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The Hauser Report: The DAZN Experiment

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On March 3, 2023, I posted an article on The Sweet Science entitled “DAZN: Charging More for Less”. The article criticized DAZN’s boxing programming, its decision to move its most attractive offerings to pay-per-view (where they will no longer be included with the subscription price), and the network’s price increase which raised the cost of an annual subscription from $99.99 to $224.99. The article concluded by stating that I had cancelled my subscription to DAZN.

After cancelling my subscription, I received the expected “we’re sorry you’re leaving” computer-generated emails from DAZN. I also received quite a few emails from readers telling me that they agreed with the position I’d taken and wouldn’t renew their own subscription to DAZN when it expired.

More significantly, I received an email from Fred Mellor (vice president, communications for DAZN). A dialogue with Mellor followed with Fred voicing the view that there was reason for optimism with regard to DAZN’s boxing programming in the months ahead. I responded with a suggestion.

I would make a $225 contribution (the cost of a one-year subscription) to a mutually agreed upon charity. In exchange, DAZN would give me a complimentary one-year subscription. The charitable donation would ensure that there was no intent on my part to hustle DAZN out of $225. And at the same time, I wouldn’t be paying what I felt was an excessive rate for the subscription. Rather, I’d be making a donation to a charity that DAZN and I believed in.  I would then take notes on what I watched on DAZN. And at the end of the year, I’d write an article on whether I thought I’d gotten $225 worth of entertainment.

Mellor agreed to the proposal. On March 17, 2023, I sent a check for $225 to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota and my new subscription to DAZN began. A progress report follows.

On May 10, 2018, promoter Eddie Hearn and Perform Group CEO Simon Denyer announced a joint venture at a press conference in New York. Speaking about what was touted as a one-billion-dollar, eight-year joint licensing agreement to provide content for DAZN, Hearn proclaimed, “We’re here to change the game and elevate boxing to a new level for fight fans in America. We have the dates, the money, and the platform. We were dangerous without this. But with this money and this platform, omigod! We have by far the biggest rights budget in the sport of boxing and we’re going to be ultra-competitive. We’re going to put on the greatest shows with the greatest talent. This is a brand-new era for boxing in the U.S. We’re here and we mean business. We have money never seen before in the sport of boxing. If I fail here, I’m a disgrace.”

Since then, DAZN’s boxing product has been pedestrian. And subscription buys in the United States have been a disappointment. According to Bloomberg, DAZN has lost more than six BILLION dollars since its 2016 launch.

More boxing is available to fight fans on traditional television and streaming outlets now than ever before. But most of it comes with a price tag attached in the form of a monthly subscription fee or one-time pay-per-view buy. The content itself also leaves a lot to be desired.

The biggest problem is that there are too many “A-side vs. B-side” fights.

Suppose you’re in high school. And the two toughest kids in school tell people that they’ve decided to settle their differences by fighting in a vacant lot after classes that day. You’d be inclined to watch it, right?

Now change the paradigm. One of these tough guys announces that he plans to beat up the class nerd after school that day because some other kids paid him to do it. They thought it would be fun to watch. That’s less appealing. Sickening, actually.

The latter scenario is akin to too many fights in boxing today. A-side vs. B-side fights lack drama. DAZN isn’t the only network to televise them. But it might be the worst offender among the major networks and it’s the only network that charges $225 a year (plus a hefty premium for PPV fights) to watch.

HBO at its peak was “the heart and soul of boxing.” DAZN has become “the home of A-side vs. B-side fights.”

To quantify this finding, I tracked the first twelve fight cards streamed by DAZN after my new subscription began. The survey doesn’t include DAZN’s “X Series” or comparable programming. These “trashboxing” cards feature what DAZN calls “crossover boxing talent” like “Fangs vs. Vampira” (two women fighters) and bouts involving a lapsed NFL running back, assorted social influencers, and combatants identified as “Viking, Sharks, Pizza, and YuddyGangTV.”

The survey numbers speak for themselves.

DAZN streamed 68 fights on the twelve fight cards that I tracked. In almost all of them, the A-side fighter was clearly identified in pre-fight press releases, listings on BoxRec.com, and (depending on local custom and promoter preference) placement in a particular corner on fight night.

