Nikita Tszyu was forced to go the distance for the first time and Sam Goodman confirmed he was world class with a special win on Wednesday night's boxing card at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion.
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Tszyu, 24, improved to 3-0 and landed 93 body shots against Ben Horn (4-5), but the gritty 32-year-old Queenslander lasted the full six rounds and rocked the Sydneysider with some big right hands in the last 30 seconds.
Goodman, rated 9th by the IBF and 14th by the WBO, retained regional super bantamweight belts from the two organisations with a mightily impressive eighth round stoppage of Filipino Juan Elorde, who fought for a world title in 2019.
The result of the main event made it 2-0 to the Tszyu family over the Horn clan, after Nikita's older brother Tim beat Ben's older sibling and former WBO welterweight champion Jeff back in 2020.
Tszyu, having his first pro fight in his home city, won 60-54 on two judges cards and 59-55 on the third.
He landed plenty of blows to the head as well as to the body, but was occasionally exposed defensively.
"That was the perfect fight I could have. These are the ones you learn most from and the ones that you develop most from," Tszyu, told Fox Sports and Kayo.
"He's as tough as they get."
Horn (4-5) also had some success with right uppercuts and suggested a rematch, but never doubted his ability to absorb Tszyu's brutal body assault.
"I always knew it was going to go the distance," Horn told Fox Sports and Kayo.
"Funny enough, I was telling him in the sixth round 'Is that all you got to the body, I think they're soft Nikita'.
"I'm well conditioned to the body. Honestly I did not get hurt by one of his body shots I could feel them all day but none of them hurt me to the point of dropping."
In the co-main event, 23-year-old New South Welshman Goodman's left-jab right-hand combinations found their mark time and again.
He pummelled Elorde (29-3) in the sixth round, but the foreign fighter survived.
One final combination halfway through the eighth prompted referee Brad Vocale to call a halt to the one-sided bout, with Goodman (12-0) rating it his most accomplished performance.
"I thought I fought a very disciplined fight, a very smart fight," Goodman told Fox Sports and Kayo.
The mooted heavyweight matchup between former rugby league stars Justin Hodges and Paul Gallen moved a step closer, after Hodges (5-1) scored a unanimous four round win over debutant and social media influence Jordan Simi.
"Myself agreed to it. Gal has agreed to it," Hodges told Fox Sports and Kayo.
"He laid the bet whichever team won Origin, Queensland kicked their (NSW's) arse, so he's got to come up to Queensland."
Australian Associated Press
