Speaking on Friday morning, Tszyu said he was excited to be following in the footsteps of his legendary father Kostya, and older brother Tim, while No Limit boss George Rose declared US fight fans \u201care about to fall in love\u201d with The Butcher. <\/p>\n
\u201cNikita Tszyu is ready for the world,\u201d Rose enthused, \u201cand now the world gets to see him\u201d.<\/p>\n
With Tszyu now ranked top five with both the IBF and WBO, the 28-year-old is set to share a card that also sees unbeaten American Vergil Ortiz Jnr throw down against the legendary Keith Thurman.<\/p>\n
In the main event, Benavidez will be defending cruiserweight gold against Michal Cieslak, while others set to appear include the unbeaten Emiliano Vargas and Marco Romero. <\/p>\n
And in a wonderful twist, the venue for Tszyu\u2019s first fight on American soil \u2013 the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona \u2013 is also where the old man claimed what would be the final victory of his storied career.<\/p>\n
Now, 22 years on, his son announces himself Stateside inside those same walls.<\/p>\n
![\"Kostya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4815b9a09bffc7ed40112ce83d4b25ea.jpeg\")
Kostya Tszyu\u2019s final win came at the venue where son Nikita will make his US debut.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
Benavidez is also no stranger to Australia\u2019s number one fight family, and has previously listed Kostya Tszyu among his favourite fighters. <\/p>\n
In fact, the fighter dubbed \u2018Monster\u2019 has also spent time training with Tim Tszyu in Miami, Florida, with the pair striking up a friendship in late 2025 when the Sydneysider was working under coach Pedro Diaz.<\/p>\n
Speaking after having his US debut confirmed early Friday morning, Nikita Tszyu said of the opportunity: \u201cI\u2019m excited to be making my US debut, and to be on a massive David Benavidez card is truly an honour.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the most exciting fighter in the world. He comes forward, he hurts people and he never gives anyone an easy night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of fighting I respect. I also like to fight with that warrior mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rose also praised what is a huge opportunity for his unbeaten star.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the one,\u201d he declared. \u201cWe\u2019ve been planning Nikita\u2019s American debut for a long time and he\u2019s earned it. Now he gets to do it on one of the biggest stages in world boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid Benavidez is a superstar. Add Vergil Ortiz Jr, Keith Thurman and Emiliano Vargas and this card is as stacked as it gets.<\/p>\n
\u201cNikita belongs on a night like this and he\u2019s going to prove it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian fight fans already know what Nikita brings. He\u2019s aggressive, he\u2019s explosive and he\u2019s box office every time he steps through the ropes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo boxing fans in America and around the world watching, you\u2019re about to fall in love with Nikita Tszyu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikita Tszyu during the weigh in for his last fight at Pacific Fair on August 25, 2026 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Tszyu also spoke enthusiastically about making his US debut in the same city that his father had his final win.<\/p>\n
Way back in 2004, Kostya dropped Sharmba Mitchell four times within three rounds to reclaim the IBF super lightweight crown.<\/p>\n
That win also marked the last of Tszyu\u2019s career, with \u2018The Thunder From Down Under\u2019 retiring just seven months later after suffering an upset loss against Englishman Ricky Hatton.<\/p>\n
More recently, older brother Tim \u2013 who is readying for his own showdown with WBA middleweight champ Erislandy Lara \u2013 has lost three straight title fights Stateside after winning his 2022 debut there against Terrell Gausha.<\/p>\n
However, should \u2018The Phoenix\u2019 now become a two-division champion against Lara, it will cap one of Australia\u2019s greatest sporting comeback stories.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Nikita Tszyu is now looking to forge his own path, albeit in tandem with his family\u2019s famed history.<\/p>\n
\u201cArizona is where my father had his last victory, so it holds a special place in our family legacy,\u201d the fighter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be special to write the next chapter of the Tszyu story there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been building for this moment and am ready for this next step in my career. I can\u2019t wait for December 6.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rose agreed, adding: \u201cYou couldn\u2019t script it better.<\/p>\n
\u201cKostya\u2019s last win came in that very same arena. Fight fans loved Kostya, and they\u2019re going to love Nikita. This is a massive day for Nikita, for the Tszyu legacy and for Australian boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘8-4’ – Nikita makes his case vs Mahoney | 01:18<\/p>\n
Certainly Benavidez is no stranger to the Tszyu family.<\/p>\n
In fact, the unified cruiserweight champ \u2013 who is also eyeing off a 2027 showdown with Australia\u2019s Jai Opetaia — has previously spent time training, hanging out and even doing a BOXR podcast with the eldest of Australia\u2019s famed fighting brothers.<\/p>\n
Speaking prior to Tim Tszyu\u2019s fight against Anthony Velasquez, the first of what has since been a run of three straight wins \u2013 including an emphatic upset against Errol Spence Jnr in July \u2013 Benavidez tipped the Sydneysider to become a world champion again.<\/p>\n
The American superstar also outed Kostya as one of his favourite fighters ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I like about his father, extremely strong right hand,\u201d the champ said. \u201cHe sets his body shots up with the right hand too.<\/p>\n
\u201cVicious fighter, vicious finisher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was actually just getting my haircut and watching him fight a Cuban dude \u2026 vicious body shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, he had the style of [Gennady] Golovkin before Golovkin came in the scene. One of my all time favourites.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu\u2019s US debut will come little more than three months on from his contentious draw against fellow Aussie Ben Mahoney, who was himself unbeaten and world ranked coming into their late August bout. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nikita Tszyu\u2019s hyped America debut has finally arrived \u2013 and on the undercard of an American superstar who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":937435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-937434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937434","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=937434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/937435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}