The experiment began with Matchroom’s March 18 show in Newcastle and ended with Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder in Guadalajara on May 6. The A-side fighter won 62 of these 68 fights. The B-side fighter won five. There was one draw.

Three of the five upsets were on Golden Boy cards. One was on a Matchroom promotion and one was on a small club show promoted by Boxing Insider in association with DiBella Entertainment.

Matchroom was the most persistent purveyor of fights with predictable outcomes. Five of the twelve fight cards streamed in the United States by DAZN during this period were promoted by Matchoom. There were 28 fights on these five DAZN cards. The B-side fighter won one of them.

One win in 28 fights is a 3.6 percent success rate.

Let’s examine the cards more closely.

Matchroom’s March 18 offering from Newcastle began at 3:00 PM New York time. That put DAZN in direct conflict with round two of the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament. Five fights were shown on DAZN. In each instance, one corner was the presumptive winner’s corner. The other was for the designated loser.  Every A-side fighter on the card was undefeated, and the idea was to keep them that way. Jordan Ellison was the first designated loser. He’d already lost 44 fights, so not much was expected of him and he fought down to expectations. The other four fights had similar outcomes. I’m told that the main event in which Cyrus Pattinson (a 7-to-1 favorite) knocked out Chris Jenkins was a good fight. But Jenkins had won only one of his most recent five fights, and I’d turned off DAZN by then to watch basketball.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins.

 That night, still competing with “March Madness,” there was a Golden Boy fight card on DAZN. Two early preliminary bouts were shown on DAZN and DAZN’s YouTube channel. During this early stream, an omnipresent banner across the bottom of the screen heralded the evening’s main event between Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Gabriel Rosado. Except one day earlier, Ramirez had been 7.6 pounds over the 175-pound contract weight and that bout had been cancelled.

The A-side won both of the early preliminary fights.

The rest of the card was supposed to start on DAZN at 8:00 PM. But it didn’t. Instead, there was a 30-second graphic that repeated again and again until 8:45 PM when the live stream began. Four more fights followed. In the first, Dalis Kaleiopu decisioned Jonathan Perez (who had 34 losses). The rest of the card stayed true to form until the final bout when Mercito Gesta won a strange split decision in upsetting JoJo Diaz (the dissenting judge scored the bout 97-93 for Diaz while another judge had it 99-91 for Gesta).

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 1 win.

One week later, on March 25, DAZN streamed a fight card co-promoted by Golden Boy and Zanfer Promotions from Guadalajara. The opening bout saw 16-0, 15 KOs knock out 5-11, 3 KOs. In the main event, Jose Zepeda faced off against Neeraj Goyat. Goyat is from India (not known as a home for world-class boxing). According to CompuBox, Zepeda outlanded Goyat 218-to-44. All three judges scored the bout 100-90 in Zepeda’s favor.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins.

On March 31, DAZN streamed an eight-bout Wasserman Boxing card from London. The first fight saw 4-0 win a six-round decision over 4-27-1. In the main event, Harlem Eubank (16-0, 6 KOs) won a ten-round decision over Miguel Cesario Antil (who had one win in his most recent nine outings).

Fights shown on DAZN . . .A-side, 8 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins.

Do you see a pattern here?

Next up; the much-anticipated April 1 Matchroom card from London featuring Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin.

The Joshua fight was one that I had looked forward to watching. The burden was on AJ (a 10-to-1 favorite) to make the fight. And he didn’t. Instead, he fought an overly cautious fight, jabbing and grabbing for twelve long rounds. His favored weapon (which the referee let him get away with time and again) was to hold Franklin’s head in place by pushing down of the back of Jermaine’s neck during a clinch and simultaneously throwing an uppercut. But AJ was unable to execute the maneuver well enough to do damage. The young Joshua would have knocked out this version of AJ. This version of Joshua settled for a 12-round decision over Franklin.

The entire Joshua-Franklin card was marked by long delays between fights and had the feel of an infomercial with puff-piece commentary and seemingly endless promos for future DAZN shows.

And remember; DAZN has regular commercials too.

