Why rising boxing star Nikita Tszyu doesn’t want to fight his brother Tim

The younger brother of superwelterweight world title challenger Tim Tszyu has made a scintillating start to his pro boxing career and, dominating his first two bouts.

Nikita (2-0) will again be a red-hot favourite when he steps in the ring next Wednesday against Ben Horn (4-4, 2 KOs) in a fight billed as the “Battle of the Brothers”.

The Battle Of The Brothers: Watch as unbeaten Nikita Tszyu faces Ben Horn live on Wednesday 20 July from 7pm AEST on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Tim beat Jeff Horn in 2020 and Nikita is expected to keep the bragging rights in the Tszui household when the little brothers go head-to-head.

But Nikita said he isn’t motivated by family rivalries and is just focused on getting another win under his belt.

“I don’t think there’s much of a rivalry between our families,” he told news.com.au.

“I don’t really think too much about it. I just think of him as another opponent, another person to deal with that’s in front of me and wants to hurt me. And I just have to take him out.”

While Nikita is only just starting his career, Tim is preparing for a world title fight against American Jermell Charlo in Las Vegas in January.

Both brothers fight in the superwelterweight division and could feasibly be well-matched in a few years’ time, but Nikita has no intention of fighting Tim in the ring.

“No, definitely not,” he said.

“I don’t want to fight my brother. We’ve already settled those debates in the past, we don’t need to do it in front of cameras.”

As the son of former boxing world champion Kostya Tszyu, the 24-year-old comes from rich boxing pedigree, but he is intent on being his own man.

“I think one thing that can really hurt someone is by comparing themselves to others,” Nikita said.

“I don’t really compare myself to my father, I don’t compare myself to my brother. I think of myself as my own entity and I’m on my own journey.

“Whatever’s meant to be for me is whatever’s meant to be. If I start making comparisons then I feel like I’m hurting my own essence and that’s not what I want.”

After a successful amateur career, Nikita took a break to study architecture before returning to boxing and turning professional.

The philosophical youngster described his boxing career as a “journey” said he wants to take lessons from both his victories and his struggles.

“My idea on boxing has shifted every since I came back,” Nikita said.

“I used to see it more as just a sport, just a way to pass time when I was in the amateurs. But now for me it’s more of like an art form, and more of a journey I have to go through.

“There’s so much you can develop. There’s infinite potentials of improvements that you can go through.

“For me, I see it as a long journey of stepping stones of basically walking up a real long mountain — like an Aztec pyramid — that’s my analogy. You’re just walking these steep steps, steep mountain.

“You’ve got to see very single day as a day of improvement and everything can be a lesson, something you can learn from.

“Whether it was a difficult training session, you’re body wasn’t working, you had to mentally push through. All these little lessons, they’re all building yourself up.”

As for the fight against Horn, Nikita has recovered from a niggling wrist sprain and plans to keep his unbeaten streak going next Wednesday night.

“Something my dad taught me is if you want to have full control of your career you’ve got to stop them,” he said.

“You can’t leave it to the judges. You can’t leave your career in their hands. That’s kind of stuck with me and that’s how I try and approach every single fight.”

TSZYU VS HORN FULL FIGHT CARD

Nikita Tszyu vs Ben Horn, 6 rounds at super welterweight

Sam Goodman vs Juan Elorde, 10 rounds for WBO Oriental & IBF Inter-Continental super bantamweight titles

Ty Telford vs Ricky Colosimo 8 rounds for ANBF Australasian welterweight title

Justin Hodges vs Jordan Simi 4 rounds at heavyweight

Shanell Dargan vs Jaala Tomat 4 rounds at super featherweight

Darragh Foley vs Hunter Ioane 6 rounds at welterweight

Ashleigh Sims vs Jessica Adams 5 rounds at super featherweight

Jackson Murray vs TBA

Michael Hall vs Joel Taylor 8 rounds at super welterweight

Kate McLaren vs Connie Chan 4 rounds at welterweight

Angel Rushton vs Ange Harries 4 rounds at super featherweight

Watch the fight on Fox Sports or via Kayo Sports.

Originally published as Why rising boxing star Nikita Tszyu doesn’t want to fight his brother Tim