Jarrod Wallace caught rival Nelson Asofa-Solomona “off-guard” with a pointed NRL sledge ahead of their blockbuster heavyweight showdown, while Tim Tszyu delivered a frank warning to Denis Nurja.
Just days out from the stacked Easter Sunday card in Wollongong, Wallace blasted ‘Big Nasty’ for “walking around like he’s Tim Tszyu” as the fighters squared off at Thursday’s official press conference.
Tszyu vs Nurja | Sunday 5 April from 11am AEST | Tim Tszyu looks to continue his boxing resurgence as he takes on Albanian Denis Nurja. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Wallace also didn’t hold back as he taunted Asofa-Solomona for falling out of favour with his former rugby league team before deciding to switch to boxing.
“He’s big, but there’s plenty of flaws. (Melbourne Storm coach) Craig Bellamy saw them,” he said at Thursday’s press conference. “That’s why they sacked him.”
Tszyu ready to combat his ‘kryptonite’ | 02:11
“He had an impressive fight [against Jeremy Latimore], but I’m going to take him into deep waters and throw bombs.
“He’s walking around like Tim Tszyu… he gets off a private jet.
“Don’t discount me.”
In response, Asofa-Solomona offered a simple “no-comment” but admitted on Main Event later he was somewhat-stunned by the attack from his rival.
“He must have had some sort of script in his pocket, but it was really good,” he explained afterwards.
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“I was really surprised, it threw me off guard but it was something I couldn’t really reply too – there’s too much collateral damage. But good on him, touche, but 5th of April, he has to pay for that.”
Meanwhile, Tszyu had a largely respectful exchange with his next opponent, unbeaten Albanian Nurja. But the Australian superstar did issue a warning – he knows Nurja has been reviewing his loss against Bakhram Murtazaliev, looking for an edge, and it won’t help.
“All of them watch them Bakhram fight,” he grinned.
“I sleep with my right hand on my chin. I’m well aware that’s what they are thinking. Throwing the left hook. [They think] It’s my kryptonite.
Tszyu afterwards explained exactly why he mentioned the fact.
“I just want to point it out,” he said.
“I’m very well aware of it.”
Nurja, for his part, said that while he has enormous respect for Tszyu and loves the Australian people, he is not here to make up the numbers.
“I’ve trained really hard, I have a lot of respect for him, but I’ve come here to win,” he said.
When asked about all the talk of Tszyu potentially fighting superstar Errol Spence next, Nurja was unfazed.
“I’m used to people talking, I don’t care what they say. We’ll see what happens on Sunday.
“The win would be a massive step in my career – it would be such a gift for me.”
No Limit Boxing promoter George Rose also stressed that nobody is looking past Nurja.
“Most people don’t take these difficult fights,” Rose said.
“This guy [Nurja] is undefeated – he doesn’t know what defeat feels like.
“But Tim Tszyu is the guy in this division who is going to take it to the next level. There are big fights ahead, and we don’t want to look past that.
Tszyu vs. Spence? Crawford picks winner | 03:56
“Tim Tszyu is taking on a world-rated fighter.”
Elsewhere, Aussie favourite Sam Goodman spoke about his excitement at returning to fight in front of his home fans in Wollongong, taking on Argentina’s Rodrigo Fabian Ruiz in an IBF super bantamweight eliminator.
Ruiz warned he was ready to KO Goodman – but “The Ghost” wasn’t having it.
“Zero chances of that happening,” Goodman said.
“He’s a strong fighter, he can punch — but I’ll show I’m the better fighter.
“After I punch his head in, we can talk about what’s next.”
Goodman has vowed to make amends for his heartbreaking world title loss to Englishman Nick Ball in 2025.
A win this weekend would see him installed as mandatory challenger for the winner of May’s superfight between Japanese megastars Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani.
Rose said he’s expecting something special from the co-main event.
“Sam Goodman is back at his natural weight,” Rose said.
“This is a huge opportunity for him. This is the type of fight that would [ordinarily] be for a world title.
Tszyu & Crawford share unfiltered chat | 03:57
“I think it will be a fantastic day… and maybe one of Goodman’s most entertaining fights.”
Rose also spoke about how excited he was to see Aussie Olympians Paulo Aokuso and Callum Peters back in the ring, describing them as “the two best rising stars in Australian boxing”.
“If you haven’t seen Callum fight, he’s very high intensity, but his opponent will be as well,” said Rose.
“This one might even break Compubox.
“They are going to break the system with the amount of punches these boys will be throwing.”