Nikita Tszyu’s impressive professional boxing debut didn’t go unnoticed, with the likes of Australian boxing greats Jeff Horn and Jeff Fenech declaring the prodigy is destined to follow in the family’s footsteps.
Tszyu last night made light work of Aaron Stahl by recording a second-round TKO victory.
The younger brother of current Australian superstar Tim and son of former world champion Kostya came into the fight having walked away from his career in architecture.
READ MORE: Chappell backs forgotten man to oust Khawaja
READ MORE: Manu spills on Latrell relationship after brutal hit
READ MORE: McLaughlin at odds with ‘unhappy’ Power
The 24-year-old Tszyu landed 50 of his 101 shots, of which 34 went to Stahl’s head as the man from Townsville walked away with a bloody and bruised face.
Following the win, Tszyu received high praise from several boxing icons.
Horn, whose last bout was a TKO loss to Tszyu’s older brother, said the younger sibling reminded him of Tim.
“Watching him in that fight, I could see his brother, I could see his eyes and the way he’s looking at his opponent and just hunting him down, and that’s their mentality to just hunt and kill,” Horn said in commentary for Fox Sports.
“He looked very strong and he was controlling the centre of the ring and pushing Stahl onto the ropes and that’s something that you don’t want to be against a Tszyu – those body shots are killers.”
Meanwhile, Fenech said he expects Tszyu to continue getting better and eventually follow in his older brother’s footsteps.
“I thought what was great about it was that he punched to the body, as well as the head, he had great variation,” Fenech said of Tszyu’s debut.
“He had a great eye and look, he’s got great power, look at the damage that he’s done in two rounds.
“This kid’s going to get better and better. Every time he has a fight, he’ll improve. It’s exactly what his brother Tim did, he’ll improve.
“He’s got everything. All he’s got to do now is be patient, take it one fight at a time, one step at a time, and he’ll climb the ladder.”
Tszyu’s brother Tim said it was a “flawless” first outing.
“There were little mistakes but besides that, flawless. Look what he did, he just dominated,” he said.
A look back at every fight to date from Australian boxing star Tim Tszyu
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
