and respect that comes with my inherited title because there’s gypsies in every country in the world.”
Fury said he had actually declined other awarded British titles of nobility because of his respect for the honor of being ‘The Gypsy King’.
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.
“And now working with my new team [towards his next fight], it’s unbelievable,” Tszyu said. “Every day I’m arriving at training with so much energy.
“And it’s because every day I’m being confronted with something new. There are so many new ideas, from everyone. Heading into this new chapter I feel incredibly blessed.”
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