Tszyu backflips on ‘career suicide’ comment, hints at US fight

Nikita Tszyu has backflipped on his comments after a controversial split draw against Ben Mahoney and now believes he won the fight.

The two Australian brawlers went to war for 12 rounds last month without a victor, after the three judges couldn’t split on the Gold Coast.

Ben Mahoney and Nikita Tszyu embrace. Getty Images

Tszyu got the nod 117-113 from one judge, Mahoney was favoured 115-113 by another, while the third judge scored it as a 114-114 draw.

After the result was read out, Tszyu surprisingly admitted in the ring that he felt like he lost – something journalist Peter Badel labelled as “career suicide” – but speaking to media on Wednesday morning, he changed his tune.

“I thought I won the majority of the middle rounds. I gave him the first two rounds and the last two rounds,” the 28-year-old Tszyu said.

“Everything else in between, I thought [I had] the forward pressure, control of the ring and landing the heavier punches … that’s personally how I favour the boxing.

“It’s definitely changed – in the heat of the moment you kind of forget, it’s hard to be a judge when you’re in the actual ring. I’m not a very good judge internally.

“I don’t think I regret it because it’s what I felt at the time. I’m definitely still disappointed with the way I fought. I thought I could have done a lot better.

“This fight was a great learning curve for me and it puts things into perspective.”

It’s the only real blemish for Tszyu (12-0-1) across his 14 professional fights, with his January clash with Michael Zerafa ending in a no-contest.

The draw with Mahoney was the first time Tszyu was forced to be the villain in a fight, with the Gold Coast crowd completely behind their local fighter – something the second-generation star said he “enjoyed” before an overseas trip.

Tszyu hinted he could end up fighting on American soil later this year, possibly on an undercard for his brother Tim’s world title clash with Erislandy Lara.

“There’s something lined up at the end of the year. Whether it’s international or another domestic fight, I’m not too sure,” Nikita said.

“I think that’s what we’re looking towards [fighting in the US]. The different experience, having to face different kinds of adversity and even not having to be the headline act – that’s good as well, not putting so much pressure on me.

“I’ve had a lot of pressure put on me since the very start, so it could be nice.”