It was December 1997 and just days until his date with Ismael Chaves in Townsville, a fight that he would win to propel the Australian boxing great's career forward another eight years.

"He was a big sweater and Townsville in December, it was so humid," Tszyu's manager and successful Newcastle businessman Glen Jennings said.

"It was a generation ago, that fight, but the memories are vivid."

Twenty-three years later Kostya has moved back to Russia but Jennings again finds himself in Townsville with Tszyu's son Tim, sweating in the same Bad Boys gym his father took over in '97.

The Australian super welterweight champion, now 25, is a warm favourite and unbeaten in 15 fights but faces his biggest test against former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn.

"It's a bit of a time capsule, back in the same gym and it's the same as it was - the same posters are still on the walls - and Tim gets to walk in and feel that same presence Kostya had 23 years ago," Jennings said.

The familiarity doesn't end there, the manager is struck by how similar his man deals with the sideshows that come in the build up to feature fights like this one.

There has been bickering over the date, amount of rounds to be contested, accommodation details and even who walks out second, to which Tszyu proclaimed he "couldn't care less".

"He's like his father, so focused," Jennings said.

"We get a little bit of criticism because we don't really engage in the trash talking, but when you have a talented fighter nothing matters apart from what happens in the ring."

Coming off a loss to Vince Phillips in Atlantic City, Kostya Tszyu swept by Argentine Chaves at Townsville's Stockland Stadium and was undefeated in 12 more fights until his final bout against Ricky Hatton in 2005.

"Remember he was a champ for 10 years ... that's a lot of fights and opponents who all had an angle," Jennings said.

"We've seen it all at the highest level, so this sort of banter is like a walk in the park.

"Back in the day with Kostya there was very little said, at the press conferences he'd sit there with his Oakleys on and say 'I'll see you Saturday night'.

"He'd come into America, whack them and they'd say 'who the f*** is this guy?'

"The mudslinging from guys like Zab Judah and Sharmba Mitchell ... people forget we've been through it to the highest levels so that stuff that they were trying to put out, we were giggling.

"It's like Seinfeld up there (in their camp), they must sit around a table in the morning and think 'what can we come up with today?'"

Tszyu can't wait to fight but Horn's team is convinced he should have been more patient and added to his 15-0 record before challenging the former world champion.

Horn's famous upset of Manny Pacquiao and brutal knockdown of Anthony Mundine both came at Suncorp Stadium in front of bigger audiences than Tszyu has ever known.

"Take nothing way from Tim Tszyu, he's an exciting young fighter with a great record," Horn's trainer Glenn Rushton said.

"But we must remember that Tim is not Kostya Tszyu.

"Nor is he (Chinese general and philosopher) Sun Tzu, and when it comes down to the art of war do you want to take a guy into battle that's just won two wars and proved himself, or do you want to take a guy that's just out of boot camp?

"We know Jeff can do it - the big question mark is, can Tim do it?

"That's what we're going to find out and we'll find out who's who in the zoo on Wednesday night."

The ultra-confident Tszyu thinks he's ready though, and Jennings agrees.

"Tim has to step up, sooner or later you've got to," he said.

"Do we just let him flounder and fight guys of lesser quality? We're not going to do that.

"It's going to be a great challenge and wonderful to watch two quality Australians going at it - boxing in this country hasn't had one of these for a while."

Rushton stoked the flames at Tuesday's weigh-in, accusing judge and former fighter Phillip Holiday of telling a friend Tszyu would win.

He also raised the issue of second judge Chris Condon owning the gym Tszyu has been training out of, pointing to his close association with Tim's father Kostya as another potential compromise.

The accusations caught Tszyu's camp off guard, co-promoter Matt Rose and Jennings both firing back at Rushton for questioning the judges' integrity.

They labelled it an 11th-hour publicity stunt in an animated exchange with Rushton during the official post-weigh in press conference.

But head judge Derek Milham, a long-time administrator and decorated referee, admitted Holiday had slipped up.

"Someone asked him and he made the comment that there is some chance that Horn could get cut, he said to me he didn't predict anything," he said. "But he made the comment that if Horn loses it, it could be through cut eyes.

"I went and spoke to the judge in question. He's quite embarrassed and apologised to me about it. He's very, very professional. He apologised to me. It's a shame it's gone this way because we had a conference call with Glenn Rushton.

"I think it's a bit of a tactic actually and I've got full confidence in the guy. All you can do is take my word."

Rose slammed what he described as "a typical (promoter) Dean Lonergan-Glenn Rushton play".