Writing for Boxing News, George Gigney observed, “The objective of broadcaster DAZN appeared to be alarmingly transparent: hype Joshua up at every opportunity and shove their upcoming schedule as far down viewers’ throats as possible. The amount of promotion DAZN did of their own programming during this show was staggering. Boxing fans aren’t paying and tuning in to be told what’s coming up. They’re paying to watch fights.”

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins.

There’s more.

On an April 6 Golden Boy card from California, the B-side opponents had credentials like (1) had lost nine of ten fights dating back to 2018; (2) had suffered three knockout defeats in three fights dating back to 2019; and (3) winless in three fights dating back to 2018. These fights ran true to form. There was an upset in the main event when Angelino Cordova, who had fought only two fighters with winning records in his entire career, decisioned Angel Acosta.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 4 wins . . . B-side, 1 win.

That was followed by another Matchroom show; eight fights from San Antonio headlined by Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs. Christian Gonzalez. Rodriguez, a 15-to-1, favorite, won a 12-round decision. There was one upset when Marlon Tapales won a questionable split decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev. And Jose Lopez (4-2-1) fought Jesus Martinez (3-0, 1 KO) to a draw.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 6 wins . . . B-side, 1 win . . . 1 draw.

On April 22, Matchroom returned to DAZN with a fight card in Cardiff headlined by Joe Cordina vs. Shavkat Rakhimov.

Fights shown on DAZN . . .A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins

Then DAZN put its best foot forward and fell flat on its face.

April 22 marked the most anticipated fight of the year to date – Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia promoted by TGB Promotions (under the command of PBC impresario Al Haymon) in Las Vegas. Viewers didn’t need DAZN for this. It was a pay-per-view offering produced entirely by (and available through multiple platforms affiliated with) Showtime. But DAZN and Golden Boy have contractual relationships with Garcia and participated in the distribution. The PPV price in the United States was $84.99. DAZN subscribers could order the event for $59.99.

Except . . . There was a technical glitch that resulted in numerous DAZN subscribers who ordered the event through DAZN being unable to see the fight and others being charged multiple times on their credit card. Dan Rafael spoke for media and fans alike when he labeled the situation “an absolute mess.”

Simply put; a multibillion-dollar company (DAZN) owned by one of the richest men in the world (Len Blavatnik) had trouble delivering the pay-per-view stream of a fistfight.

Then, to make matters worse, DAZN initially balked at refunding money to fans who had been unable to see the fight or charged multiple times on their credit card, offering them a “free” code for the May 6 Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder PPV event instead. On May 4, Fred Mellor assured The Sweet Science, Any funds that were incorrectly taken are being returned.”

As for the fights on the Davis-Garcia stream; the A-side fighter won both bouts on a free DAZN undercard by knockout. The four fights on the PPV card also ended in wins for the A-side fighter.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 6 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins

Moving along . . .

On April 27, DAZN streamed a six-bout club-fight card promoted by Boxing Insider in association with DiBella Entertainment in New York. Boxing Insider CEO Larry Goldberg has a financial model that differs from larger promoters. He doesn’t sign fighters to multi-bout promotional contracts. So while his match-ups sometimes favor fighters who buy their way onto one of his cards, he’s not adverse to competitive fights. In this instance, Goldberg and DiBella each had the final say on three of the six match-ups.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 1 win

On April 29, DAZN streamed four fights promoted by Golden Boy in Texas. William Zepeda, a 20-to-1 favorite, knocked out Jaime Arboleda in the second round of the main event. Marco Periban who has won only once since 2016, lost an 8-round decision to David Stevens. Diego De La Hoya was upset by Victor Morales on a second-round stoppage.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 3 wins . . . B-side, 1 win

That brings us to the May 6 (Cinco de Mayo Weekend) fight card headlined by Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder – a feel-good homecoming event with Canelo’s four super-middleweight belts on the line.

The fight was contested in Estadio Akron, a soccer venue in Zapopan (in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara). It was Canelo’s first fight in Mexico since he knocked out Kermit Cintron in Mexico City in 2011. Twenty-two Canelo fights and a dozen years had passed since then.

It was widely publicized that the price for Canelo-Ryder would be $79.99 without a DAZN subscription and $59.99 with one. DAZN’s home page listed the PPV price with a DAZN subscription as $54.99.

