Nikita Tszyu has caught the eye of one of the world’s biggest promoters, with Eddie Hearn saying ‘The Butcher’ could fight for a world title as soon as early next year.

Tszyu is deep in preparations to fight slick Gold Coast boxer Ben Mahoney on August 26, where a win will propel him into contention to fight for the IBF super-welterweight title.

England’s Josh Kelly currently holds that belt, and is due for a unification mega-bout with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis later this year, but Hearn says a win over Mahoney puts Tszyu squarely in contention for a title shot.

“It’s very likely Josh Kelly is going to fight Jaron Ennis in a big unification fight towards the end of the year,” Hearn told Code Sports.

“Then after that, Nikita is more than welcome to fight the winner of that fight.

“I really rate Nikita Tszyu, he’s a great fighter and very powerful.

“With all due respect, facing Jaron Ennis after fighting Ben Mahoney is a little bit of a different proposition.

“But, sooner or later, he’s going to have to get in a position to fight those kinds of guys.

“Josh Kelly’s a great fighter who will raise his game as well.

“I know people will look at it and say Kelly’s an easier fight than Ennis, but they’re all good.”

There have been talks for Tszyu to make his American debut in Las Vegas in December, with those plans potentially doubling as a revenge mission.

Bakhram Murtazaliev, who beat Tszyu’s older brother Tim in 2024, shapes as a likely opponent in what could amount to a final IBF eliminator.

Nikita actually threw in the towel, saving Tim from taking more punishment after he’d been dropped four times in three rounds by Murtazaliev.

Meanwhile, there have also been talks of Nikita fighting Sebastian Fundora, who handed Tim two world title defeats.

“Nikita is on the verge of landing all these big fights in 2027 and becoming a real breakout global star,” No Limit boss Matt Rose told Code Sports. “That’s why this fight with Ben Mahoney is so crucial.

“If he gets through Mahoney, he can really launch his career to the next level.”

If Tszyu does land a world title shot against Kelly or Ennis, Hearn says there’s no reason it can’t be staged in Australia next year.

“You guys have that real benefit of having government support to bring those names to Australia,” he said.

“We saw that with Errol Spence.

“If Boots was the champion, or even if it was still Josh Kelly, you have the ability to bring those kinds of fights to Australia.

“I know those guys would be interested in fighting internationally.

“It’s a very hard task for Nikita, but he’s a very good fighter.”

Hearn was in Australia last week promoting heavyweight prospect Teremoana Teremoana, with Michael Zerafa in the co-main event.

Zerafa turned in an unconvincing performance despite stopping Alejandro Ortiz in the eighth round.

The performance likely sees any hopes of a rematch with Nikita or a long simmering blockbuster against Tim go up in smoke.

After a tough 2024 and ’25, Tszyu’s move up to middleweight and subsequent bounce back against Errol Spence last month propels him right back into the spotlight.

“I actually really rate Tim Tszyu as well,” Hearn said. “I watched the Errol Spence fight, and I know Errol Spence was a shell of himself.

“But I think Tim’s going to cause anyone problems. He’s a big strong boy, and I think Jeff Fenech’s a great coach.

“Tim probably is the kind of guy where you don’t want to confuse things too much. You want to keep things simple.

“The way that he fights, you’ll never add too much, but they did a great job.”