Nikita Tszyu intends ramping up his fight program in Australia after brutally disposing of young Victorian Benjamin Bommber in the first round of their Melbourne super welterweight showdown.
A smiling Tszyu walked into the Margaret Court Arena ring to the tune of the Village People’s YMCA on Wednesday and waltzed back out barely two minutes later.
Tszyu took an early shot from 21-year-old Bommber but then landed a flurry of hard and heavy blows to record the early stoppage.
The win took his professional record to 6-0 and came 20 years after his triple world champion father Kostya Tszyu downed American Jesse James Leija in six rounds in Melbourne.
Tszyu was watched ringside by his brother Tim, who rated his performance a 10 out of 10.
He said that Kostya spoke to him a few times before his fight.
“He was just giving me the typical advice – be smart, defence is number one and don’t rush things,” the 25-year-old said.
Tim is fighting on the Gold Coast next month and with a victory over Carlos Ocampo will then take on undisputed champion American Jermell Charlo.
Nikita said he wouldn’t look to fight on that Las Vegas undercard believing it was Tim’s time to shine.
“That’s Tim’s moment … but it’s too stressful for me as well, watching him fight is not easy,” he said.
His manager Glenn Jennings said Nikita was going to be busy regardless.
“We’ve talked about Nikita’s road-map and there will probably be three more fights so for us, the beauty of an early night is that there’s no injuries and we can roll on to the next,” Jennings said.
“Nikita will most likely be back in the ring in July.”
Tszyu was called out by Ben Horn, who upset highly-rated Joel Taylor in a unanimous points decision earlier in the night.
But Tszyu ruled out a rematch with Horn, who he beat in a close battle last July.
“He keeps bringing it up to me but I’m saying no, I’m not interested – he’s too tough,” he said.
“He can take a shot a little bit too well, it wasn’t fun, sorry Benny.
“My main thing is just going up the rankings and the goal is to be able to take care of everyone in Australia and then eventually move on to bigger and greater things.”
Meanwhile,
Kiwi boxer Joseph Parker has made short work of Faiga Opelu, stopping the Queenslander in the opening round of their Melbourne fight.
Hot on the heels of Nikita Tszyu’s first-round knockout of Benjamin Bommber, co-main event star Parker ensured an early night at Margaret Court Arena.
Parker was supported ringside by his good friend and WBC world champion Tyson Fury.
The Brit, who was interviewed in the ring post-fight, maintained Parker, who won a world title back in 2016, was “back on the map”.
Parker started the barrage with a left uppercut and then hammered Opelu, with the referee stopping the fight with one minute 29 seconds left in the first round.
Fighting for the first time in Melbourne, Parker said he wanted to make a “statement” and was now ready to move on.
“I wanted to make a statement,” Parker said.
“I haven’t had the best performances of late but that’s a statement,” said the 31-year-old, whose record is now 32-3.
“I want to get onto the next one as soon as I can, I want to keep busy to get momentum and get back to the top as fast as I can.
“Anyone who is keen anywhere, I don’t care who it is, I want to fight.”
Fury was impressed by his sparring partner’s showing.
“I thought it was a great performance, it just shows how hard Joseph has worked in the gym.
“I’ve always said there’s a lot of levels in boxing and Joe’s a former world heavyweight champion and he’s soon to be back there.”
He said he’d like to see Parker next have a rematch with Andy Ruiz or Joe Joyce.
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