Tim Tszyu could not resist a dig at his old rival Jermell Charlo as the Gold Coast card for his world title fight against Erislandy Lara took further shape on Monday. At a No Limit press conference, the promoter confirmed that Kirra Ruston, Demsey McKean and Callum Peters will all feature on the December 13 show at Cbus Super Stadium, where Tszyu will challenge Lara for the WBA middleweight title.

Charlo, the former undisputed super welterweight champion, will fight on the same card against Australian Brock Jarvis in his first bout in three years. Tszyu, who headlines the show, made clear he was enjoying the billing. Asked about his rivalry with Charlo, he said there was "of course" some animosity between them, before adding with a grin: "It's good to be fighting here on the Gold Coast and have Little Charlo as my co-main event."

Tszyu backed Jarvis to give Charlo a hard night. "Yeah, he'll turn up. You know, he's had a lot to say, so he should be a man of his word," he said. "Look, he's the former undisputed world champion, but Brock's a handful. So he should be aware that when Brock gets comfortable and puts on a certain pace, they start to crumble. If Brock comes with the right game plan, I feel like he can get the job done."

The card also gives Liam Wilson another shot at a world title, against Elnur Samedov for the WBA super featherweight belt. If Tszyu and Charlo both win on the night, the two rivals will be on a collision course to finally settle their feud. They were due to fight in 2023, only for Charlo to withdraw injured, and Tszyu said the American remained on his list. "The job isn't done. Lara is the most important thing now, but Charlo is the fight I want as well," he said. "It's on the bucket list of what I need to do."

Tszyu, who is 28-3, faces the toughest test of his career in Lara, the defending champion, who is 32-3-3. The Australian, who turned 32 last week, said he had been targeting the Cuban for three years and had even turned down the chance to work with trainer Ismael Salas because Salas trains Lara. "In my head I was like, you know what, I'm going to move up to middleweight, and the middleweight champ is Lara, so I don't want to be going to a coach who trains him," he said. He described Lara as a technical fighter, saying: "With this guy, you've got to be aware of every inch, so I have to get my footwork right."

The build-up has been shaped by concern over the health of Tszyu's trainer, Hall of Fame great Jeff Fenech. The 62-year-old has spent the past month in hospital after doctors found a major blood clot in his wrist, and he has had a number of operations, including heart surgery. Billy Hussein has taken over the day-to-day training, with Fenech still guiding the camp. "It did scare me, what's happened to him," Tszyu said. "Jeff's good. He's going through a pretty serious surgery, but he's hanging in there. I speak to him every day." He added that Fenech had still been coaching him from his hospital bed over FaceTime, "jumping out of his hospital bed, telling me about throwing the left hook, throwing the left body".

Tszyu said the change in his fortunes over the past 18 months made the Gold Coast show all the sweeter. "Eighteen months ago, I was told you should retire," he said. "Well, well, look at us now. We're flying high for Australia." One journalist at the press conference suggested the night could be bigger than a State of Origin match at the same stadium. Tickets are on sale now, with the cheapest seats priced at 19 Australian dollars.