American boxing superstar Erroll Spence has lit the touchpaper ahead of his world title with Tim Tszyu.
Spence touched down in Sydney on Thursday morning ahead as fight week starts for the pair and immediately took a swipe at Aussie boxing icon Jeff Fenech.
As the rivals get set to face off in the ring, the drama around their teams has been a central narrative to preparations.
Spence is currently embroiled in a leagle dispute with his former trainer Derrick James.
Their 11-year partnership came to an end with a mutual legal claim; James is claiming over $5 million (USD) in unpaid training fees, while Spence isseeking declaratory relief claiming he fully paid their contractual handshake agreement.
Erroll Spence has lit the touchpaper ahead of his fight with Tim Tszyu when he claimed to have no knowledge of his opponent’s coach Jeff Fenech
Spence also defended his preparations agaisnt criticism from his opponent as he opted against a warm-up fight
Tszyu’s team situation has been even more rocky, he initially split from long-time manager Glen Jennings and coach, Igor Goloubev last year to link up with Pedro Diaz.
That partnership lasted two fights as he then joined up with four-time world champion Fenech.
A former boxer that Spence apparently has no knowledge of, ‘Who?’ he responded when asked about Fenech.
‘I never heard of him. I don’t know who he is.
‘First time I heard of him was when they said he was being Tim Tszyu’s trainer.
‘I don’t know him at all. I don’t know him as a trainer or as a fighter, but he’s gonna do what’s best for Tim.
‘It might work out good, it might work out bad. We’ll see.’
It’s not the first time Fenech has come under fire this month after he had to defend his coaching record from an attack by Anthony Mundine.
Jeff Fenech had to defend himself from criticism by Anthony Mundine after he questioned the former world champion’s coaching record
Tim Tszyu also took a swipe at his opponent labelling Spence arrogant for not taking a warm-up fight
Mundine said ‘The Marrickville Mauler’ ‘ain’t got the best record’ and called him a long-time hater.
Fenech fired back, telling Code: ‘I don’t give a f**k what Anthony Mundine says.
‘Anything that comes out of his mouth reminds me of what comes out of my ass.
‘You can write that.
‘It starts with ‘S’ and finishes with ‘T’.’
Spence seemed relaxed as he was given a traditional Indigenous smoking ceremony as he left the airport, where he almost never made it due to a clerical error.
A single letter difference between his passport and the paperwork given to the immigration officials meant the boxer nearly wasn’t allowed to board his flight.
But the Texas-born fighter appeared relaxed as he exited the airport, telling Code Sports, ‘That was pretty dope having the Indigenous people come and greet me, the whole ceremony was dope, I really enjoyed it.’
Despite his calm demeanour, Spence was also quick to fire back at his opponent who has claimed he is just in Australia for a ‘holiday,’ after ‘The Truth’ opted against a warm-up fight.
‘He can say whatever he want to say,’ Spence told Code Sports. ‘He gotta be vocal, he trying to promote the fight.
‘I don’t think I’m arrogant not taking a warm up fight. I don’t take warm up fights.
‘I didn’t take a warm up fight for Yordenis Ugas.
‘I didn’t take a warm up fight for Danny Garcia.
‘I didn’t take a warm up fight for Kell Brook.
‘I ain’t taking a warm up fight for anybody, and I ain’t taking a warm up fight for Tim Tszyu.
‘I really don’t care. It don’t matter what Tim or his team says.
‘It don’t matter what he thinks, it don’t matter what I think.
‘When the bell rings, we’ll see the deciding factor for who comes out on top.’
Tszyu will have a chance to prove Fenech is a top coach on Sunday, July 26 when he takes on Spence.
