Nikita Tszyu Calls Controversial Draw a Win as He Chases U.S. Boxing Stage
Nikita Tszyu has watched the tape, sat with the doubt and changed his mind. Now he’s calling that controversial draw with Ben Mahoney for what he believes it was — a win — and using it as a springboard to chase America.
In Brisbane last month, the judges couldn’t agree on much. Three wildly different scorecards spat out a stalemate. Mahoney celebrated like a new world champion, dancing around the ring, while Tim Tszyu fumed at ringside and his brother’s camp cried robbery.
In the middle of it all, Nikita did something rare in boxing: he admitted he thought he’d lost.
That honesty didn’t last long once he hit rewind.
After studying the super-welterweight bout back, the 29-year-old has flipped his verdict and now insists he did enough to have his hand raised.
"I'm not a very good judge," he said, half-smiling at his own original assessment.
"I scored it 7-3. In a good way, 8-4. I thought I won the majority of the middle rounds. I gave him the first two rounds and the last two rounds, but [I won] everything else in between.
"I don't regret it, because it was what I felt at the time."
The self-critique fits the man. Tszyu has always been a little different to the standard, tunnel-vision prizefighter. Away from the ring, he has spent time landscaping, doing woodworking, living a life that doesn’t begin and end under gym lights.
That, he now concedes, has to change.
"This fight was a great learning curve for me and it puts things a lot into perspective. I've got to be a lot more professional with the way I do things.
"I can't be landscaping close to the fight. I can't be doing woodworking close to the fight. Just some bad habits I do.
"Yeah, I've got to be a professional athlete."
The lesson has arrived at a pivotal moment. Tszyu, 12-1-0 with 10 knockouts, believes his domestic apprenticeship is complete. The Sydney southpaw wants the noise, the lights and the scrutiny of the United States.
For a long time, his camp resisted that pull. No rush, no shortcuts, no reckless leaps into deep water just because the American stage glitters brighter. The family name has already been through the wringer over there.
Tim Tszyu’s IBO super-welterweight belt slipped away in the US to Sebastian Fundora. The rematch brought no redemption. Another world-title tilt, against Bakhram Murtazaliev, ended in a brutal beating. Those nights left scars and a warning.
Nikita has seen all of it. And he still wants in.
"I think I can figure it out," he told AAP, sounding less like a man chasing a fantasy and more like a craftsman ready for a harder job.
The opportunity may come quickly. No Limit Boxing is pushing to land him on the undercard of the David Benavidez–Michal Cieslak unified blockbuster in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 12 — the kind of card that can turn a name into a brand overnight.
If that US date doesn’t materialise, the plan doesn’t collapse. No Limit has already confirmed Tszyu will fight at least once more in 2026 on home soil, keeping his momentum rolling while the American door stays ajar.
For now, the equation is simple. Put down the tools. Live like a full-time fighter. Treat that Mahoney draw as a warning and a wake-up call.
The domestic chapter, in his mind, is over. The next punch he throws might be thrown under American lights.
