‘Grim Reaper’ Nikita vows to retire Brubaker before taking on brother Tim

Nikita Tszyu has vowed to knock Jack Brubaker into retirement and then throw his next punches at brother Tim after the siblings’ sparring ban was lifted.

Tszyu will headline a pay-per-view fight for the first time when he takes on Brubaker at the Hordern Pavilion on Wednesday night. The build-up between the combatants had been cordial, but that changed when they weighed in at the Entertainment Quarter on Tuesday.

As they faced off in front of the cameras, Tszyu – at the instruction of Tim – told Brubaker that this fight would be his last.

“I was just telling him, ‘This is going to be your final fight, this is going to be your retirement, your last time in the sport … so enjoy it while it lasts,’” Tszyu said.

“I told him, ‘I’m your grim reaper’. It feels good. That’s why I have my hood on right now. I feel like the grim reaper. I’m channeling that energy. I just need my scythe and I’m there.”

Nikita Tszyu and Jack Brubaker at the weigh-in ahead of their fight at the Hordern Pavilion.

Tim Tszyu defeated Brubaker four years ago after Brubaker’s corner threw in the towel 91 seconds into the fourth round. Nikita wasn’t making any predictions about the timing of his result, other than to say it would be the last time Brubaker steps into the ring.

“I intend to put a huge beating on him,” Tszyu said. This is an individual sport and I want to cause as much damage as possible.”

Tim and Nikita sparred last year, before the latter’s fight against Darkon Dryden. On that occasion, Tim hit Nikita in the nose with such ferocity that the younger Tszyu required surgery.

It prompted the patriarch of the family, grandfather Boris, to ban them from sparring against each other. However, that edict will soon be lifted.

“He possesses the kind of skill that you can’t get from other sparring partners,” Nikita said of Tim.

“He’s a masterclass of a fighter. Hopefully he gets a southpaw opponent so I can give him some help as well, so it’s not so one-sided.

“I’m still not ready to go with him, but you’ve gotta dive into the deep end. The way my father taught us how to swim and hopefully we’d float.

“The way we were taught how to ski was he took us to the top of a mountain, without ever touching snow, and we had to get down ourselves. It took us five hours to get down but we got down and learned how to ski. That’s how we learned. That’s the mentality.”

Brubaker laughed off suggestions that his career was about to be ended.

“I’ve been around the block a few times, nothing rattles me,” Brubaker said. “He told me to enjoy the moment, he thinks this will be my last fight. I just let him know I’ve got plenty of fights left in me. I told him to soak it up because I’ll be coming in to console him in the change rooms afterwards.”

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