Zerafa: Nikita is better than Tim | 03:46<\/p>\n
As part of preparations for his comeback, the Sydneysider recently took Main Event cameras with him into the scrub for those training sessions inspired by legends like Ali, Foreman, even Floyd Mayweather.<\/p>\n
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More recently, other boxers who have taken to chopping wood in preparation for fights include superstars like Anthony Joshua, Ryan Garcia, even Jaron \u2018Boots\u2019 Ennis.<\/p>\n
For Tszyu, the regular trips into the forest have been as much about preparing him mentally as physically for this month\u2019s hyped No Limit pay-per-view return \u2014 especially given the unbeaten 27-year-old hasn\u2019t fought in a year.<\/p>\n
After defeating Koen Mazoudier last August, the fighter then underwent his first hand surgery in October.<\/p>\n
Since then, he has twice had proposed comebacks cancelled.<\/p>\n
Eventually, whispers even emerged suggesting Australia\u2019s undefeated star \u2013 and a fighter now ranked inside the super welterweight top 15 \u2013 could be contemplating retirement.<\/p>\n
Speaking this week however, Tszyu admitted that while the thought of being forced to give up the sport prematurely did enter his mind, there was never any official discussion of calling it quits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, if the hand was getting to a point where it didn\u2019t recover then, yeah, possibly,\u201d he said when the question of retirement was put.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause when we tried to come back earlier this year, we did a sparring session and (the hand) just blew up again<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed a lot worse than what it really was so we took another bit of time, let it rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t rush the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now it\u2019s at a state where it\u2019s good enough, does the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot perfect, but that might just be something I have to deal with throughout my career.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I have to have a little bit more extended time after fights just to let it heal up.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of fighters have to deal with injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikita Tszyu is finally ready to return to the ring later this month.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
Asked how worrying things got, Tszyu continued: \u201cI wasn\u2019t so close to actually calling it, but the thought was always there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could barely even touch it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really sore so the thought was there.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I was never actually in the process of calling it quits.\u201d<\/p>\n
So as for what exactly is wrong with the hand?<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t even tell you,\u201d he shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had surgeries on it, seen multiple physios \u2026 there\u2019s just a pain in there and I don\u2019t really understand why.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just figured out a way to maintain it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened in preparation to fight Jack Brubaker (in 2023), so that was four, five fights ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had it for a while.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Initially) it was only on one side of the hand and then it migrated to another point.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just slowly got worse and worse over the fights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve kind of just dealt with it but I couldn\u2019t say what the hell was wrong with it, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Tszyu also spoke about adding an axe to his list of training tools.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need firewood sometimes,\u201d he grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also quite meditative.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing alone in the woods, hearing the sound of the axe.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, it\u2019s a physical task but it\u2019s not like an overwhelming physical task.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes an hour to get one cut done and your muscles, your forearm muscles \u2026 it\u2019s a good<\/p>\n
session to mentally build yourself up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of historic value, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnection to how people used to build their shoulder resistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m connecting to that old -school style.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikita’s scary new opponent revealed | 05:39<\/p>\n
Asked how it all translates to the ring, he continued: \u201cThe motions of using the axe are not the exact same as punching.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they both use a lot of upper body rotations, upper body movements.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the legs, your legs have to be planted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe body\u2019s a whole unit and training it as one is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu also admitted to feeling at home during the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a motivation for me,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe end goal for me is to be able to get away from this sport and be up in the woods.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo having a little taste of it now, even in my training, it gives me strength and energy to proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu said the extended time off this past year had also allowed him to work on his craft, enjoy \u201cliving a little bit\u201d, and be with his wife for the recent birth of their first child, Curiosity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of frustration with the hand, especially given it wasn\u2019t healing quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019ve really just been focused more on technical skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn building some physical foundation outside of punching.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve also really enjoyed living a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sport is quite overwhelming at times and having this little bit of a break was nice to kind of set me in my ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what I\u2019m working for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the end goal is.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it was just, it was beautiful.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife has moved down from Brisbane too so I got to really be there for her as she was going through a pregnancy and we\u2019re creating a family.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I was not complaining at all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nikita Tszyu has revealed he will likely have problems with his troublesome left hand for all of his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[8075,64,2347,63,689,24916,802,41957,41962,41966,26700,41975,26491,41961,41973,41972,41974,11850,2823,673,2782,677,41965,41960,41958,41964,41959,37653,41969,41971,29634,85,670,28430,41967,41970,41968,41963],"class_list":["post-49407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-anthony-joshua","tag-au","tag-august","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-star","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-legends","tag-channels-legends","tag-end-goal","tag-floyd-mayweather","tag-forearm-muscles","tag-george-foreman","tag-hand-surgery","tag-heavyweight-legends","tag-injury-admission","tag-jack-brubaker","tag-michael-zerafa","tag-muhammad-ali","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nick-walshaw","tag-oceania","tag-official-discussion","tag-opponent-revealedboxing","tag-physical-foundation-outside","tag-physical-task","tag-regular-trips","tag-ryan-garcia","tag-school-style","tag-shoulder-resistance","tag-sparring-session","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-tim","tag-training-tactic","tag-upper-body","tag-upper-body-movements","tag-upper-body-rotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49407","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=49407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}