There’s only one Nikita Tszyu and the Australian boxing star had the crowd in stitches after his dominant win on Wednesday night.
The younger brother of Tim and son of Kostya was at his lethal best against the little-known Lulzim Ismaili, who failed to return for the second round and stayed on his stool.
Tszyu dropped his opponent in the opening round and looked in complete control, but Ismaili managed to survive before making the wise decision to call it quits.
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Nikita Tszyu drops Lulzim Ismaili in the first round. No Limit Boxing/Gregg Porteous
But it was what happened before and after the fight that was more entertaining.
During his walk to the ring, Tszyu was accompanied by two wildly different tracks.
First, it was the theme music of WWE legend The Undertaker – leaning into the “Dark Prince” moniker the enigmatic Aussie boxer has recently adopted.
Then, it was over to ACDC’s iconic hit Thunderstruck, which amped up the crowd.
However, as revealed after the bout, the song had a much deeper meaning for Tszyu and it relates to his young daughter Curiosity, who was born in June.
“Thunderstruck is the song that she came out to,” he said before pausing briefly.
“You heard it right.”
Nikita Tszyu’s post-fight interview. Main Event
The crowd and Tszyu’s corner then erupted with laughter before he continued.
“As we were having a C-section, I got one of the nurses to put on Thunderstruck – that song has a special place in my heart,” he said.
“That’s why I was closing my eyes, thinking about Curiosity and seeing her naked body being pulled out of my wife.”
Main Event commentator Ben Damon, who was conducting the interview, could only offer a few words in response to the story.
“Don’t ever change, Nikita Tszyu,” he said.
The 27-year-old remains undefeated and now finds himself on a potential collision course with either Michael Zerafa or Brock Jarvis, who also earned stoppage wins during the pay-per-view event at Sydney’s ICC Theatre.
Michael Zerafa celebrates his win over Mikey Dahlman. No Limit Boxing/Gregg Porteous
But for now, Tszyu is looking forward to getting home to his wife and daughter.
“I’ll see you soon, I can’t wait,” he said.
“I have been away from them for a week, they’ve been staying with their grandfather.
“I have been all alone at home and I just want to see them.”
Tszyu had spent the past year out of the ring and admitted the hand injury that has plagued him was still not at 100 per cent, despite the explosive showing.
