Nikita Tszyu overcame Koen Mazoudier in a hard-fought battle at the ICC Sydney Theater and moved to 10-0 after stopping Mazoudier with a flurry of punches in the ninth round. The fight was a rollercoaster, starting competitively with both fighters trading momentum, but Tszyu’s relentless power and a decisive left hand in the ninth sealed the deal. Despite the brutal exchanges and a near knockout, Tszyu dug deep and refused to give in even when pushed to his limits, eventually showcasing his toughness and determination in a dramatic victory.
After a boring first round, the fight kicked off in the second round with Tszyu landing a straight left that almost had Mazoudier packing early. But no, Mazoudier hung in there, took shots and fired back like the end of a Rocky movie.
By the fourth, they were just standing in the middle of the ring trading blows like a pair of street fighters, with Tszyu seemingly slugging it out. But in the sixth, Tszyu looked to be running on fumes, but Mazoudier couldn’t capitalize, despite some solid shots.
The seventh round? Pure drama. Mazoudier landed enough to stagger Tszyu, but “The Butcher” wasn’t about to be cut down and fired back with everything he had. The eighth saw Mazoudier press the action, only to be met with a barrage from Tszyu who appeared to have found a hidden energy reserve.
And that legendary ninth round—Tszyu digs deep, lands a monster left, and follows up with a flurry until the ref steps in. Drama, exhaustion, victory. Tszyu summed it up with a grim reflection on his inner pep talk, “I just kept saying, ‘Don’t be a bitch, don’t be an ap***, keep fighting.’
Meanwhile, the undercard turned into a sideshow. Michael Zerafa’s fight with Tommy Browne ended in farce when Browne was unable to continue due to a bicep injury. What followed was a circus—Zerafa’s brother channeled his inner Rocky and delivered a knockout blow, not to a fighter, but to Browne’s corner. Talk about family loyalty.
