You want to know the first thing Tim Tszyu did after retiring Errol Spence Jnr?
He asked him for advice.
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Yep, truly, right there in the ring.
Which isn’t something the American superstar has ever experienced before.
Nor something he really wanted to share.
“But, yeah, I already talked to him,” Spence said of Tszyu, and while fronting a post fight press conference that had suddenly doubled as his shock farewell from the sport.
Seated up on a small stage deep inside the bowels of Afterpay Arena, and with some 20 family members, including his children, in the room, Spence confirmed those words he gave to Tszyu would be his last great act in a boxing ring.
A truth he revealed while sat shirtless, and wearing black pants, with much of his face already hidden behind giant sunglasses.
Which was itself testament to the damage Tszyu had just done.
And over the next 15 minutes as Spence chatted, he would give the Australian his flowers too.
But first, everyone wanted to know what was said between the pair.
“Tim asked me about some stuff he needed to work on and we talked,” the American continued. “But there’s no need to tell social media …”
Asked by Fox Sports Australia if Tszyu was the first opponent who had ever asked him for advice immediately after competing and the former welterweight king grinned and said, yeah, he was.
“But that shows his different type of personality,” the man dubbed ‘The Truth’ continued. “Asking ‘hey, what do I need to work on? Do I need to work on this, and that?’. Picking points like that, it shows a guy who is trying to improve. Trying to get better.”
And for good reason too.
Understanding that immediately after upsetting Spence, and retiring Spence, in what now stands as the greatest performance of Tszyu’s career, he then went and announced how plenty more was coming.
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Which is why after speaking with Spence inside the ring, Tszyu then did the same with Main Event commentator Ben Damon – and immediately called out WBA middleweight king Erislandy Lara.
Later backstage, Tszyu also spoke of being absolutely up for a showdown with Jermell Charlo, or even twin brother Jermall – who was yanked from this card over visa dramas.
And just on that, Spence had advice too.
“Lara is super tricky,” he warned of Tszyu going straight into a title fight. “He’s certainly an older go but he’s a grade A calibre opponent.”
But on Charlo, Spence said it would not only be a good fight, but a 50/50 one.
Then when it was his own turn to speak with media afterwards, Tszyu was far more forthcoming when asked what was said by Spence.
Same as the Aussie also spoke candidly about being woken at four o’clock on fight morning by two words … ‘Oh, f***’.
But first, the Spence conversation.
“Yeah, I spoke to him,” Tszyu revealed of the chat which occurred shortly after his emphatic win. “He’s a legend of the game and I asked him ‘what is one tip that you would give?’ …”
And credit to Spence, he gave it.
“He said ‘stay patient’,” Tszyu revealed. “He said ‘when you’re not rushing in you’re very dangerous. When you wait you’re a very good counter puncher and you’ve got fast hands. Very reactive’.
“And I think that’s how I won the fight.”
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Then soon after, Tszyu revealed that early morning dilemma.
“I woke up at 4am and was ‘oh, f***,’” he grinned.
“My mind was racing with all this stuff like ‘what am I going to do if I lose?’ … that’s the stuff that goes through your head. Things like ‘do I really want this? Do I want these 4am feelings?’.”
Yet the real truth? Tszyu wondered if Spence was about to retire him.
Coming into the fight, Tszyu had vowed to end Spence’s career.
But now that it was official we asked him afterwards, how do you feel?
“It wasn’t personal,” he stressed of the call, before then adding the kicker that best explained that four o’clock wake up: “He either does it to me or I do it to him.”
So as for Charlo next?
“Oh, 100 per cent,” Tszyu said. “I do want to rest, but I do want to kick arse again.”
Wonderfully, Tszyu also explained how Spence had landed punches several times near his backside.
“He kept hitting me here, to the butt,” he grinned. “So I’m pretty sore in the butt.”
Spence, meanwhile, also revealed Tszyu to be a fighter who had made those 12 rounds of Sunday’s blockbuster feel longer than at any other time in his likely Hall of Fame career.
And part of that, of course, the Texan attributed to his three years out of the sport.
But part, he also gave to Tszyu.
Quizzed on the fight, he continued: “It wasn’t the way I hoped it would go. It was a tough fight. A long fight. I was able to go 12 rounds and finish the fight, but it didn’t go the way I wanted so much respect to Tim Tszyu.”
Was the Sydneysider better than you expected?
“No,” Spence replied, “he was what I expected.”
And as for what he did well?
“He was timing real well,” he said. “And my timing was off.”
Blame that on your three years out?
“It could be,” Spence shrugged. “But I’m not going to use that as an excuse. Tim did his thing tonight.”
After initially announcing his retirement in the ring on Sunday afternoon, Spence then doubled down backstage while also paying a compliment to Tszyu.
“There is no reason to fight [on],” he said. “I asked a lot of questions of myself tonight. And going 12 rounds, and realising how long those 12 rounds were … [laughs] it’s time to hang ‘em up.
“Twelve rounds isn’t usually that long, but it was long tonight. It’s time to hang them up.”
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In his own interview, Tszyu also heaped praise on the role of his new coach, Australian Hall of Famer Jeff Fenech.
“Honestly, his energy, his corner advice … he’s an unbelievable coach,” Tszyu said. “He’s a big, big leader. I felt very comfortable with him.
“I thought it would take a couple of fights to adapt. But honestly, after two weeks together it started flowing. I’m blessed to partner with a legend like that.
“He’s like Wayne Bennett.
“And from previous fights I felt a big change. And to have two famous surnames of Aussie boxing colliding against a legend of the sport, and we got the job done.
“And when everyone doubted us. We weren’t supposed to win. Weren’t the favourite. But I put my back against the wall … it’s a big eff you to a lot of people.”
And on having former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold in his room on fight night, Tszyu continued: “He said something special. He said the reason you feel like this is it’s your night.
“That’s why you feel something different.”
When Spence was asked at which point he knew things weren’t going as planned, the fighter continued: “S***, I dunno”
“The first three rounds felt OK. I wasn’t nervous or anything.
“But s***, as a fighter I don’t remember 12 rounds feeling like that. That’s how I know it’s time to hang them up.
“You can’t be out [of boxing] that long, come back and think you can fight 12 rounds against the calibre of opponent like that.”
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Still, Spence explained why he was proud to come back for one last time.
“I came back because we’re in an era now where people are scared to fail,” he said.
“We’re in an era where everything is on social media, being recorded, so people are scared to step out and do stuff because it’s going to get posted and people laugh at you.
“But those same people who laugh and make funny jokes on social media and stuff have never really done anything with their life.
“So I’m sure some people will have something to say. And I’m sure they wouldn’t have the guts to do what I did – to come back and fight a quality opponent like Tim Tszyu in his own backyard and go 12 rounds and put on a great show.
And as for what he is most proud of?
“I’m most proud of keeping my faculties and having enough money in the bank, even before this, to retire and keep living like I am now for now for 10, 20 years … I’ll still be OK,” he said.
“That’s what I’m most proud of. I’m in a sport where a lot of boxers, Hall of Famers or not, retire broke. And after this, even if I didn’t have this fight, I would’ve been OK.”