Tszyu-Mazoudier: Blood-thirsty Nikita Tszyu reveals Latrell Mitchell chat at weigh-ins
Nikita Tszyu has sent an ominous message to his opponent Koen Mazoudier ahead of Wednesday’s blockbuster fight. Plus, he reveals what he spoke about with embattled NRL star Latrell Mitchell about.
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“Till death do us part…but I want to tear your heart out”
That’s a bloody-thirsty Nikita Tszyu’s message for Koen Mazoudier as the boxer revealed embattled Rabbitohs star Latrell Mitchell asked if he could use his personal chef, Omar Iferd.
A fired-up Tszyu tipped the scales at 69.34kg on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the biggest fight of his professional career.
After struggling to make weight for his last fight in April, Tszyu said he did the cut easily, but promised pain on Wednesday night.
BOXING: NIKITA TSZYU V MAZOUDIER | WED 28 AUG 7PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
“I feel no sympathy for him or for anything,” Tszyu said. “The weight cut does something to you – it transforms you into a killer.
“I want him bleeding.”
Tszyu was later spotted sharing a joke with Mitchell, who met South Sydney bosses earlier on Tuesday after controversial photos of him in a Dubbo hotel room surfaced two weeks ago.
“We were talking about what I’m eating afterwards, and he asked if I could borrow my brothers’ chef,” Nikita said. “I’ve got my brother’s chef cooking up a feast.”
Blacktown local Mazoudier was laser focused after weighing in at 69.78kg.
Mazoudier has two kids and a third on the way, and is determined to not just be another defeated opponent on Tszyu’s record.
“I’m ready to go, zoned in and there’s a job at hand,” he said. “It’s an important job too, and one that will bring a lot of prosperity to my family, and my team.
“There’s a lot on the line. Nikita’s got the name, he’s already got the stardom.
“I need this. This is what I’ve been putting everything into. Me and my family have put everything on the line for this.
“It’s going to be a big win for my career and for my family.”
Co-main event fighter, and crowd favourite, Tommy Browne – a Bulldogs diehard – also had a good chat to a relaxed looking Mitchell.
“I love my rugby league, so I support the footy players as well,” Browne told this masthead. “The Bulldogs are going pretty well – we’re gonna make the finals for once!”
Browne and opponent Michael Zerafa nearly got the action underway early at Monday’s press conference, and had to be separated before coming to blows.
There was more security presence at the weigh-ins, as Browne hit back at Zerafa for stooping low by mentioning his divorce.
“I went through a separation and I don’t want to go too far into detail, but I’ve moved on with my life and boxing’s saved me,” Browne said. “It kept me from going down a bad path.
“I’m a good father and I was a good husband.
“He took it too far bringing up my personal life, and that gives me more motivation to hurt him tomorrow.
“He doesn’t have a lot of fans, and now I can see why.”
TALE OF THE TAPE
Nikita Tszyu:
Age: 26
Record: 9-0 (7 KOs)
Weight: 69.34kg
Height: 176cm
Reach: 176cm
Last win: 10 Rd UD over Danilo Creati in April
Koen Mazoudier:
Age: 28
Record: 12-3-1 (5 KOs)
Weight: 69.78kg
Height: 182cm
Reach: 180cm
Last win: Rd 5 TKO over Travis Druce in March
SECURITY BEEFED UP AFTER ZERAFA BAITED BY POINTED SLEDGE
Promoter No Limit will take extra precautions at Tuesday’s weigh-ins after Tommy Browne and Michael Zerafa nearly got the fights started two days early at this week’s press conference.
Fighting in the co-main event to Nikita Tszyu’s pay-per-view headliner against Koen Mazoudier, Browne needled Zerafa so much that the Melbournian rushed across the stage and was only held back by No Limit CEO George Rose and one member of security.
BOXING: NIKITA TSZYU V MAZOUDIER | WED 28 AUG 7PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
And after Zerafa launched a low-blow on Monday afternoon by referencing Browne’s recent divorce, there’s likely to be more fireworks at the weigh-ins.
Speaking moments after his run-in with the 41-year-old Browne, Zerafa said: “He needs to focus on being a good husband.
“Instead of worrying about training me, he should worry about being a better husband.
“I don’t give a shit about him. He’s crossed some lines now and he’s going to pay on Wednesday night.”
Browne initially kicked off their rivalry on Sunday, telling this masthead Zerafa quit during his middleweight world title fight against Erislandy Lara in March.
At Monday’s presser, he pointed out the fact that the 32-year-old has had nearly as many trainers as hot dinners.
At the last count, Zerafa has had nine trainers, including legendary former world champion Nonito Donaire and Jeff Horn’s former mentor Glenn Rushton.
“I’ll give you an opportunity – because I’m such a good bloke – you’ve promised to put me into retirement, so I’ll even offer to train you,” Browne joked.
“You’ve been through that many trainers, no one in Melbourne likes you. You’ve got Glenn Rushton and he’s probably going to sack you after this too, you donkey.”
As laughter filled the auditorium, a fuming Zerafa made a beeline towards Browne, with the pair separated by Rose and a member of security.
Asked afterwards who won the presser, Rose didn’t hesitate: “Tommy Browne!
“I reckon Zerafa was shocked, because all the focus that’s been around him has been on Tim and Nikita Tszyu.
