Fellow Aussies, Ben Mahoney and Nikita Tszyu waged an exciting yet tactical battle for the IBF eliminator at junior middleweight.
Tszyu was cut in the third.over the right ght eye due the a in a accidental clash of heads. The cut however, was a non-factor for the remainder of the bout.
The two men closed the final seconds of the eighth round going toe to toe, to the delight of the crowd.
Mahoney landed a hard right hand way below the belt and the ninth giving Tszyu time to recover.
Both men fought at a frenetic pace, with Mahoney opting to fight in a defensive, countering fashion while Tszyu pressed the action throughout. Mahoney targeted the head more often while Tszyu invested much more in the body.
The scores were as follows : 117-111 Tszyu, 115-113 Mahoney and 114-114 for a three way split draw! During the post-fight interview, Tszyu showed humility rarely expressed by a fighter after such a close fight, admitting that he thought Mahoney won the fight by one or two rounds. For his part, Mahoney humbly agreed that he felt he won, but gave Tszyu high praise for his performance. Mahoney did enjoy massive support as the fight was held in Gold Coast, where Mahoney was born and raised. Tszyu was non-committal about a rematch while Mahoney was all for it.
