No matter what happens inside the ropes of the boxing ring at Sydney's Olympic Park this weekend, history will be made.
Tim Tszyu, son of Kostya — the once undisputed champion of the world — will fight on Sunday for his own world title against American Tony Harrison, while younger brother Nikita will fight on the undercard.
Each is his own man, and yet there is an internal burning rage they share that belies their calm, monk-like exterior.
Tim has won all 21 of his fights, 15 by knockout. Younger brother Nikita only debuted in the fighting game a year ago and has notched up four victories from as many fights, three by knockout.
But questions about sibling rivalry trigger a steely Tszyu stare, a look that would have lesser opponents running for cover. In a flash, their already sharp, dark eyes intensify a little more. Those standing close enough are not sure whether they're about to be swallowed whole or if poisoned darts are about to emanate from them.
All three Tszyus embody the adage "if looks could kill", and yet they appear polite and respectful until the bell at the start of a bout unleashes their inner fire.
"People have to realise that me and Nikita aren't competing with each other, we just want the best for each other," Tim told The Ticket.
"And when they mention the greatest sporting families of all time — not just boxing, but of all time — they're going to be mentioning the Tszyu family. Fact."
Understood.
Tennis has the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, and John and Patrick McEnroe. Basketball has the Ball brothers, Lonzo, LaMelo and LiAngelo. In Australia, we have the Chappell brothers in cricket, the Ellas in rugby and netball, the Campbells in the Olympic swimming pool, and a host of other sporting families.
But the Tszyus are different.
A unique journey to becoming Australian boxing royalty
Kostya first came to Sydney in 1991 to compete at the World Amateur Championships as a Russian, with mixed Korean and Mongolian heritage. He won a gold medal with a style that was fast, efficient, and devastating. The boxing world was abuzz.
He decided he liked what he saw in Sydney, so he moved here with his girlfriend Natasha, became an Aussie citizen and turned professional, deciding not to contest the Barcelona 1992 Olympics where a gold medal would surely have been a certainty.
"Olympic gold medals won't pay my bills," he said, through a translator at the time.
He went on to win 31 from 34 professional fights, unifying the belts in the light welterweight division, and becoming a hall of famer.
Through it all there were two constants — his father Boris and brother-in-law Igor Goloubev.
While Kostya eventually moved back to Russia and remarried, Boris and Igor remained as family, trainers and mentors to Tim and Nikita.
"I have to look after them," Goloubev said this week, as though choosing anything else would be unthinkable.
Asked for three words to describe Tim and Nikita, their uncle said his English was limited, before adding with a laugh: "Which words do you want, the good ones or the bad ones."
After some thought, he said "intelligence" summed up Tim, and "rough" described Nikita.
"They're just two opposites," Goloubev said.
Family resemblance undeniable inside and out
Nikita knows there is much to learn from his older brother and his dad.
"I look at them as role models and as people to look up to … people to strive to be like," Nikita said.
"They have intelligence behind both of them. Tim's a very tactical fighter, but he's also got a roughness and a Terminator-like style.
"My dad was also like a very violent fighter. He started quick and he was devastating with his punches, his combinations very early on.
"He also had an incredible amateur career in which he developed all these kind of fluid motions, and there's so much to learn from both of them because … I strive to be like both of them."
Despite growing up in different countries with vastly different childhoods, Nikita's personality traits closely resemble his father's.
"We both have this desire or this enjoyment of kind of making fun of people or getting under people's skin," Nikita said.
"My grandma always tells me how much I resemble him."
Tim said there was another trait his brother and dad shared.
"They don't like being told what to do, and they always do their own thing," Tim said.
"I guess we're all like that. I mean, father and sons, you're always going to pass down little traits … and I look like him, I can't hide that fact."
A couple of pugs and their dogs
When they are not fighting, or training to fight, their pet dogs are their escape.
Tim has a French bulldog named Pablo. Nikita has a French bulldog called Carlos, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Hunter, and a new addition – a white husky pup who's growing fast but still doesn't know how to answer to his name, Lucifer.
"They don't judge you," Tim said, leaving unsaid the perception that he is constantly being judged by others.
"For me, as soon as my fight finishes, I get on my couch and I just sleep for maybe 15 hours, and I'm always sleeping with Pablo right next to me.
"I guess they bring a comfort and warmth to our lives."
Nikita said the relationship with his dogs was more active.
"I wouldn't be sleeping all day, but I'd be going out somewhere and going for a hike with them and going to a place where I couldn't go while I was training," he said.
"I get the happiness of seeing them in a happy place, like getting them to a waterfall and seeing them in a new environment. That's the kind of thing that brings joy to my life."
Rooting for each other's success
Pets aside, the conversation returns to the sibling rivalry for a moment. History is littered with stories of younger brothers and sisters overtaking their older siblings as if to prove a point.
How would Tim feel about that, should it happen?
"For me it would be a great moment," Tim said.
"I've got into this position in six or seven years. Nikita in six years will be doing crazy things."
Tim looks across to Nikita, who had been listening carefully to what his older brother had to say, but as if to disguise just how much his brother's opinion matters, Nikita turns and looks at his dogs.
Nikita is asked if there is just a little bit of desire to beat his older brother at the same game.
Now it's Tim's turn to act nonchalant as he listens to every word coming out of his kid-brother's mouth.
"There's always that chase. Because ever since we were kids, he was always the bigger one, the smarter one, the more skilled one at everything we did," Nikita said.
"So, I've always felt like he's on a treadmill with a piece of meat in front of me and I'm kind of chasing after him.
"And I love that, because I don't want to overtake him, I want him to always kind of ground me into knowing there's always more to push forward with and there's always more to learn.
"There's never a point where you're satisfied with where you are."
Enough of the introspection, enough playing with the dogs; it's time to train. There is a world title beckoning for Tim, and maybe, down the track, there is one for Nikita.
If that happens, people really will be talking about the Tszyus as one of the greatest sporting families of all time. Fact.
