Nikita Tszyu: ‘My Final Sparring Was Last Week And Now I’ve Tapered Off’

Nikita Tszyu spoke to media today, one-week out from his fight against former world-rated super welterweight Koen Mazoudier. The pair meet at the International Convention Centre Sydney Theatre, Sydney Australia on August 28th.

Nikita Tszyu: 

“I’m expecting him (Mazoudier) to do a little bit of everything, to be on the back foot, to be coming forward at times, and for these transitions to be quite explosive. But, you can just come out of nowhere and just start going forward, or you can just go start going backwards. I’m just prepared for two different types of Koen’s.”

“I’m just getting used to it (headlining), it’s probably like second nature to me. Learning that it’s part of the business, and try and be entertaining for the public.”

“My final sparring was last week and now I’ve tapered off. I’ve personally felt a huge shift. But, I felt the shift in my progressions when I was here back in Sydney, and just the stuff that I was doing there was just kind of adding to it. It’s proof that I’m progressing, that I’m on a nice steady incline.”

“No not this time around, he’s not sparring a Southpaw, and I don’t have a death wish.” (On sparring Tim Tszyu) 

“I actually enjoy having Tim around, because whenever the cameras are out, they’re focused on him, and I can kind of chill out. So he takes the heavy lifting.”

“It’s great that he’s (Tim) still in that same position, that he kind of deserves that elite world ranked fighter. I think it’s going to be a great fight, because he gets another title, becomes a two time world champ. He’s got a very tricky opponent.”