Nikita Tszyu has lived up to the hype in his professional boxing debut, dominant in a second-round stoppage of a bloodied Aaron Stahl in Brisbane.
With world title hope and older brother Tim in his corner, the 24-year-old who gave away a career in architecture to pursue a dream in the ring, barely raised a sweat in Nissan Arena.
His left hand found its way through Stahl’s defence from the outset before a combination sent him to the canvas midway through the second round.
Stahl, who boasted two wins and a draw from previous fights, stood up again but only made it back to the middle of the ring before Tszyu finished him with his right hand.
Tszyu’s powerful win came as predicted and arrived 30 years and two days after father and world champion Kostya made his professional debut in Melbourne.
“I don’t know … the adrenaline was just pumping through my veins. I was in a different environment, I’ve never been in something like this,” Tszyu said.
“(My grandfather Boris Tszyu) said just be smart, don’t lose yourself and enjoy the moment. This happens once in a lifetime.”
Brother Tim described it as flawless while world champion Jeff Horn, beaten by Tim Tszyu two years ago, was left impressed with his power and poise.
“I can see his brother, see his eyes, just hunting down his opponent,” Horn said.
Earlier in the night Liam Wilson won a rematch with highly rated favourite Joe Noynay in shock fashion.
The Queenslander floored the Filipino in the final moments of the second round, combining a straight right through Noynay’s guard with a flushed left hook to finish the fight.
That was despite Noynay weighing in almost 4kg over the super featherweight limit of 59kg, putting him an incredible two weight classes above Wilson.
Wilson chose to fight anyway, intent on redemption after Noynay inflicted his first career loss in a one-sided contest last year.
Noynay was the first man to beat Olympic medallist Satoshi Shimizu in 2019 and had forged an otherwise impressive career.
But in a rematch some thought unnecessary, he looked lost in a limp defeat, less than a year after flooring Wilson four times in five rounds in his Newcastle win.
“I wanted to get him tonight, do a better job than he did to me,” Wilson said.
“I promised my little boy and little girl I’d win this rematch and promised Dad I’d win a world title and that’s still going.”
Dennis Hogan kept his career afloat with a solid unanimous points decision over 12 rounds against Wade Ryan.