American superstar Keith Thurman was more than halfway through an online press event with Tim Tszyu on Friday morning when, having drunk several times from a drink bottle filled with green juice, and then eaten from a bowl of food which sat somewhere off-screen, he finally noted the obvious.
“Tim, I see the shiner,” Thurman cackled, referencing an undeniable blackness beneath the Australian’s left eye.
A welt which, almost certainly, had been raised as recently as the previous 48 hours. And in one those many intense sparring sessions Tszyu has based himself in Las Vegas specifically for.
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“I got one too, baby,” Thurman continued, smile widening now at the thought of what is to come between both men in a little over three weeks.
“You’re not untouchable, I’m not untouchable, this is going to be a great fight.”
Only days after Tszyu crashed an Instagram live interview between Thurman and US boxing great Shawn Porter, the two fighters were back in front of the cameras, and now the international press, for an online Q&A to promote their hyped Las Vegas headliner on Sunday, March 31.
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While the Instagram ambush produced several fiery exchanges between Tszyu and that American rival never short of a word or 23 – with the Aussie, at one point, branding Thurman “a f…ing flop” – Friday’s official event was a far more relaxed showing, especially for Tszyu who was dressed down in a plain, black T-shirt.
Another obvious difference was that black welt which, easily visible marking under Tszyu’s left eye, was most likely earned during his ongoing, and intense, preparations inside one of the world fight capital’s most respected gyms, Split T Boxing.
And Thurman … well, you just know he was mentioning it.
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While ‘The Soul Taker’ is a heavy favourite for a headliner that sees his older opponent not only moving up in weight, but entering the ring for the first time in two years, Thurman suggested said shiner – and more – was proof the bookies were wrong to have him as wide as $9.
Still, the man who has never lost to anybody not named Manny Pacquiao also gave props to Tszyu’s aggressive style and powerful right hand, while the Sydneysider, in turn, suggested this would be his first of many “legacy” fights.
“And how isn’t it,” Tszyu replied early in the online press conference where, with both men visible onscreen, a journalist asked if this could become the first of many fights that create a legacy.
“Defeating a former unified champion, isn’t that legacy right there?
“To be doing it on a first ever Amazon Prime card? And in the new Colosseum of boxing.
“Isn’t that legacy?
“Of course it’s a legacy fight.”
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Thurman, meanwhile, also hit back at the oddsmakers – both in Las Vegas, and beyond – who have wound him out further for this fight than ever before in his career.
“The bookies, they work with analytics,” he started.
“Tim Tszyu, he’s been fighting good fights.
“He’s been consistent. Active.
“So they see the active Tszyu, in the prime of his career.
“But Keith Thurman, with so much inactivity since the Manny Pacquiao fight in 2019?
“They know I had bone spurs against Danny Garcia, had hand surgery after Pacquiao, had a fight with Mario Barrios and then another lay-off … that’s the analytics.
“I’m a little tired of hearing about it but it’s my life and I’ve got to live it.
“I can’t do nothing until we get to this fight and I perform, show the world what I have to give.
“So that’s what is making me the underdog, the analytics.
“But when I reference Sugar Ray Leonard, he was coming off a big lay-off against Hearns.
“Muhammad Ali was coming off a big lay-off.
“They’ve doubted athletes in the past.
“As a spectator you can only deal with the information you’ve been given, which creates the narrative we’re discussing now.
“But as an athlete, it’s my job to step into the ring and prove my greatness.”
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Asked if he was offended by Tszyu crashing his recent Porter interview, Thurman continued: “Man, we had fun.
“And I saw that I broke him a little bit … I made that man smile.
“He knows it.
“I’m different, man.”
Tszyu, meanwhile, said that while he was pumped to be fighting for the first time in Las Vegas, there was no chance of the moment impacting him against the far more experienced Thurman.
“Once you step in that ring, it doesn’t matter where in the world you are,” he said.
“Doesn’t matter if there are 20,000 who don’t like you, or 20,000 who love you. It’s just you and your opponent.”
And as for the growing number of voices like, say, Team Mayweather, backing a Thurman upset?
“There is always going to be doubt,” Tszyu said.
“And you don’t just want one side to be saying ‘he’s going to steamroll him’.
“You want people saying ‘I think he’s going to win’, and ‘no, I think he’s going to win’, that’s what makes the fight more interesting.
“All the questions will be answered on fight night.”
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Earlier Tszyu had also said: “As a young kid, you dream of these moments.
“This is my time.
“This is my era.
“This is a passing of the torch and I can’t wait, my hands are itchy.
“The way I’m feeling right now, I feel like a train that’s about to steamroll everyone.
“It’s not just Keith. No disrespect to him, but I’m ready to go through everyone.”
Elsewhere, Thurman, 35, praised his younger rival’s aggressive attitude, saying: “Tim Tszyu has that very unique style.
“He has a clubbing right hand.
“And Pacquiao dropped me with a right hand so we know I have to be wary, have to tighten up that side.
“Because he’s going to be coming, knocking on that door all day, all night – boom, boom, boom, boom – trying to get that highlight inside T Mobile Arena.
“And that’s what the fans want, man.
“They complain about Floyd (Mayweather), complain about certain fighters.
“Some people like the sweet science but some don’t like people being too pretty in there.
“Trying to be too perfect.
“Now for this fight you’ve got two imperfect perfect fighters stepping in the ring, baby.
“Tim has his style which has been dominating.
“I’ve got my style which has been hard for people to get around.
“I had my one loss to Manny Pacquiao, (but) I was the original champion who said ‘I’ve got my ‘O’, but I’m not afraid to let it go’.
“If you want to beat me, beat me.
“So I’ve been beaten one time, but who is going to beat me the second time …”
At which point, Tszyu pointed to himself.
Regardless, the American kept going, explaining soon after how he and Tszyu were both “dreamers”.
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“He says he’s knocking me out in two rounds,” the American grinned. “So it’s only going to take six minutes to prove him wrong …”
And even though that prompted heavy laughter from Tszyu, his rival, again, continued unperturbed.
“We’re both dreamers, man,” he said.
“We both love boxing, love the challenge.
“It’s just like a good ‘ol scrap in the yard when you’re growing up.
“No matter who wins or loses, both men are going to have — whether they say it or not — a different perspective afterwards, a different respect for one another.
“But none of that really matters.
“That’s post fight.
“This is pre-fight drama …”
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