{"id":944660,"date":"2026-10-29T02:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T02:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944660\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T02:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T02:50:19","slug":"boxing-2026-nikita-tszyu-next-fight-opponent-roberto-valenzuela-jr-on-david-benavidez-card-for-us-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944660\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing 2026: Nikita Tszyu next fight opponent Roberto Valenzuela Jr, on David Benavidez card for US debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nikita Tszyu has finally been given an opponent for his hyped American debut<\/a> \u2014 and it\u2019s a tough Mexican rival who has thrown down against the likes of Xander Zayas and Bakhram Murtazaliev.<\/p>\n

In a wonderful nod to his Hall of Fame father \u2014 who was once dubbed the \u2018Mexicutioner\u2019 \u2014 28-year-old Nikita will begin his own fighting story Stateside with a showdown against Sonora slugger, Roberto Valenzuela Jr (32-6).<\/p>\n

Gallen v Asofa-Solomona | Friday November 6 from 7pm AEDT | Australian sporting icon and crossover boxing king Paul Gallen returns to the ring to face his biggest opponent yet, Nelson \u2018Big Nasty\u2019 Asofa-Solomona. | Order now on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n

It comes as Tszyu has also told Fox Sports Australia he wants to harness the \u201cenergy\u201d and legacy of his old man on fight night, with the showdown set to take place inside Glendale, Arizona\u2019s Desert Diamond Arena \u2014 the venue of Kostya Tszyu\u2019s last professional win. <\/p>\n

Speaking at a US press conference overnight to confirm the blockbuster David Benavidez card, Chris Mannix revealed \u2018The Butcher\u2019 is set to face Valenzuela Jr (32-6) in Arizona on Sunday December 6.<\/p>\n

The fight forms part of a blockbuster few weeks that will also see older brother Tim Tszyu look to make history against WBA middleweight champ Erislandy Lara, while Liam Paro enters a huge unification showdown against American superstar Devin Haney.<\/p>\n

And now Nikita has his opponent, too.<\/p>\n

Better, \u2018The Butcher\u2019 will also fight inside the same arena where Kostya won for the last time in his incredible professional career.<\/p>\n

On that particular night, The Thunder From Down Under dropped Sharmba Mitchell four times on his way to securing a brutal third round finish.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/p>\n

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Date and venue revealed as Aussie world champ set for blockbuster US unification bout<\/a><\/p>\n

\"NikitaNikita Tszyu now has his first opponent on US soil.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich means a lot to me,\u201d Nikita said this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m going to harness all the energy that I can from the arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, just being there and thinking \u2018yeah, my dad was possibly in the same change room\u2019 … I want to be able to tune into all that. Harness that energy. Find an inner strength from that legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tszyu also stressed he was already comfortable knowing US media and fight fans will undeniably make reference to his father \u2014 and, of course, older brother \u2014 during his own fight build.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t deny where I came from,\u201d Nikita stressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I have in this life has come from my dad. Come from the work that he\u2019s put in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s no need to try and run away from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo need to try and create my own branch, or path.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing I can really do is try to complement the legacy that he\u2019s started.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I need to do things my way. I need to be my own person. But I also don\u2019t see my story as an individual path.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘8-4’ – Nikita makes his case vs Mahoney | 01:18<\/p>\n

Famously, Kostya compiled a flawless five-nil record against Mexican boxers during his own professional career, highlighted by a dominant victory over legendary multi-division champion Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez.<\/p>\n

Now Nikita will make his own US debut against Valenzuela, who shapes as a tough test.<\/p>\n

While the youngest of Australia\u2019s fighting Tszyu brothers has been competing professionally for only four years, his Mexican rival\u2019s career started way back in 2017.<\/p>\n

Valenzuela has also amassed almost 40 fights compared to Tszyu\u2019s dozen.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Tszyu\u2019s latest rival also went the distance in an eight-rounder against Murtazaliev \u2013 eventually losing on points against the man who brutally stopped Tim Tszyu on the way to defending IBF super welterweight gold.<\/p>\n

Within two years, he then faced Zayas, but was stopped.<\/p>\n

More recently however, Valenzuela has won six of seven fights, including a strong stoppage win over Francisco Villa in September.<\/p>\n

‘No one’s in control of the judges’ | 14:37<\/p>\n

Already, Tszyu has expressed his excitement at being able to fight on the undercard of Benavidez \u2013 aka The Mexican Monster \u2013 who defends cruiserweight gold against Michal Cieslak.<\/p>\n

Then in the co-main, American Vergil Ortiz Jnr throw down against the legendary Keith Thurman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to be making my US debut, and to be on a massive David Benavidez card is truly an honour,\u201d Tszyu said. \u201cHe\u2019s the most exciting fighter in the world \u2014 comes forward, 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

No Limit boss George Rose has also stressed Americans are about to fall in love with his unbeaten star.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the one,\u201d Rose declared at a press event to announce the news. \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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nikita Tszyu has finally been given an opponent for his hyped American debut \u2014 and it\u2019s a tough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-944660","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\/944660","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=944660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}