Nikita Tszyu set for domestic grudge match against Koen Mazoudier in Australian super-welterweight title defence

Having made the first successful defence of his Australian super-welterweight title, Nikita Tszyu is set to take on a domestic foe he has plenty of history with.

Nikita Tszyu is set for a domestic grudge match with Koen Mazoudier after his impressive win over Danilo Creati on Wednesday.

Tszyu made the first successful defence of his Australian super-welterweight title with a one-sided unanimous decision win over Creati at the Hordern Pavilion.

Mazoudier had front row seats for the fight, and immediately confronted The Butcher as he left the ring.

“We were meant to fight in the amateur days, so it’ll be cool to finally get it going,” Tszyu said of a potential Mazoudier showdown. “He just said, ‘Let’s get it going’ and I said the same thing back.

“When we’re both ready, we’ll get it going.

“It’s not if, it’s when.”

Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings confirmed Mazoudier is the obvious front-runner.

“I spoke briefly to Koen and said, ‘We’ll see you soon’,” Jennings told this masthead. “He said, ‘I look forward to it’.

“It’s a fight Nikita wants, so we’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow and decide when and where.

“If they’re both healthy, that’s the fight.”

Nikita Tszyu beat Danilo Creati on Wednesday. Picture: No Limit Boxing

Mazoudier was the front-runner to face Tszyu in his first title defence after the Sydneysider stopped Travis Druce in March.

But a ruptured eardrum forced him out of the fight, allowing Creati to fill the void.

The Italian was overpowered by Tszyu on Wednesday, but gave the Australian champion a good test over 10 rounds.

There had been plans for Nikita to fight again in June on another pay-per-view card if he made it past Creati unscathed, but he revealed some niggling injuries which may force a rethink.

“I’ve got some injuries I’ve gotta fix up beforehand,” he said. “My left knuckle hurts from his head, so I need to get that checked out.

“I think I need to get some MRIs.”

No Limit CEO George Rose confirmed a Tszyu-Mazoudier makes the most sense.

“We’ll check on the health of both fighters, but that’s a great fight,” he told this masthead. “Koen in the front row shows that he’s keen for it.

“He wants it, and he said a few things to Nikita, so he’s not shying away from it.”

Speaking after his win over Druce in March, Mazoudier said a fight between him and Tszyu would be a crowd-pleaser.

Nikita Tszyu looks set to fight Koen Mazoudier. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

“People like my style, people like his. I come to bang, he comes to bang,” he said.

“He gets hit, I get hit. I think I’m a crisper boxer, he’s probably stronger on the inside. He probably has more power, he’s very explosive and a tricky southpaw.”

Meanwhile, Tszyu revealed he thought he had Creati beaten at several points, and despite gunning for the $20,000 knockout bonus on offer, couldn’t land the finishing shot.

“Every time I hurt him, he just sucked it up and pushed through,” Tszyu said. “He just recovered and endured.

“I kept working the body and could hear little grunts in close when I hit him to the body and was thinking, ‘Ok, I’ve got him, he’s hurt’ and I’d keep punching and he recovered.

“I was really impressed.”

Despite looking wobbled from a perfectly-timed right hand in the sixth round, Tszyu said he wasn’t seriously hurt.

“I was fine, I’ve copped worse shots in my life,” he said. “I’ve copped worse shots in sparring and I recover quickly.

“He just had the momentum. I just remember holding on, smothering him and didn’t let him throw shots.

“But I was fine.”

Originally published as Nikita Tszyu set for domestic grudge match against Koen Mazoudier in Australian super-welterweight title defence