Aussie boxing\u2019s pound-for-pound list revealed… with a shock inclusion<\/a><\/p>\nTszyu & Mahoney preview title eliminator | 07:30<\/p>\n
Which also goes some way to explaining why Mahoney has been so, err, subdued this week.<\/p>\n
Although to be fair, so has Tszyu.<\/p>\n
With neither fighter giving up much before a bout which, ironically, gifts so much.<\/p>\n
Yet while \u2018The Butcher\u2019 is now among the most dissected athletes anywhere in Australia, much less is known of the former Muay Thai fighter who has long been considered the nation\u2019s best super welterweight not named Tszyu.<\/p>\n
What we do know, of course, is that Mahoney once famously broke the jaw of Benjamin Hussain in a domestic scrap \u2013 a moment which not only saw him mentioned on the Joe Rogan podcast, but for a time became the No.1 Google search for broken jaw. <\/p>\n
Same as this fighter has also broken his own right hand seven times, part of a whopping tally of breaks numbering almost 50 \u2013 and which includes, in one old Muay Thai fight, breaking his cheekbone, forearm and shin.<\/p>\n
And yet beyond all that, Mahoney has known darker times still.<\/p>\n
Ben Mahoney fights Nikita Tszyu. Picture: Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Which, he says now, are fuel for everything coming against Tszyu. <\/p>\n
\u201cYes, massively,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that past, it shows me what I\u2019ve done with my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is just as powerful as where you don\u2019t want to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve now got a beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter who is a couple of months old — I\u2019m in a really good place, and my heart is full.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s all come from staying in the fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I have now, I can\u2019t lose that. And I have to keep building.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes what you don\u2019t want is just as important as what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu v Mahoney: HEATED final face off | 05:53<\/p>\n
Despite all his setbacks, Mahoney has still managed to fight his way to No.7 in the IBF super welterweight rankings \u2013 just two places behind Tszyu.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big part of why he is finally getting his shot.<\/p>\n
Yet tellingly, Mahoney also knows Team Tszyu were likely buoyed by his scrappy decision win over Dan Hill in April, a performance so poor he has never watched it back. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that was a s*** performance,\u201d Mahoney says simply.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill, it did probably help me get this fight. Tszyu\u2019s team have probably looked at that one and said \u2018OK, easy money\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that will be to their detriment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked why he hasn\u2019t taken aim this week, like so many of Nikita\u2019s rivals, at the perceived Tszyu privilege, Mahoney has a simple response.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s not true,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd to those people who talk about the Tszyu boys getting stuff because of their name, man, I say props to Kostya.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey deserve it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s why I don\u2019t have a problem with them, with the Tszyu name, with the idea of the silver spoon or whatever people are saying. I don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see Nikita Tszyu as just another guy who has worked his arse off to be here. Same as me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo however their path has been different, doesn\u2019t bother me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gold Coast boxer Ben Mahoney at No Limit press conference on Monday.Source: The Courier Mail<\/p>\n
Soon after, Mahoney continues: \u201cOnce you have a child, you want to give them everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to give them the money, the shiny car, it would be sick if you wanted them to struggle.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the Tszyu boys have got promoters who\u2019ve looked after them. A team that\u2019s provided the blueprint.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s f***ing brilliant.<\/p>\n
\u201cKudos to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘There’s no love’ Nikita ready for rival | 06:55<\/p>\n
Still, what chance the family\u2019s great Australian unbeaten streak is now about to end?<\/p>\n
Ask Mahoney why he fights, and the Queensland says: \u201cFor a time there, the gym was my place to go when nothing else was going right in life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen everything else was f***ed, I know that\u2019s the one place I could go. And eventually I became obsessed with getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then after a short pause, he cackles: \u201cI also remember the first time I got offered two grand for a fight \u2026 and what a massive difference that made in my life\u201d. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Mahoney also recounts the rollercoaster peaks and troughs already included in a career where he has fought on the same night Jeff Horn upset Manny Pacquiao before 50,000 at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then next up,\u201d he laughs, \u201cfighting at Brisbane\u2019s Meriton Hotel in front of 15 people. I actually remember fighting and being able to hear my dad shouting abuse at people …\u201d<\/p>\n
Huh? <\/p>\n
\u201cMy opponent\u2019s manager was in the corner hurling stuff at me the whole fight,\u201d Mahoney continues. \u201cSaying \u2018oh, he\u2019s just a Muay Thai fighter, he sucks<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember looking at this guy, I can hear him screaming, then my coach Josh was screaming at him, my dad \u2013 remember, the joint is basically empty \u2013 and eventually I knocked the guy out of the ring and onto a table \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Mazoudier slams ‘dog’ Jermall Charlo | 02:12<\/p>\n
Given years ago, Mahoney was initially considered an opponent for Tim Tszyu, we ask if he feared a fight against either brother might eventually pass him by? <\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I never thought this fight would happen,\u201d he says of the IBF eliminator. \u201cAlthough for anyone who says I\u2019ve been chasing this fight, I haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth the Tszyu boys, they\u2019re great boxers. Tim is already on the world stage and myself and Nikita are now right there ourselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I was calling Tim Tszyu out before he even won the Australian title.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was years ago. He was at the top of the local scene and so was I. And so I kept thinking \u2018OK, I\u2019m next in line\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough after three years of that not happening, I just thought it was never going to.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen once Nikita started rolling through I thought \u2018OK, maybe this one will get to fight me\u2019. That he would get to fight me as part of looking to get to where Tim is.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he kept fighting other guys and my name never got mentioned \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
But still, Mahoney never worried.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause this hasn\u2019t ever been about the Tszyus,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if those fights never happened, I just thought I\u2019d go and do things my way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, ever since I\u2019ve come into boxing I\u2019ve done things my way \u2026 and now it\u2019s got me here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Mahoney once lived out of his car, but isn\u2019t real keen on discussing it. Same as this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-871535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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