On the hunt for Tim Tszyu: Meet Joey Spencer, the gun-toting, big game hunting American out to end Tszyu’s career

Sometimes he’ll be up there for 12 hours at a time in the freezing Michigan cold for seven days straight.

You never know when one of the big bucks – the ones he likes to store in his freezer every year – will amble past looking for a mate.

Welcome to the wild world – literally – of Joey Spencer, the man who is promising to end Tim Tszyu’s professional boxing career on April 6.

In truth, Spencer leads a quiet life outside the madness of professional boxing, and his passion is hunting.

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It’s more than just a hobby. It’s a way of life and how he provides for his family.

Which means frequent and extensive time spent sitting up a tree.

“During ‘The Rut’ which is when the bucks are most active, I’ll spend 12 hours in a tree, staying still and having to be patient,” he tells this masthead. “I’ll spend a week straight in the woods from four in the morning until the sun goes down.

“That’s very common for me.”

A 19-1 boxer who followed his dad into the sport and whose younger brother, Mickel or Kel, is a rising pro, Spencer says his boxing training helps his hunting.

“Something might not come out until the last 20 minutes,” he explains. “You’ve gotta be focused and have the attention span, so when that opportunity comes, you can make the most of it.

“When you take that shot, it’s a game of inches, and one mistake – an inch one way or the other – can be the difference between getting a kill and not getting one.

“I always feel that I’m in a good circumstance hunting because of my boxing training.”

Despite the easy stereotypes, Spencer is a long way removed from the loudmouthed, trash-talking American who loves shooting guns.

He’s softly spoken, unlikely to make any cocky outbursts and is driven by his family and faith in God.

He has also heard all the criticisms of his passion for hunting, but is unapologetic.

“People don’t understand it,” he says. “Most of the people putting these negative comments out there aren’t vegans – they’re eating meat, but are mad at me for hunting.

“Hunting is the most ethical death an animal can get. Period.

“When they’re in these meat farms, they don’t have one single good day. They’re abused on a daily basis.

“When I shoot an animal, if it’s a good, clean shot, they’re dead within 30 seconds.

“People have a lot to say about hunters, but they don’t understand the process. It’s very hypocritical, and they don’t even realise it.”

After growing up on the end of a rifle or a shotgun, Spencer has fallen in love with bowhunting and will shoot up to 100 arrows every day.

He wasn’t able to bring his bow to Australia, so is instead on the hunt for Aussie hero Tim Tszyu.

Tszyu needs a win over Spencer to save his career after back-to-back losses in 2024.

Spencer is on his own comeback trail after a stoppage loss to Jesus Ramos in 2023.

The defeat hit harder than Ramos’ fists hit him that night in Las Vegas.

Spencer was on a one-way track to boxing superstardom, and says the setback preceded a period of grieving.

Ironically though, it was exactly what he needed.

“I was off for eight months and I actually knocked back some big fight offers because I wasn’t ready mentally,” he says. “It was rough, man.

“I never planned on losing, and when I lost…yeah, it was tough.

“My family got me through. At that time, my son wasn’t born, but I was training so hard because I wanted to win that fight for my daughter.

“So, after the Ramos fight, it was almost her first birthday, it was summertime and that was when me and her got extremely close.

“That’s what made the difference for me, it got me through that time.”

Now almost three, Kathy and her younger brother James are both in Australia as Spencer prepares to take the next step of his comeback.

Joey’s younger adopted brother, Kel, is also here.

A slick switch-hitting boxer with a 4-0 record, Kel wants the pair of them to win world titles at the same time.

That’s why he officially agreed to be adopted and changed his last name to Spencer on the eve of his first professional fight.

“Kel’s been with us since he was two, but he’s my son – he always has been, y’know?” says Jason Spencer, Joey and Kel’s dad and trainer.

“We never adopted him earlier because it was better for his care and security for us to maintain our guardianship. In Michigan, you have to terminate guardianship to open adoption proceedings, which would open the door to anything and everything.

“But before he turned pro, he said he wanted to change his name. It meant a lot that he wanted to do that. It meant a lot to us.”

Wearing a sharp suit, Kel looks up from his phone and flashes a million dollar smile.

“I want to be a multiple weight class world champion,” he says. “You’ll see me coming real soon.

“We’ll both be world champions. That’s the ultimate goal.”

Next stop on that journey: Tszyucastle this Sunday.

“Unfortunately we’re gonna upset a lot of Australians this weekend,” shrugs Kel. “But that’s just what happens in boxing.”