Nikita Tszyu (7-0, 6 KOs) had a tougher time than expected with his sixth round technical knockout victory over fellow Aussie Jack Brubaker (17-5-2, 8 KOs) in junior middleweight action on Wednesday night at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia.
Tszyu, 25, hit the deck in the third round and was in bad shape from the effects of a clash of heads and getting nailed repeatedly by hard right hands from the more experienced Brubaker.
In the sixth, Tszyu took advantage of the 31-year-old Brubaker’s fatigue to pummel him with shots, and his trainer threw in the towel. The fight was stopped at 2:40.
It wasn’t the type of performance that Tszyu needed to show the boxing world and his management that he was ready to start facing world-level opposition.
Tszyu’s management needs to put the brakes on his progression because he can’t take the kind of shots against this level of opposition if he wants to move up to face top-tier fighters.
The good news is the 25-year-old Tszyu is still young enough to improve his game because he’s going to need to fight frequently There are many fighters his age & younger at 154 that are much further along with their careers than him.
22-year-old Jesus Ramos and 20-year-old Xander Zayas are two notable young contenders at 154 who are light years ahead of Tszyu with their development.
“It was a very good test to have early in the career,” said Nikita Tszyu at the post-fight press conference after his grueling fight against Jack Brubaker.
“It definitely rattled me,” Tszyu said about his knockdown. “I felt like I was transported to a different point and time. I was like, ‘Whoa, where did that come from?’
“Yeah, it was a good thing to have, a loss of brain cells. The head clash didn’t rattle me. It annoyed me because it was in the third round, and I felt it was a cut with a little bit of liquid coming out. I instantly told the ref, ‘Head-butt,’ just in case it gets stopped by the doctor.”
Liam Wilson defeats Carlos Maria Alanis
Super featherweight contender Liam Wilson (12-2, 7 KO) dominated Carlos Maria Alanis (12-1, 4 KOs), winning a lopsided ten round unanimous decision. Alanis was put down on the canvas by a heavy right hand from Wilson in the seventh round.
The scores were: 100-89, 100-89 & 99-81.
This is a confidence booster level fight for Wilson, who had been stopped in the ninth round in a war against Emanuel Navarrete on February 3rd. The vacant WBO 130-lb title was on the line.