The first four fights on the PPV undercard went as expected. Most notably, Julio Cesar Martinez (a 10-to-1 favorite) knocked out Ronal Batista in the eleventh round.

Ryder had said all the right things leading up to Canelo-Ryder, declaring, “I’m not here for a holiday. I wouldn’t bring the team with me, have the team around me that I have, if I didn’t believe I could win.” But he’d lost previously to Callum Smith, Rocky Fielding, and Billy Joe Saunders (each of whom was soundly thrashed by Canelo) in addition to being knocked out by Nick Blackwell and decisioned by Jack Arnfield.

This was a step down in the level of competition for Canelo after consecutive fights against Saunders, Caleb Plant, Dmitry Bivol, and Gennady Golovkin. He was a 12-to-1 betting favorite.

Ryder fought with honor but didn’t have the tools to win. There was never a moment when the outcome of the fight was in doubt. Canelo dropped him in round five and cruised to a 120-107, 118-109, 118-109 triumph. According to CompuBox, he outlanded Ryder in every round, compiling a 179-to-80 advantage in punches landed. And Canelo’s punches were harder. Much harder.

I have no problem with Canelo fighting John Ryder in Guadalajara. The setting gave the event a nice feel. I have a big problem with DAZN charging its subscribers (who are already paying $225 a year) an additional $54.99 to watch it.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins

So where does all of this leave us?

To repeat the numbers mentioned above; DAZN has streamed 68 fights from twelve fight cards since the experiment began. The A-side fighter has won 62 of these fights and the B-side fighter five. There was one draw

Did DAZN stream some good fights where the favorite won but was tested? Absolutely. But there were far more fights where the favorite wasn’t tested in ways that fighters can and should test one another. And the personnel on DAZN’s commentating teams vary depending on the particulars of each show, so there’s no consistency to bind the network’s boxing programming together.

As for the future; DAZN appears to be doubling down on its A-side vs. B-side formula. On May 2, it announced a three-year extension of its deal with Matchroom to stream fights in the United States and Mexico.

And the trash boxing will continue. On August 5, DAZN will stream Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz on pay-per-view. Joe Markowski (CEO of DAZN North America) calls Paul “one of the biggest names in boxing.”

Jake couldn’t beat Tommy Fury. Diaz has never boxed professionally.

In sum, DAZN is buying boxing content in bulk and streaming a lot of fights. But it’s not compelling programming.

The network also streams sports other than boxing. But pool and darts don’t interest me.

DAZN has a far more positive view of its boxing programming than I do. Two days before Canelo-Ryder, in response to a series of written questions addressed to Markowski, Fred Mellor told me, “We are proud of the continuously high-quality boxing schedule we have delivered to our subscribers since our market entry in 2018. We are also very proud of the consistent quality and breadth and depth of our schedule, which we believe is unmatched. Fight fans should stick with us for the rest of the journey.”

Asked why DAZN (unlike streaming services such as ESPN+ and Netflix) doesn’t announce the number of subscribers that it has in the United States, Mellor answered, “We do not release our subscriber numbers by geography as this will inevitably lead to us being defined by this limiting metric, which is not how we see the business being defined in the future.”

So to ask again . . . Where does all of this leave DAZN’s subscribers who are being billed $224.99 for a one-year subscription?

Think of a $20-dollar-per-person, all-you-can eat buffet. The buffet table has orange jello, baloney, carrots, wilted greens, pasta in a watery tomato sauce, and stale rolls, all of which look like they were left over from a discount-airline catering service. Then, lo and behold, you see a platter of freshly-peeled shrimp.

“This might not be so bad after all,” you tell yourself. But as you make your way toward the shrimp, a server tells you, “Sorry, there’s a supplemental charge of $59.99 for the shrimp. You only signed up for the regular buffet.”

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – In The Inner Sanctum: Behind the Scenes at Big Fights – was published by the University of Arkansas Press. In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, he was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

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R.I.P. IBF founder Bob Lee who was Banished from Boxing by the FBI

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“The image some people have of me is disappointing,” said Bob Lee in a 2006 interview, “but I also feel I had a positive impact on the sport…”

Lee, the founder of the International Boxing Federation who died yesterday (Sunday, March 24) at age 91, spoke those words to Philadelphia Daily News boxing writer Bernard Fernandez who was the first person to interview him when he emerged from a federal prison in 2006. Lee served 22 months on charges that included racketeering, money laundering, and tax evasion.

