By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

IBF #9 light middleweight Dwight Ritchie (19-1, 2 KOs) is confident he will break the unbeaten streak of IBF #12 Tim Tszyu (13-0, 10 KOs) when they clash on August 14 at Star City Casino in Sydney, NSW Australia and says Tim is not his famous world champion father Kostya.

“Obviously they’re very similar, Kostya and Tim,” Ritchie said on Main Event’s new Fighting Words series. “Tim tries a lot to emulate his father’s style, but unfortunately he’s like the home brand version of Kostya, he’s like the cheap version.

“There’ll never be another Kostya and he should stick to fighting his own style.

“I don’t think he has the power of Kostya, I don’t think he’s got the speed of Kostya, and I don’t think he’s got the smarts of Kostya.”

For Tszyu though, this is just another “step” in the process.

“This is great for me to be getting opportunities like this,” Tszyu said. “Before, no one would fight me. Now, when the attention is finally on me, everyone sort of wants a piece. So, great this is my time. Step by step, I’m going to take them all out one-by-one.”

It’s been a quick ride to the top of Australian boxing for Tszyu, who is unbeaten in a career that hasn’t included many real tests. Camilleri was the first genuine hurdle. Ritchie is the second.

“He’s just not ready yet,” Ritchie proclaimed. “I think maybe a few more fights, a few more times going the distance would have served him a lot better than jumping into this fight with me.

“I think he knows that. He’s never going to admit it, but he knows. Every fighter knows — you know when your number’s up, you know when you’re out of your depth.”

Ritchie says he’s fighting for more than himself, while Tszyu is “is just fighting for himself — him and his silver spoon.”

Televised on Foxtel Main Event pay-per-view