Nikita Tzsyu vs Lulzim Ismaili Preview August 20th, 2025
Unbeaten Nikita Tszyu of Australia will tangle with undefeated Lulzim Ismaili of North Macedonia in a 10-round junior middleweight tilt in Sydney this Wednesday August 20th. The fight can be seen Down Under on Fox Sports, Main Event, and Kayo Sports. Tszyu, the son of former world champion Kostya Tszyu and the younger brother of Tim Tszyu, last fought 12 months ago stopped Koen Mazoudier in the ninth round to capture the vacant IBF Australasian and WBO Inter-Continental Junior Middleweight Titles. Ismaili last saw action in July of last year when he beat Florian Wildenhof via a six-round unanimous decision.
Tszyu vs Ismaili Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Lulzim Ismaili +1000
- Nikita Tszyu -2000
My Pick
The 27-year-old Tszyu is a southpaw who climbs into the ring with a perfect mark of 10-0 with eight of those wins coming by knockout. He obviously carries plenty of power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 80 per cent and has halted six of his last seven opponents. The two men to go the distance with him were Danilo Creati over 10 rounds in 2024 and Ben Horn, who went six rounds with him in July, 2022 and dropped a six-round unanimous decision. Tszyu turned pro in March of 2022 and has just 47 rounds of experience under his belt since then.
Before that, he enjoyed a brief amateur career which saw him capture the 2014 Australian National Championship in the 63 kilogram (139 lb) Junior Final. He also won the 2013 Junior Final in the 54 kilogram (119 lb) division. Tszyu hung up his gloves at the age of 16 to focus on his education and that’s why he didn’t make his pro debut until the age of 23. He measures 5-feet-10 inches with a 70-inch reach.
As for Ismaili, the 28-year-old fights out of Germany and makes the ring walk with a perfect mark of 12-0 with 7 Ko’s. He’s boxed 44 rounds since making his pro debut in 2019 following his amateur career. Unfortunately there’s no height and reach information for him so we don’t know how he stacks up size-wise against Tzsyu. He carries decent power as his current knockout ratio clocks in at 58.3 per cent but he’s gone the distance in three of his past four fights and in his last two.
Ismaili will be fighting outside of Europe for the first time and taking a slight step up in class. In fact, just two of his 12 opponents have entered the ring with a winning record. Still, he’s beaten everybody he’s faced and has stopped the majority of them. Ismaili will also be fighting in a scheduled 10-round bout for the first time and as of now he’s never gone past six rounds in his pro career.
Prediction…
Neither boxer has fought any top-level opposition at this point of their careers but Tzsyu has a the edge when it comes to power and he’s also fighting at home in Australia. This may be a relatively close fight for a few rounds but I’m expecting Tszyu to eventually emerge with a victory and it’s possible that he does so before the 10 rounds are over.
Tszyu’s power and aggressiveness should be the difference.
Play Tszyu -2000 @ BetOnline.ag
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Lulzim Ismaili betting • Nikita Tszyu betting