Italy’s Danilo Creati appears to have become the latest victim of the Nikita Tszyu curse –scoring a nasty cut and unconvincing draw on the night he was fighting for a shot at Australia’s super welterweight champ
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Nikita Tszyu curse strikes again as third straight contender falls short
The Nikita Tszyu sweepstakes curse has struck again, with Danilo Creati fighting to a majority draw opposite Kiwi knockout artist Marcus Heywood.
A win would have seen the Sydney-based Italian Creati lock in a pay-per-view headline fight with Tszyu next month.
Instead, he becomes the third fighter in as many weeks to come agonisingly close, but not quite able to clinch it.
“The sweepstakes are still open,” No Limit CEO George Rose said afterwards. “I thought he looked good in really tough moments tonight.
“It’s the curse of Nikita Tszyu at the moment.”
Two weeks ago, Victorian-based Viliami Liavaa just needed a win to book his spot against Tszyu, but Anton Markovic upset those plans with a stunning second round knockout.
Koen Mazoudier looked to have scored himself the shot at Tszyu on the Goodman-Schleibs undercard last week, but came out of his win over Travis Druce with a perforated eardrum.
It leaves Tszyu - the Australian super-welterweight champion - without an opponent for his fight date in late April.
“Nikita wants to fight. Anyone,” Rose said. “He’s had a good lay-off after a solid year last year, but he’s ready to roll.
“He’s ready to get into the ring against anyone, which I love. It’s just about finding the right dancing partner.”
Creati exited the ring on Wednesday night with a cut over his right eye, which he suffered early in the bout.
The fight was stopped twice, in the third and fourth round, for the cut to be inspected.
Creati, who accepted Wednesday’s headline fight on just three days’ notice, was furious after the decision was announced.
“The only big punch I got was a headbutt,” he said. “In Australia, apparently, they don’t award accuracy, just a lot of punches.
“It is what it is. I’m a bit upset.
“The (judges) didn’t see the same fight. Apparently they were awarding something else. I don’t really know what the judges saw.”
He said he would still be ready to fight Tszyu in five weeks, having fought 10 rounds with Michael Zerafa on three weeks’ notice in 2022.
“Five weeks is better than three days’ notice,” he said. “Definitely. I had three weeks for Zerafa - I’m used to those late fights.
“I’ve been a world fighter for the Italian boxing team, representing Italy. Zerafa showed Australia my value, but not enough to convince the judges.”