Nikita Tszyu is renowned as one of boxing’s most interesting characters.
His pre-fight “ritual” certainly lives up to that billing, with the Aussie superstar revealing shaving his head is one of the final steps he takes before his fights.
This bout in particular against Spain’s Oscar Diaz has been long-awaited for Tszyu after his controversial no contest with Michael Zerafa in January.
Tszyu vs Diaz | Wednesday 6 May from 7pm AEST | Nikita Tszyu continues his rise in boxing as he takes on Spain’s undefeated Oscar Diaz. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
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After Monday’s final press conference. Tszyu took the clippers to his hair before the weigh-in, which symbolically marks a change in his “state of mind”.
“I like the shaving – even just the ritual behind it. It feels like I’m going into battle. That’s my family-man hair; my daughter loves grabbing my hair, so it was hard to shave it off then, but Papa’s gotta go to work. He needs it gone,” he said to Boxing Scene.
“The shaving of the head is like a ritual for me. I do it myself, and it just puts me in the [right] state of mind.
“Physically, my body also changes in that last week, the weight cut brings out some aggression, brings out some energy inside of you, and it all culminates to the fight night.
“I only started shaving my head a year-and-a-half ago. For two, three fights. I just shaved it with my brother [Tim] when we went to our camp in America.”
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DRYDEN’S NASTY KO VICTORY
Kyron Dryden has delivered a nasty uppercut to left hook combination to secure a knockout victory over Hunter Ioane in their welterweight bout.
In the first round, Ioane came out swinging but found himself down on the canvas after the ‘Hit Man’ landed some solid blows.
From there, he finished off his opponent in the second — although Ioane wasn’t happy with the decision.
After the fight, while Dryden was having his arm raised, Ioane stood shaking his head, questioning the referee’s decision to call a stoppage.
“No, it was a clear stoppage,” Sam Goodman said on the Main Event panel when asked if he had a leg to stand on.
ROSE’S BIG FUNDORA CALL
George Rose has declared Nikita Tszyu capable of finishing every super welterweight champion – including the towering American who famously beat big brother twice.
On the eve of Tszyu’s showdown with Oscar Diaz, Rose has ranked his charge among the division’s most dangerous punchers, saying: “I know for a fact Nikita can knock out every champion at super welterweight.
“He can absolutely knock out every one of them.
“Even Fundora — he can knock that tall tree down.
“Nikita hits hard, he’s got power and can stop anyone who stands in front of him. But you do have to put the whole package together. Because when you’re fighting these guys at the top, you can’t afford any mishaps.
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“So while he can knock out anyone, it’s just a matter of ensuring he can handle every bit of the arsenal that comes at him as well.”
Fundora, of course, has twice beaten Tim Tszyu in world title fights, but Rose has no doubt younger brother is also now on track to challenge for gold himself.
Quizzed on said KO power by this column, Nikita grinned: “I’m never focusing on the knockout.
“Even in this camp, I’ve been focusing more on timing, technique, speed, even being able to out-think my opponent.
“I’ve had some great sparring sessions this camp, real ‘chess match’ workouts. Because you don’t have to hit so hard, you just have to find them at that right point and it’ll do damage.”
MAIN CARD (via Main Event — starts 7pm AEST)
Nikita Tszyu vs Oscar Diaz – super welterweight
Callum Peters vs Joeshon James – middleweight
Kirra Ruston vs Berkay Varol – light heavyweight
Jack Bowen vs Tonga Tongotongo – super middleweight
Rahim Mundine vs Lance McDonald — super welterweight
PRELIMS (via Fox Sports and Kayo Sports — starts 5pm AEST)
Brent Walton vs. Jayden Vasica — welterweight
Kyron Dryden vs. Hunter Ioane — welterweight
Brandon Grach vs. Caleb Tialu — heavyweight
Wayne Telepe vs. Benjamin Amos — lightweight