Tim Tszyu chose Newcastle businessman Glen Jennings as his manager, and together they may follow in the footsteps of champion Kostya Tszyu

Nearly 30 years ago Jennings was part of a tight-knit team that assisted a young boxer named Kostya Tszyu, who had immigrated from Russia to Australia, fight his way to 31 wins and only two losses as he became the undisputed light welterweight champion of the world.

Now, Jennings is the sole manager of Tim Tszyu, the 25-year-old son of Kostya Tszyu, who chose a career as a pro boxer three-and-a-half years ago and has climbed his way into the top 10 in the world super welterweight category.

Last month Tim Tszyu took a giant step toward convincing boxing fans he is the real deal when he defeated former champion Jeff Horn by technical knockout (Horn did not come out of his corner for round nine) before a sold-out crowd in Townsville.

Five days after the fight, Tszyu was back in the gym. He didn't have a bruise or a cut from the Horn fight, he was ready to go.

Will Tim Tszyu fight in Newcastle?

Tim Tszyu now has 16 wins and no losses. He has put himself in a position for a possible WBO title fight with Brazilian Patrick Texeira.

"He's only 25 years old, it's not really a race," Jennings says of his boxer. "There's no rush, but when those opportunities come along, I suppose you really have to look at those in the context of where he's at, and ... there is an opportunity, it's still bubbling now, for a world title fight next."

Jennings, managing director of National Event Services, a national security company that holds contracts with ANZ Stadium, Newcastle Entertainment Centre and many more, as well as providing services for global touring entertainment acts, is a Newcastle boy at heart. He learned to box at the Broadmeadow Police Youth Boys Club, just a short distance from his childhood home in Hamilton North.

But he's not a boxer, he's a businessman. A very humble and very successful businessman.

"I certainly don't need any notoriety," he says. "It's a road I chose.

"Growing up in Newcastle it's a working town. You don't flaunt where you are or what you've achieved in front of people who are working hard every day to make ends meet. You don't talk down your success, but you don't need to talk it up. I've always said this: those that need to know, already know. That's life."

Glen's friendship with Kostya Tszyu, who had only recently arrived from Russia, is a classic Newcastle story.

"I actually got asked to go to Sydney and pick up johnny Lewis [boxing trainer] and Kostya to bring him to Newcastle for a police boys club function, so that's how I met 'Koz'. I went down to pick him up and he jumped in the back of the car - he's a tiny fella, had no command of English language, none whatsoever, only had a few fights.

"It was interesting. because I'd never met someone who didn't understand what I was saying, and vice versa, ever. I'm just a Newcastle boy. We spent time together over a few days. It was difficult to try to communicate. So I started to draw things and write things and just try to give him a little help along the way. Then we parted company.

"I had to pick him up again. Because I was always in Sydney, with the ANZ Stadium and all the big football games, whenever I went down I would pop in and say hello.

"Really, we just became mates, that's how it all started. The story rolls on from there, as we became mates, I got more involved in what he was doing to try to help him.

"Until he enrolled in an English course, it was hard for him to understand. He would ring me and we'd almost practice talk over the phone. Just little things, and so we became mates. He would come up here for a day, and I would go down there for a day. And so the business of fighting started to ramp up for him, much like Tim ..."

Kostya won his first world crown in 1995. From 1997 to 2005 he was undefeated. He fought in Newcastle on several occasions. Jennings was never his manager, just an esential part of the team handling security and logistics.

For Jennings, having a friendship with Kostya Tszyu and working for him around fights presented a unique challenge.

"It was difficult" he says. "There were times when you wanted to do something, but it was out of your control. You would just put that in the back of your book for next time, an opportunity to say 'don't do this, go this direction, not that way.' "

There are way too many variables in life, much less boxing, to bet on the chance Tim Tszyu would become a pro boxer. Kostya moved back to Russia and started another family. His first wife, Natasha, stayed in Australia, and raised all three of their children here, of which Tim is the oldest.

"At the end when Kostya lost [his final fight] to Ricky Hatton in UK, we kept our relationship," Jennings says. "It didn't change after he stopped boxing. We stayed pretty tight.

"And it's lovely now, to have an opportunity to rerun that with Team Tszyu 2 with Tim. I see so much of Kostya in Tim. He looks like him, he's taller but looks like him. But he's his own man. He grew up in Australia. He's a very good kid, very respectful. He wants the very best out of himself and everyone around him. It's a good thing."

When Natasha called Jennings in October 2017, she wanted to set up a conversation with herself, Tim and Jennings about Tim's future. It was over lunch at a North Sydney cafe that Tim said he wanted to become a pro boxer and asked Jennings if he would be his manager.

"We had a real good chat," Jennings recalls of that fateful lunch. "I only asked one question: 'why do you want to do this?' His answer: 'I just want to see how far I can go with it.' Perfect, we shook hands. Let's do it. That was that.

"He turned pro in December [2017] at the Sydney Cricket Ground. And off we went. It's been fun. Had a great time."

Jennings leaves the training to Igor Goloubev and Boris Tszyu, who involved with Kostya. But he takes care of sponsors and fight arrangements, working closely with promoter Matt Rose of No Limits. He is the first say he is older and wiser now.

"I look at things very differently and I'm very guarded, very protective of Tim," Jennings says. "So I just make sure he's ready, that I've mentored him to the point where he's ready for anything they throw at him."