It is customary during fight nights featuring the Tszyu brothers that the promoters provide a cash bonus to the boxer deemed to have executed the most spectacular knockout of the evening.
After a wild night at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, they would have struggled to separate three spectacular stoppages.
Nikita Tszyu remained undefeated after a technical knockout win over Dylan Biggs, capturing the Australian super-welterweight title in the process. The money shot for Tszyu was a vicious liver punch that folded the “Beaudesert Storm”.
Biggs bravely got to his feet, but the damage was done and the fight was stopped shortly afterwards.
However, much of the talk among pundits afterwards centred on two other knockouts during the preliminary bouts.
After taking a decade-long sabbatical, Brandon Grach returned to the ring in stunning fashion. The boxer dubbed “The Bull” was knocked down in an action-packed opening round against fellow heavyweight Liam Talivaa. Grach rose to his feet and then delivered a punishing punch that left Talivaa sprawling on the canvas.
Having engaged in arguably the most entertaining round of the year, the second round didn’t last long. Grach caught Talivaa with a left hook that left him unconscious before he had even hit the floor. This time there was no getting up.
The tone was set early. In the very first bout on the card, Mark Schliebs produced an absolute bomb of a blow to finish off Shamal Ram Anuj.
So which was the knockout of the night?
“If I did have to pick one, then I’d say Grach,” said promoter George Rose of No Limit Boxing.
“When you’re talking about heavyweights, when you are that size and you do that, it’s just amplified.
“Mark Schliebs was fantastic and from a technical aspect, Nikita’s body shot was amazing.
“But the heavyweights turned it on, you can’t go past ‘The Bull’. I’m grateful for all of the performances that everyone put on. They were hotly contested knockouts too, they were fights that could have gone the other way before that moment.”
Rose said he was open to putting on a rematch between Grach and Talivaa if both fighters were keen.
“I know Liam has so much talent, he just left himself open for a moment and ‘The Bull’ took advantage of it,” Rose said.
The plan is now for Tim Tszyu to defend his WBO super-welterweight world title the day before the NRL’s historic double-header in Las Vegas in March. If a suitable opponent can be found in time, Nikita may also feature on that card.
