Tszyu vs. Mazoudier: Nikita Tszyu has defeated Koen Mazoudier in the ninth round, incidents mar the fight card

Some incidents marred the overall fight card, but the night finished on a high note with Nikita Tszyu living up to the promise of a bloody and bruising battle and prevailing over Koen Mazoudier in nine rounds.

They promised war. They promised blood. They promised to try to kill each other.

And that’s exactly what Nikita Tszyu and Koen Mazoudier delivered on Wednesday night in a bloody, bruising battle in Sydney.

Tszyu claimed a comeback ninth round TKO win in a battle of attrition that propelled him into the IBF and WBO rankings, but did absolutely nothing for his longevity in the sport.

At times, he was pushed further than he’d ever been pushed in his career, before forcing referee Chris Condon to step in and wave it off after Mazoudier took too much damage in the ninth.

“I had to work for that. That was not easy,” Tszyu said. “It sucked during the fight, but the feeling right now is indescribable.

“It’s everything we expected. It’s everything we advertised. I take my hat off to Koen, he was one tough bastard.

“I was impressed, I didn’t expect him to be that hard. I didn’t expect the fight to be that hard.”

The win propels Tszyu into the super-welterweight rankings with the WBO and IBF, but more importantly – in the short term at least – sets up a domestic blockbuster against Michael Zerafa.

In the co-main event, Zerafa scored a dominant, if anti-climactic, stoppage of Tommy Browne.

It was soured by an ugly post-fight fracas as Zerafa’s brother punched Browne’s trainer, Tommy Mercuri, but that shouldn’t stop a long-awaited Tszyu vs Zerafa scrap.

“Let’s do it,” No Limit CEO George Rose said. “Let’s do Tszyu vs Zerafa.”

Zerafa was supposed to confront the winner of the main event in the ring after the bout, but had already left the arena following his spiteful win over Browne.

After an entertaining first round, it was a slightly more measured Tszyu in the second.

That is until he exploded with a hook that landed flush on Mazoudier’s jaw.

The Blacktown boy’s knees buckled and he came agonisingly close to hitting the canvas, but somehow managed to stay on his feet.

Tszyu went in for the kill, but just ran out of time.

Tszyu targeted the body in the third, and showed all of the head movement he worked on while in training camp with older brother Tim in Las Vegas.

The varied attack opened holes up top for Tszyu to target, and Mazoudier ended the frame with red welts around his face.

Despite landing the bigger shots, Tszyu had taken a fair few of Mazoudier’s best punches as well, and was marked up around the eyes in the fourth.

But it was Tszyu’s size and power that showed through and the 26-year-old started timing his counters well in the fourth.

Mazoudier has fought back from being hospitalised due to mental health struggles just five years ago though, and wasn’t about to lie down.

Despite being hammered with a big left hands from the southpaw Tszyu in the opening seconds of the fifth, he kept walking forward.

He even landed some nice body shots of his own.

In the sixth, Mazoudier landed some of his best shots of the fight as the pace slowed slightly. There were more good moments in the seventh for Mazoudier as Tszyu grew visibly tired.

Tszyu was in the most trouble he’s ever been in during moments in the eight and early in the ninth.

“There was a moment in the middle where I was out,” Tszyu said. “I looked up and thought he (Condon) might stop the fight.

“But I had to push through. I just kept saying, ‘Don’t be a bitch, keep fighting’.”

Mazoudier opened the ninth on the attack again, and his entire corner was on its feet, willing him on to the finish.

But, having looked gassed just minutes earlier, Tszyu found some reserve of energy, landing two big left hands to change the momentum of the fight.

A left-right combo saw Mazoudier double over. He didn’t fall, but referee Condon waved the bout off. Tszyu was up 77-75, 77-75 and 78-74 at the time of the stoppage.

Scroll down for all the highlights - and some lowlights - and everything you need to know about the card.

Originally published as Tszyu vs. Mazoudier: Nikita Tszyu has defeated Koen Mazoudier in the ninth round, incidents mar the fight card