![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767942068_240_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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Apart from Tszyu\u2019s hyped career start having now gone 11 straight wins, the youngest fighting son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu is also now the slight betting favourite in some online markets.<\/p>\n
Dib warns however, that the 27-year-old is also yet to prove himself at the same level as Zerafa, a longtime world title contender who boasts a heap of experience in big fights against men who held championships, including the likes of Anthony Mundine, Kell Brook, Jeff Horn, Erislandy Lara and Peter Quillin.<\/p>\n
Yet given Tszyu\u2019s undeniable rise, the former IBF featherweight king is also tipping Friday\u2019s showdown to be an enthralling fight \u2013 for however long it lasts \u2013 and says the No Limit headliner is a huge win for Australian fight fans. <\/p>\n
Apart from looking to settle six years of bad blood between his family and Zerafa, Tszyu is also in line to take the same leap older brother Tim did six years ago \u2013 after upsetting Aussie boxing great Horn.<\/p>\n
Only last week however, Koen Mazoudier, the Australian super welterweight champ, also tipped Zerafa by KO \u2013 and Dib, who has himself held world titles at both featherweight and super featherweight, while more recently fighting cancer outside the ring, agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Mick is going to do a job on him,\u201d Dib said this week. \u201cI just think he\u2019ll be too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd look, Nikita could prove me wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he does too, his career catapults.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut right now, we don\u2019t know if Nikita Tszyu is world class.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t proved himself at that level yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s also very hittable.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m not going to sit here and tell you what a great fighter he is because he\u2019s still unproven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Zerafa and Nikita Tszyu come face to face with the Brisbane skyline in the background. Picture: No Limit BoxingSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Asked if he also expects Zerafa to finish Tszyu, Dib continued: \u201cWell, Nikita isn\u2019t the most technically sound fighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, he has heavy hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he\u2019s also been knocked down on several occasions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we know he can be hurt.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s why I do think Zerafa is a good chance of stopping him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Mick can definitely punch. And punches a lot harder than guys who\u2019ve knocked Nikita down in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon after, Dib continued: \u201cThere has also been a lot of turmoil within the Tszyu camp, with Tim changing teams and so on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich could weigh heavy [on Nikita].<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I think Mick might be getting this one at the right time.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously Zerafa\u2019s whiskers will have to hold up against Nikita \u2013 and I believe they will.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis experience in big fights will also serve him well. He won\u2019t get flustered.<\/p>\n
\u201cMick comes in with a chip on his shoulder too, so he\u2019ll be on.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is definitely a great fight for the Australian public and if Nikita wins his career really catapults.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if he gets beat? I think he will then stay as a domestic level fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikita not afraid ahead of Zerafa fight | 01:12<\/p>\n
Only last week, Mazoudier also tipped a loss for the younger Tszyu sibling, with whom he has previously thrown down.<\/p>\n
Back in August last year, the now Central Coast fighter was trailing narrowly on the scorecards when stopped by Tszyu in what was Australian promoter No Limit\u2019s 2024 Fight of the Year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really hard one to predict, man,\u201d the Australian champ said initially of finding a winner. \u201cAnd really is about who wants it more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Nikita is a true warrior \u2013 and that Tszyu name is special in Australia \u2013 but I don\u2019t know how much he has passion for the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere Zerafa, he has passion for the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cHas that ego, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019ll edge towards Michael getting it done.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ll say this, someone is getting knocked the f*** out whichever way it goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause both those guys can both hurt each other, and they can both get hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Australia\u2019s gutsiest world champions is tipping Nikita Tszyu to get upset by Michael Zerafa \u2013 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[187511,64,63,689,203343,75772,203346,159650,214966,2806,214970,214968,2105,214967,16487,214965,12412,11850,673,2782,11876,677,61509,85,2773,670,2801,193963,5942,214969,2798,214964],"class_list":["post-405419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-anthony-velazquez","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-champ","tag-australian-fight-fans","tag-australian-promoter","tag-australian-public","tag-billy-dib","tag-central-coast","tag-domestic-level-fighter","tag-featherweight-king","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gutsiest-world-champions","tag-hall","tag-hyped-career-start","tag-matt-king","tag-michael-zerafa","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nick-walshaw","tag-nikita-tszyu","tag-oceania","tag-peter-quillin","tag-sports","tag-super-welterweight-champ","tag-sydney","tag-tasmania","tag-tik-tok-theatre","tag-tim-tszyu","tag-undefeated-career","tag-world-titles","tag-youngest-fighting-son"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}