Born and raised in northern New Jersey and a lifelong resident of the Garden State, Lee, a former police detective, founded the International Boxing Federation (henceforth IBF) in 1983 after a failed bid to win the presidency of the World Boxing Association. At the time, there were only two relevant sanctioning bodies, the WBA, then headquartered in Venezuela, and the WBC, headquartered in Mexico. Both organizations were charged with favoring boxers from Spanish-speaking countries in their ratings at the expense of boxers from the United States.

Bob Lee’s brainchild, whose stated mission was to rectify that injustice, achieved instant credibility when Marvin Hagler and Larry Holmes turned their back on the established organizations. Hagler’s 1983 bout with Wilford Scypion and Holmes’ 1984 match with Bonecrusher Smith were world title fights sanctioned exclusively by the IBF, the last of the three extant organizations to do away with 15-round title fights.

Lee’s world was rocked in November of 1999 when a federal grand jury handed down an indictment that accused him and three IBF officials, including his son Robert W. “Robby” Lee Jr., of taking bribes from promoters and managers in return for higher rankings. The FBI, after a two-year investigation, concluded that $338,000 was paid over a 13-year period by individuals representing 23 boxers.

The government’s key witness was C. Douglas Beavers, the longtime chairman of the IBF ratings committee who wore a wire as a government informant in return for immunity and provided video-tape evidence of a $5000 payout in a seedy Virginia motel room. Promoters Bob Arum and Cedric Kushner both testified that they gave the IBF $100,000 to get the organization’s seal of approval for a match between heavyweight champion George Foreman and Axel Schulz (Arum asserted that he paid the money through a middleman, Stan Hoffman). In return, the IBF gave Schulz a “special exemption” to its rules, allowing the German to bypass Michael Moorer who had a rematch clause that would never be honored. (In a sworn deposition, Big George testified that he had no knowledge of any kickback).

After a long-drawn-out trial that consumed four months including 15 days of jury deliberations, Bob Lee was acquitted on all but six of 32 counts. His son, charged with nine counts, was acquitted on all nine. The jury simply did not trust the veracity of many that testified for the prosecution. (No surprise there; after all, they were boxing people.) But neither did the jury buy into the argument that whatever money Lee received was in the form of gifts and gratuities, a common business practice.

The IBF was run by a court-appointed overseer from January of 2000 until the fall of 2003. Under its current head, Daryl Peoples, who came up from the ranks, assuming the presidency in 2010, the IBF has stayed out of the crosshairs of federal prosecutors.

As part of his sentence, Bob Lee was prohibited from having any further dealings with boxing and that would have included buying a ticket to sit in the cheap seats at a boxing card. This was adding insult to injury as Lee’s passion for boxing ran deep. As a boy working as a caddy at a New Jersey golf course, he had met Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, two of the proudest moments of his life.

As for his contributions to the sport, Lee had this to say in his post-prison talk with Bernard Fernandez: “We instituted the 168-pound [super middleweight] weight class. We took measures to reduce the incidence of eye injuries in boxing. We changed the weigh-in from the day of the fight to the day before, which prevented fighters from entering the ring so dehydrated that they were putting themselves at risk. All these things, and more, were tremendously beneficial to boxing. I’m very proud of all that we accomplished.”

Bob Lee was a tough old bird. Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1986, he was insulin-dependent for much of his adult life and yet he lived into his nineties. Although his coloration as a shakedown artist is a stain that will never go away, many people will tell you that, on balance, he was a good man whose lapses ought not define him.

That’s not for us to judge. We send our condolences to his loved ones. May he rest in peace.

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Australia’s Nikita Tszyu Stands Poised to Escape the Long Shadow of His Brother

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They held a confab for the boxing media last week at the spacious Las Vegas gym where WBO super welterweight champion Tim Tszyu has been training for his forthcoming match with Sebastian Fundora. Tim was there, of course, as were many of the fighters in the supporting bouts plus Tim’s younger brother Nikita who was inconspicuous in this gathering.

