Yet despite the tough family run, Nikita insists there is no scarring or added pressure leading into his return, declaring: \u201cI don\u2019t fear losing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Already ranked among Australia\u2019s most bankable pay-per-view stars, Tszyu will be looking to take his hyped career start to 11 straight when he takes on undefeated European prospect Ismaili at Sydney\u2019s ICC Theatre.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Quizzed on what impact his brother\u2019s most recent loss had taken on him, the 27-year-old took a long pause before replying: \u201cIt hasn\u2019t had that much of an impact to be honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoxing is a cruel sport and, for some reason, we see a loss as this defining moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it can really mess up your career.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut personally, I don\u2019t fear losing.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust as I don\u2019t think Tim\u2019s result is anything to be ashamed of.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you should feel ashamed when you don\u2019t prepare properly, or cut corners.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I know for sure Tim didn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never does.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe went out there and fought his heart out.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you win, sometimes you lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Not the greatest… It’s still healing’ | 03:34<\/p>\n
Jetting into Australia at the start of this week, Ismaili revealed his travelling entourage consists of just two people \u2013 his uncle, who doubles as trainer, and a younger cousin.<\/p>\n
While he was born and raised in Macedonia, the $12 betting outsider now lives in Germany and insists he will cause a boxing boilover against Tszyu, who has himself been wound into just $1.06.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old also spoke of having a strong understanding of the Tszyu family generally, and said Nikita being raised with both a father and brother as world champions had undeniably helped him become world ranked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the Tszyu family has a strong boxing tradition,\u201d Ismaili said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Nikita has that experience of both his father and brother experience to draw on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, having had Tim to spar with is a big advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet when asked if the youngest Tszyu sibling could be as good as big brother, the Macedonian stressed the jury remained out.<\/p>\n
However, he added there was no doubting the experience of sitting ringside for Tim\u2019s world title losses against Fundora and Murtazaliev will impact Wednesday night\u2019s fight \u2013 but not as people might expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven Nikita is younger, they will make sure he doesn\u2019t repeat any mistakes,\u201d Ismaili said. \u201cHis brother will have helped him (with that) a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the visitor said he had taken little from the pair\u2019s first face off this week \u2013 saying only that Nikita was \u201cpolite\u201d.<\/p>\n
And when asked if he thought Tszyu\u2019s all-action style might lead to openings for him, he replied: \u201cHe\u2019s a fighter and likes fighting\u201d.<\/p>\n
Something you can get an advantage from?<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe, yes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will definitely leave the ring the better man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking to boxing at age 13, Ismaili quickly racked up a strong amateur record, where after winning several domestic titles he then competed at AIBA tournaments, European Championships and Mediterranean Games.<\/p>\n
Asked who, if anyone, he based his fighting style on, he continued: \u201cBivol is my favourite boxer and I try to adapt to his style.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I also look up to Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Usyk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the fighter admitted acclimatising this week had proved challenging \u2013 \u201cit\u2019s completely opposite times back home, so we\u2019re still adapting\u201d \u2013 but said he was impressed with how Australians value the sport of boxing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nikita Tszyu\u2019s latest rival boasts little English, and an entourage of just two \u2013 but stresses a fight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-70066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}