The Tszyu Brothers’ Fractured Relationship
It wasn’t long ago that the Tszyu brothers were always in each other’s corner, but now, Tim will likely miss Nikita’s bout against Oscar Diaz on May 6 in Newcastle after a family feud that few saw coming.
Eyebrows were first raised earlier this month when Nikita was missing from Tim’s corner during the Australian star’s unanimous win over Denis Nurja in Wollongong. Nikita played down his absence, attributing it to being “on death row” with illness. However, this excuse didn’t hold up for long, as members of Tim’s camp privately reached out to reporters to confirm that wasn’t the real reason.
The situation took another twist when Tim responded to an interview from Nikita with boxing reporter Jai McAllister about his sickness with three laughing emojis. When asked to set the record straight by News Corp on Monday, Nikita admitted his brother had asked him not to attend his fight.
“I don’t want to get into it too much, I know you guys feed off the spicy drama and everything that’s happening between us, but you are correct,” Tszyu told Code Sports.
The fallout between the duo comes after the pair were often ringside for each other’s bouts. Nikita even threw in the towel when Tim lost to Bakhram Murtazaliev in Orlando. He was also on deck in Las Vegas for Tszyu’s two other defeats to Sebastian Fundora over the past two years.
Tim, meanwhile, was in Nikita’s corner during his extraordinary no-contest with Michael Zerafa and came out swinging against his maligned compatriot following the controversial fizzer. He said his decision to tell doctors he couldn’t see was “a cowardly act.” Tim later walked back some of those comments and extended an olive branch to Zerafa, saying the backlash had gone “too far.”
Speaking to WWOS on Monday, Nikita added that he wasn’t sure how Tim was tracking ahead of his fight with American Errol Spence Jr.
“I don’t really know how he’s doing,” Nikita said. “I’m really just focussed on my own fight. I’m not much of a talker, it’s as simple as that.”
Regardless of whether bread is broken over the next month, Nikita said he felt like he was going home by taking his next bout against Spaniard Diaz to the Hunter region.
“Newcastle, it’s a very special place for us,” the undefeated 11-0 Aussie star said. “My dad [Kostya] had a huge, huge career there. A lot of his fights started off in Newcastle, and then he really built himself up there before taking on the world. There’s a certain kind of homely feeling when we’re fighting there. It is obviously two hours away from where we live, but it still feels like home whenever we fight there, so I feel a sense of responsibility to the people of Newcastle to give them their money’s worth, to give them the excitement that they deserve.”
Nikita faces a challenge to continue the family’s 13-0 record in Newcastle against Diaz, with the 25-year-old holding an impressive 16-0 start to his career. And the undefeated Diaz, who has been sharpening his tools by working alongside former British world champ Josh Kelly, has already set the tone for the spicy bout by delivering a throat slitting gesture on video directed at Nikita.
Not that Nikita is shaking in his boots, with the ultra-relaxed Aussie boxer sitting coolly in the back of his car alongside his dog whilst speaking to WWOS.
“I’m expecting him to really come for the win,” Nikita said. “He’s got a good fighter in him. He’s a hungry fighter and it’s a big opportunity for him. His first time fighting outside of Spain, and he’s got a big opportunity to really break out.”
Nikita, too, will get the chance to show Newcastle what he’s about before his May 6 fight, with an open workout in front of McDonald Jones Stadium ahead of the Knights’ clash against the Rabbitohs slated for May 3.
Should Nikita walk away victorious against Diaz, it’s likely his camp will look for another opponent later in 2026 before turning their attention to a maiden fight on foreign soil.
While Nikita said the prospect of fighting abroad, particularly in America, was appealing, he wanted to walk before running.
“Well, whatever my team, whatever my management wants to go with, that’s where we go,” he said. “I’m not fussed. I know that fighting overseas and fighting in America [is] where all careers kind of lead towards. That’s where the biggest fights are. I want to make sure that I deserve to be there before we get there. When we get there, we can really make a splash.”
