TszyUSA: Vegas-bound Tszyu poised to do what no Australian has before

So becoming the first Australia-born boxer in history to headline a pay-per-view card in the USA "it's a big deal"

Tszyu [23-0] left Sydney Airport on Monday morning bound for the United States, with the WBO super welterweight champion set to face Keith Thurman [30-1] in Las Vegas on March 31 [AEDT].

Amazon Prime, which boasts 160 million American subscribers, is entering the boxing landscape with Tszyu-Thurman the main event on a card featuring Michael Zerafa's WBA middleweight title bout with Erislandy Lara.

Tszyu's bout is a non-title showdown but pay-per-view status means the stakes are high. No Australian boxer has done it before - not Jeff Fenech, George Kambosos, Jeff Horn, Anthony Mundine, the Moloneys, not even Tszyu's father Kostya.

"I've loved fighting in Australia, it's been absolutely an honour and such a great time. But now, I'm glad I'm here at the airport, heading on to do history-making things," Tszyu said.

"I love Australia, but I'm not the type of guy that waits. If I'm going to be waiting six, 12 months for a fight, that's not going to be me. If the boys can make a fight happen in between, I will fight in Australia. Right now, we have signed a multi-fight deal in America, we are all heading towards there, and that's where the near future is."

Tszyu's clash with Thurman, whose only ever defeat has come against the great Manny Pacquiao, will be at 155-pound catch weight - one pound over his super-welterweight limit.

And the Australian knows exactly what he is in for, having already pored over hours of Thurman footage before the American faced Pacquiao.

"In 2019 I got the call for sparring Pacquiao, where I was told to mimic [Thurman]," Tszyu said.

"I've had a good watch of him and had to sort of impersonate him in sparring. I know what he brings, I know what he's like. It's crazy that three or four years later we're doing a show together.

"He's got the calibre. His names would be much better than my ones, the resume is much higher. I completely agree with that, but he's never faced a Tim Tszyu in his life, so that's the most challenging part for him."

Victory over Thurman could set up a potentially career-defining fight with either Terence Crawford or Errol Spence.

Crawford, rated the world's best pound-for-pound boxer with an undefeated 40-0 record, has Tszyu in his sights in what would be the undefeated Australian's biggest fight yet.

The American has already held world titles in three divisions - he was an undisputed champion at super lightweight and welterweight - and has made no secret of his desire to continue moving up weight classes in pursuit of more belts.

Tszyu would relish a shot at becoming the first man to beat Crawford, turning his back on a fight with Jermell Charlo.

Charlo twice backed out of plans to face Tszyu in an undisputed title fight, thanks to a broken hand and the chance to move up two divisions to face Canelo Alvarez, where Charlo barely fired a shot.

"I've come to the conclusion that I'm never going to fight him because he's a bit of a coward. Finally all the sanctioning bodies are realising that he is a fraud," Tszyu said.

"He went so hard to win the belts, and you've got to go even harder to keep them, and what did he do? He just stopped fighting, and it's unfair for the rest of the division. It's held us all up for two or three years.

"Let him go into hiding. He's not on the radar at all for anyone anymore."