Nikita Tszyu has spent the past five weeks in the United States training with one of Terence Crawford’s sparring partners – plus the son of two-time world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman – as he readies for his latest Australian Pay-Per-View headliner next Wednesday night.
The revelation comes as the younger Tszyu sibling is also tipping rival Koen Mazoudier to produce the best performance of his career after switching to Complete Boxing, the same gym used by Australian star Sam Goodman.
Undefeated since exploding onto the professional scene two years ago, 26-year-old Tszyu is looking to continue his breakout rise when he faces Mazoudier on a stacked No Limit card inside the ICC Theatre.
BOXING: NIKITA TSZYU V MAZOUDIER | WED 28 AUG 7PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
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Since late July, the Australian super welterweight champ has been training in Las Vegas alongside older brother Tim Tszyu – who will himself fight IBF world Bakhram Murtazaliev in Florida on October 20.
As part of preparations, Fox Sports Australia can reveal ‘The Butcher’ has been sparring a small team of American fighters – among them undefeated US middleweight Joseph Hicks (10-0).
Only last month, Hicks was in camp with US megastar Crawford as part of preparations for what would eventually be an interim WBO super welterweight title win against Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov.
Hailing from the same hometown as Floyd Mayweather Jnr, the 30-year-old is a former national Golden Gloves champ who, like Tszyu, turned professional in 2022 and has so far enjoyed an undefeated start to his career.
Elsewhere, Tszyu also spent extensive time sparring Texan Miguel Hernandez (8-0) and, interestingly, also completed rounds with Sharif Rahman, whose father famously kayoed Lennox Lewis in 2001 to claim the IBF and WBC world titles.
Hernandez, 26, is the same age as Tszyu, but with one less fight, and was specifically flown in from Dallas, Texas to help prepare for Mazoudier.
Sharif Rahman, meanwhile, is also undefeated as a pro, winning all eight fights at middleweight.
MORE: Tszyu’s brutal undercard smackdown for Zerafa
The intense camp comes with Tszyu predicting Mazoudier to be at the top of his game in what will be his second outing under new coach Joel Keegan, who also trains world title challenger Goodman out of his Central Coast gym.
“Knowing Keegan and the way he trains his fighters, he brings out a toughness in them,” Tszyu said.
“And that’s why I’m expecting some high level stuff out of Koen.
“Expecting the very best version of him.
“But we also know Koen can get hurt.
“He’s a fighter who has been hurt before, and can get careless sometimes.
“(Laughs) Although so can I.
“But we’ve seen some vulnerabilities in him and I’m going to try and exploit those next Wednesday.”
Certainly, Tszyu’s Las Vegas camp has him feeling capable of just that.
Quizzed on the use of Hicks in sparring, Tszyu said: “Yeah, we did some good work.
“He was one of the guys Terence Crawford used for the Madrimov camp and I was able to have some good rounds with him.
“There was another guy we flew in from Texas too, Miguel Hernandez.
“We also sparred prior to my fight with Dylan Biggs and Miguel really prepared me well for that.
“So the team brought him back in again a couple of times and we had some good rounds.
“But I also sparred a bunch of other guys too which was great”.
Zerafa fumes after Tszyu laughs him off | 03:17
Elsewhere, Tszyu stressed there was no bad blood between himself and Mazoudier, a fighter he has known since they were both amateurs, and expects a relatively cordial build to next Wednesday’s fight.
“It definitely won’t be disrespectful from my end,” the national champ said.
“And if Koen were to go any other way (himself), it would be a shock to me.
“And I think he would actually be acting.
“Just doing something to hype the fight.
“Because there is no bad blood.
“For me, this one actually has an old school feel to it. We’re both just here to fight.”
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