Michael Zerafa is looking to carve out his own piece of Tszyu boxing history by knocking out rival Nikita in their upcoming domestic blockbuster in Brisbane.
Zerafa is looking to have the final say in a long-running feud with the Tszyu family that started with older brother Tim in 2021, when the Melbourne product pulled out of a fight.
Including the brothers' legendary father Kostya, the Tszyu family hasn't lost on Australian soil in 53 fights, and Zerafa is happy to put an end to that incredible record.
He predicted "fireworks" when he and 27-year-old Nikita get into the ring at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre .
"I don't really look too much into the history and the unbeaten record and whatnot," the 33-year-old said.
"It's purely one fight at a time and this is a big fight, and I've got Nikita, a hungry kid that wants to knock me out, and I want to do the same.
"I truly believe this fight's not going to go the distance and someone will be looking up at the roof mid-fight.
"Someone will be getting knocked down."
Booking his first professional fight back in 2011 and having fought in Moscow, Sheffield in England and Las Vegas, Zerafa (34-5, 22KO) says he will have too much experience for the youngest Tszyu (11-0, 9KO).
"He thinks I've passed my best, I think I'm going into my best ... I've been in there with some of the best, I've beaten some of the best," he said.
"When it's time to go, the mind switches on and we get to business, and I think if my mind's on, I beat him - the best Michael Zerafa beats the best of Nikita Tszyu."
Speaking in Melbourne to promote the fight, Tszyu admitted Zerafa was a step up on his previous opponents.
"This is a huge fight for me and it's a moment where I get to really elevate myself," the Sydneysider said.
"I'm fighting one of the toughest opponents in the country, and he poses a threat that I've never faced before with the experience that he has, the skills that he has, these are all new to me.
"I've got a big test ahead of me."
He said Zerafa had already set up a retirement plan in preparation for a defeat while he had a blossoming career on the world stage ahead of him.
"He's hinted at that in one of our first press conferences, stating that if he loses everything's going to be fine for him, he's got a business to fall back on, he's got his pizza business and then his gym so he's kind of already thinking about the retirement plan.
"That's not the kind of mindset I have, I'm going in there to win.
"He's reached that pinnacle of challenging the world titles, he was unsuccessful multiple times, but he did reach that and I'm still yet to experience that, I'm still on the rise, I can still see it above me and there is a lot of drive to get there.
"I think that could be the motivating factor ... I have a bright future ahead of me."
