An exciting PPV event with big names and strong title fights that could also involve Michael Eifert takes place in Australia on Wednesday.
No Limit Boxing Promotions returns with an expensive PPV card on Wednesday in Sydney, Australia. The card features a national title fight, a WBO Global title fight, an IBF Eliminator and a Women's World Championship. Numerous other fights are also on the programme, making this card certainly a highlight this week. One problem, however, is that Australian events are not available to watch internationally on Fox. Even if you try to bypass the geoblocking with a VPN, the payment process fails to complete a purchase. This is a great pity and no longer reflects the current zeitgeist. Nevertheless, there will be boxing on Wednesday, and Boxen1 takes a closer look at the PPV main card. For those looking for other exciting offers, the Wanted Win no deposit bonus might catch your interest as well.
Nikita Tszyu - following in his brother's footsteps?
The main super-welterweight bout will be contested by Nikita Tszyu (8-0), the son of Kostya Tszyu (31-2) and the younger brother of Tim Tszyu (24-1). Nikita was undoubtedly born into boxing, but every fighter has to prove himself individually; simply relying on the family name is obviously not enough. Nevertheless, there are serious advantages to being the son or little brother of boxing stars. The attention is significantly higher, and you may also get more airtime, more main fights, etc.
This is the case with Nikita. His Australian promoter builds him up as an upcoming boxing star early on, and he quickly gets the opportunity to present himself as a main fighter, despite the build-up fights. This will also be the case on Wednesday when Nikita defends his Australian title against Danilo Creati (8-1-1). This is certainly not a sporting highlight of the card, but it will ultimately be the main fight. Although Nikita Tszyu can look back on a very strong record, there have always been strong wobbles in recent fights, which is also due to his very offensive and spectacular approach. He tries to stop his opponents and repeatedly stops a few punches with his head himself, which is of course a wonderful constellation for neutral spectators. He can absolutely be described as an action fighter, which also makes him well suited as a PPV fighter.
Now Danilo Creati (8-1-1) is certainly the counterpart of an action fighter. Creati can look back on a good amateur career and is also physically very strong. But he is more comfortable with technical boxing, which is of course not comparable to Tszyu. Nevertheless, Creati could certainly be a good test by presenting Nikita with a different style of boxing as an opponent, which would also represent a challenge. Whether this will be the case or whether Nikita will also run through Creati remains to be seen.
WBO Global title fight in the co-main event
A PPV card is of course not only measured by the main fight, but also by the main card or the entire card. Accordingly, a valuable and interesting WBO Global middleweight title fight will take place in the co-main event. Cesar Mateo Tapia (16-0) and Keiber Gonzalez (20-0) are each risking their zero record for this fight. Tapia is definitely a name that has been heard. He also last boxed in the USA at a ProBox event. In February, Tapia then signed with Australian promotions giant No Limit Boxing, where he will now make his debut. Tapia is not yet ranked, but this is likely to change immediately if he wins.
On the opposite side will be Gonzalez, who at 1.87 metres is very long for the weight class and therefore has plenty of reach. He fought in World Series of Boxing fights as an amateur, which at least attests to a certain basic level. In the professional arena itself, it feels like he has only fought small backyard fights, so even the biggest boxing fanatic will probably have hardly seen any of Gonzalez's fights. He is the typical Latino wonder bag. Very difficult to assess in advance, but as an unbeaten man with a lot of reach and an amateur background, he should certainly not be underestimated. He may be able to work well in reverse, but Tapia is known for his powerful fighting style, making a win the most conceivable scenario in the end.
IBF Eliminator could determine Michael Eifert's upcoming opponent
Last year, Michael Eifert (12-1) scored a sensational victory over Jean Pascal (36-7-1) in Canada, which means that Eifert now has his World Championship chance. Unfortunately, this is often accompanied by a long wait, but "Diesel" is not losing focus and continues to prepare meticulously in training to ensure that his big World Championship opportunity comes soon.
The wait may not be over for Eifert for the time being, but something is happening in the IBF light heavyweight division. Jerome Pampellone (18-0) will fight an elimination fight for second place against Malik Zinad (21-0) on this card. Both boxers are also risking their zero in this fight to take advantage of the IBF eliminator opportunity. A little mind game: The fight for all the light heavyweight belts between Beterbiev and Bivol will take place on 1 June. This could lead to the IBF belt being vacated, which would then be fought out between Eifert and the winner of this fight. Of course, the title has to be vacant first, but that is not so unrealistic, as neither Bivol nor Beterbiev are likely to have much interest in fighting the rather unknown Michael Eifert.
Accordingly, the fight is also hugely important for Pampellone and Zinad, as it could possibly mean a ticket to a world championship fight. Pampellone has recently made a name for himself as a puncher with three good victories in the first round. Zinad, on the other hand, has been less in the centre of attention and has already fought at the Sportpalast in Bielefeld, for example. However, he recently defeated the Argentinian Olympian Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna (31-12) as well as Mickael Diallo (21-1-2). This is certainly a really exciting and high-quality light-heavyweight fight, which is also difficult to assess in advance. Pampellone will certainly go into the fight as the favourite, but victory is certainly within reach for both boxers. So it's a really recommendable fight, also from a German perspective.
Women's super flyweight world championship
Although there have already been strong title fights, there has not yet been a fully-fledged world championship. That changed with this women's fight for the WBA super flyweight title between Clara Lescurat (10-0) and Linn Sandstrom (8-2-2). Lescurat is from Argentina and is the undefeated world champion. Sandstrom will be the challenger, but she will also have a home match. That is not uninteresting because she will be the a-side here, so to speak, although the unbeaten world champion is on the opposite side.
However, this will be an enormous task for Sandstrom. She started the professional segment with a negative fight record and was 1-2-1 after 4 fights. Since then, she has fought 8 more fights and remained unbeaten. However, these included some 50/50 fights, which does not necessarily speak in favour of Sandstrom's world-class format. Lescurat is certainly favoured, but tends to go into the fight as a b-side, which is a massive disadvantage, especially in the women's division, as the punch is often missing and the rounds can then be closer, which can take its toll on the scorecards. This fight is also not uninteresting in this constellation.
National duel as opener + female power on the prelims
The opener of the expensive PPV card will be held in the super-welterweight division between Benjamin Hussain (10-2) and Mason Smith (9-1-1). A very close and appealing national duel. Hussain already has two premature defeats on his record, which is certainly a weak point for him. However, punching is not one of the southpaw Smith's strongest points, which is why one tends to favour Hussain. Although Hussain lost a fight against Lachlan Higgins (8-8-2) in round 2, Smith went on to win against this opponent. However, cross-comparisons cannot always be made, as numerous factors play a role and create a complex overall picture. In any case, there are arguments in favour of a win on both sides, which again makes the fight pairing seem interesting.
Also interesting are the two boxers Shanell Dargan (3-1-2) and Jasmine Parr (4-0), who have both been in absolute battles. Both are synonymous with plenty of action and excitement, which will certainly be on show at the Prelims.
No broadcast available outside of Australia
A really interesting PPV card awaits boxing fans, but there is one catch: there is no broadcast in Europe. Unfortunately, even in 2024 there are still cases like this where globalisation is not a factor. In Australia, Fox will broadcast the PPV for 60 Australian dollars, which is of course a more than proud price. The illegal pirate streams in Australia are also not well stocked and stable. However, in the past it was usually the case that there were at least replays that could be found on the internet for the events.
Anyway, the event will start with the prelims on Fox Sports 503 Australia at 9:30am. The PPV main card will then take place at 11am.