Nikita Tszyu isn’t on Saturday’s card and so was never spotlighted, but it’s likely that most of the media-types there knew nothing about him. Had they been Aussies, he wouldn’t have been able to blend into the scenery as the Sydneysider is already a major sports personality in the Land Down Under. More than that, he is seemingly on pace to become as big a star as his older brother who has been called the face of boxing in Australia.

In his last start, Nikita wrested the Australian 154-pound title from previously undefeated (10-0) Dylan Biggs. Their bout in the Australian harbor city of Newcastle headlined a pay-per-view telecast.

Nikita was down in the first 45 seconds of the contest and was buzzed in the third, but had Biggs in dire straits in the fourth and ended matters in the next frame with a wicked left hook to the liver. Biggs somehow made it to his feet, but the bout was waived off seconds later as Biggs’ corner was throwing in the towel.

It improved Nikita’s record to 8-0 (7 KOs) and burnished the reputation of the Tszyu dynasty. Collectively, the three Tszyu’s – his Hall of Fame father Kostya, his bother Tim and Nikita – are 48-0 in Australian rings.

Outside the squared circle, Nikita Tszyu, who is 26 years old and looks younger, comes across as thoroughly unspoiled. Talking with him, what started as a formal interview quickly became a relaxed chat between two old souls (as Nikita described himself) enjoying each others company. And as prizefighters go, he sure is different. A college grad, Nikita cited gardening, of all things, when we inquired if he had any hobbies.

As amateurs, Nikita had a deeper background and was more decorated than Tim. But in 2017, he turned his back on boxing to pursue a degree in architecture. He was away from boxing for five years before deciding to give the sport another fling.

“I wanted to be the first person in my family to be smart,” he says tongue-in-cheek when asked how he could abandon a sport that was seemingly in his blood. “My mom wanted one of us to get a college degree,” he says, elaborating. “When it wasn’t going to work out for Tim, it fell on my shoulders.”

As is well known, Nikita’s parents divorced (Nikita was then just starting high school) and his dad then returned to his native Russia and started a new family. But the brothers and their father remain on cordial terms – they speak on the phone periodically – and they are close to Kostya’s parents (their paternal grandparents) who live near Nikita in the Sydney area and are currently watching Nikita’s three dogs, a husky, a French Bulldog, and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. “I can’t imagine a life without them,” says Nikita who, unlike his brother, has no special lady living under his roof.

The family tie extends to the brothers’ trainer Igor Goloubev who is married to their aunt (Kostya’s sister). Uncle Igor, a training partner of Kostya Tszyu in the old days, came to Sydney in 1997 with a touring Russian amateur team and, unlike the famous boxer, never left.

During the lull between the two generations of fighting Tszyus, Igor Goloubev founded a construction company that he still owns. While working for an architectural firm (working remotely because of Covid), Nikita was able to work part-time for his uncle which was good hands-on experience for a future architect.

When Goloubev counsels one of the brothers between rounds, the old becomes new again and this blast from the past doesn’t stop there. The brothers are managed by Newcastle NSW businessman Glen Jennings who formerly managed Kostya, widely considered one of the two or three best junior welterweights of all time. (Jennings says that as a boxer Nikita is more like his dad whereas Tim is more of a pressure fighter.)

Glen Jennings Flanked by Tim and Nikita

Glen Jennings flanked by Tim and Nikita

This is Nikita Tszyu’s second trip to Las Vegas. He was here last year when Tim was preparing for a match with Jermell Charlo. When that match fell out, Nikita used the occasion for a little holiday, the highlight of which was a hike through Northern California’s Redwood Forest, home to the world’s tallest trees.

“Your national parks are the coolest things about America,” he says. As for the food? ”Too much fat,” he says, wrinkling his nose, but that’s a moot point as Team Tszyu now travels with its own chef.

Nikita Tszyu will defend his Australian title on April 24th. At this writing, the opponent is uncertain. Three leading candidates fell by the wayside, two because they lost a fight they were supposed to win, ruining their credibility, and another because he got injured. Finding good opponents may prove to be a recurrent hassle in part because Nikita, unlike his brother, is a southpaw.