“I don’t know whether he was ready for that Tommy Browne onslaught.”
Meanwhile, Nikita Tszyu admitted to feeling aroused listening to Koen Mazoudier talk about blood, guts and war ahead of their main event bout.
By their own admission, Tszyu and Mazoudier are cut from the same cloth.
It’s why Tszyu admitted to this masthead that he’s had to prepare for this fight differently to every other fight he’s had.
They both think a bit differently, have a huge amount of respect for each other and just love to scrap.
“We’re relaxed and happy now, but we’re going to try and tear each other’s’ heads off,” Mazoudier said. “This is my art form.
“The ring is my canvas, my fists are my paintbrushes and Nikita’s blood’s gonna be my paint on Wednesday night.
“It’s gonna be war. It’s gonna be blood. It’s gonna be fun.”
Two seats down, Tszyu just sat there smiling.
It’s the first time Tszyu – who has eaten snake hearts for protein and is diving into witchcraft – has faced anyone so similar to himself.
And he loves it.
“I was sitting there saying, ‘you’re literally taking the words right out of my mouth,’” Tszyu told this masthead moments after the press conference finished.
“I was resonating with everything he was saying, and I was just smiling.
“Everything that he says is something I stand for too.”
In fact, Tszyu says he’s actually had to focus on how to fight someone so similar to himself.
“That’s literally the main thing I’ve been trying to prepare for,” he said. “I have the same person on the other side of the ring - same mentality, same kind of drive.
“I know there’s no mental games that I can do to break him, because I know the kind of strength he has built up in his head.
“That’s been the main train of thought in this camp.”
Potions and witchcraft: Tszyu’s othewordly fight tune-up
Nikita Tszyu has revealed his unique relaxation methods as he prepares for the biggest fight of his professional career against Koen Mazoudier this Wednesday.
While most other boxers unwind from the stress of a hectic fight week with massages, saunas or movies, Tszyu kicks back with a selection of goods he recently purchased from a witchcraft store in the Blue Mountains.
BOXING: NIKITA TSZYU V MAZOUDIER | WED 28 AUG 7PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
“I bought a bunch of potions, and we’ve got this little altar and we light these candles and incenses up and say these blessings,” Tszyu revealed at Sunday’s open workouts.
“Part of me doesn’t believe in it, but part of me does.
“I feel something from it. I don’t know exactly what I feel from it, but there is some sort of feeling I get from it.
“I don’t know if I’m cursing myself though.”
The left field witchcraft ritual plays right into Tszyu’s offbeat persona.
Known as the Dark Prince, he said his partner encouraged him to delve into the dark arts.
“She was the motivating factor – we’re a bad influence on each other,” he said. “We have some chimes, this little bell thing and these potions.
“It’s this resin type stuff and they smoke the place up and it’s meant to clear negative energy.
“I really have no idea what I’m doing though. I have not researched it at all.”
With his 10th professional fight just a few days away, he doesn’t know whether the witchcraft has helped or not, but he finally feels more comfortable in front of the cameras.
“The same level of pressure is there, but I feel like I’ve found my inner peace,” he said. “I’ve learned how to control all the emotions, learning when to think about them and not think about them.
“So when I get home, everything shuts off and I’m just there with my dogs and my candles.”
Despite his own inner peace, Tszyu has no interest in talking about a potential fight with Australian boxing’s bad boy Michael Zerafa.
Zerafa fights Tommy Browne on Tszyu’s undercard on Wednesday and is adamant on securing a fight against Nikita later in the year.
But Tszyu says Mazoudier poses too much of a threat to start thinking ahead.
“We’re not gonna talk about Zerafa,” he deadpanned. “I’m in a fight with Koen, and that’s where my full attention’s going.
“The fact that there’s talk about a second fight in the future, it’s not right. It’s disrespectful to the opponent I’ve got, and it’s something I’m not too fond of.”
Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings said a fight between Nikita and Zerafa is possible, but a bout between the Melburnian and Tim Tszyu is out of the question.
Tim and Zerafa were scheduled to fight in Newcastle in 2021, before the ‘Pretty Boy’ pulled out over concerns about travelling during Covid.
“The Tim and Michael thing is done. It won’t play. Tim won’t come back for that,” Jennings told this masthead.
“Nikita’s at that stage where he needs those challenges and Michael’s a good fighter.
“But nothing’s signed off, and it’s one step at a time. No Limit have Michael on a contract, so it can be done.
“It’s a great opportunity, and probably the biggest domestic fight we could stitch together.”
Meanwhile, former two-time welterweight world champion Shawn Porter, who jetted into Sydney on Sunday and will commentate Wednesday’s fights, says been blown away by the progress of both Tszyu brothers.
Tim is back in action against IBF world champion Bakhram Murtazaliev in Orlando in October in his second world title fight in America this year.
Porter believes it won’t be long before Nikita joins his older brother in headlining fight cards in America.
“He’s got some growing up to do in and out of the ring, but as long as he continues to grow, he’ll end up in his brother’s position,” Porter told this masthead.
“His brother’s done a great job, and they’re both answering the bell every time they get these big opportunities.
“They’re able to sell because of their name and they’re family, but they’re both able to perform as well.
“They’re selling because of who they are and what they do, so you can’t hate it.”
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