Coming up the ladder, Tim Tszyu looked forward to fighting at the MGM Grand where his father won his first title (TKO 6 over Jake Rodriguez in 1995) and had one of his most memorable fights, a second-round stoppage of Zab Judah in 2001. The T-Mobile Arena didn’t exist back then, but sits on MGM Grand property, so Saturday’s fight is a dream come true for the older Tszyu brother.

Looking down the road, it’s easy to envision Nikita becoming a headline attraction here too.

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Dalton Smith KOs Jose Zepeda and Sandy Ryan Stops Terri Harper in England

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Dalton Smith KOs Jose Zepeda and Sandy Ryan Stops Terri Harper in England

England showed off its talent in Sheffield.

Super lightweight prospect Dalton Smith advanced into the championship level and Sandy Ryan proved to be not just another world titlist on Saturday.

Dalton Smith (16-0, 12 KOs) faced the venomous punching power of Jose “Chon” Zepeda (37-5, 28 KOs) and eliminated him with a body shot knockout that left the world title challenger gasping for air at Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England.

“I had to be on my game. He (Zepeda) puts people to sleep,” said Smith.

If any questions existed on Smith’s ability to compete at the championship level, the 27-year-old answered emphatically with a clinical and professional-style win.

Smith walked into the prize ring realizing that southpaw slugger Zepeda could end the night with a single punch. He carefully measured the California-based fighter’s movements and punching power before stepping on the gas from the second round on.

“He’s a great fighter,” explained Smith of Zepeda. “That’s what made me train harder.”

During the first several rounds the two hard-hitting punchers were able to score. Zepeda clipped Smith with quick rights and occasional lefts but discovered that the British fighter has a chin. That seemed to allow Smith to open-up slightly more with one-two combinations.

After Smith gained serious momentum in the third and fourth rounds, Zepeda shortened up his stride and looked to put on more pressure. In the fifth round Zepeda moved closer into firing range and ran into a right cross to the belly that took the strength out of his legs. Down went Zepeda for the count at 1:25 of the fifth round.

“I was hitting him with clean shots and it wasn’t doing anything,” said Smith of his head attack.

Apparently, the body shot was the answer.

Sandy Ryan Wins Battle of Champions

WBO welterweight titlist Sandy Ryan won the battle between British champions with a pile-driving stoppage of Terri Harper who, after dropping down a weight division but was unable to be competitive.

Ryan (7-1-1, 3 KOs) walked into enemy territory and quieted the pro-Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs) crowd with a riveting attack at Sheffield Arena. There was no stopping her on this night.

“I’m just happy,” said Ryan, 30, of Derby England.

After spending months in Las Vegas, Nevada living and training away from her home in England, the tall slender fighter Ryan finally was able to lure a fellow British world champion in the boxing ring.

“I was away from family and friends for so long,” Ryan said.

A close first round between the two female champions saw Ryan open up the second round behind a riveting left jab and body shots that made Harper hesitant and gun shy to counter.

Ryan seemed to sense early that she was in control and opened up with five- and six-punch combinations. And when Harper retaliated, Ryan returned fire again almost daring her rival to engage in a free-for-all.

Harper clinched several times in the third round to stymie Ryan’s constant attack, but it was not enough. The WBO titlist seemed even more eager to win by knockout and opened up with little concern of Harper’s counters.

In the fifth round it was obvious that Ryan was in complete control, the only question was if she could maintain the frenetic pace. Again, she opened up with punishing combinations as Harper looked for a solution. Instead, rights and lefts pummeled the super welterweight titlist until the end of the round.

Harper’s corner decided to end the fight, Referee Marcus McDonnell declared Ryan the winner at the end of the fifth round by technical knockout.

“I felt her fading,” said Ryan.

The win by Ryan sets her up for a rematch against Jessica McCaskill who holds the WBA and WBC welterweight titles. Their first encounter ended in a split draw after 10 rounds last September in Orlando, Florida.

Ryan expressed a desire to face any champion.

“Any big fight. All the big names,” Ryan said.

Other Results

Ishmael Davis (13-0) defeated Troy Williamson (20-3-1) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds for a regional middleweight title.

James Flint (14-1-2) handed Campbell Hatton (14-1) fis first defeat as a pro by unanimous decision after 10 rounds in a super lightweight match.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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