Mark Schleibs assigned extra security for Sam Goodman fight in Wollongong as the rivalry threatens to boil over
The Goodman and Schleibs rivalry, set to ignite on Wednesday, gets hotter and hotter with extra precautions being taken. While the undercard could decide Nikita Tszyu’s next opponent and the latest on where Tim Tszyu goes after March 31.
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Mark Schleibs will be assigned with extra security detail in Wollongong this week after the boxer’s potshot at the town and some of its favourite sons.
Schleibs, who fights local hero Sam Goodman on Wednesday night, further inflamed the situation by doubling down on his comments about fellow hometown favourite Alexander Volkanovski.
Goodman v Schleibs & Hardman v Saavedra | WED 13 MAR | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Meanwhile, Goodman says Schleibs is a knock off Anthony Mundine imitator who’s out of his depth.
The tension between the pair escalated to a point where No Limit boxing CEO George Rose hired extra security guards to shadow Schleibs in the lead-up to the super-bantamweight headliner.
“He’s upset a city of a couple of hundred thousand people,” Rose told this masthead. “He’s called out Wollongong, he’s called out Volkanovski and he’s called out Sam Goodman.
“We need to make sure he makes it to the ring.
“We’ll have a four-man security detail, and there will be at least one with him at all times.
“Outside of that team, we’ll have venue security on fight night and our own security that we have for every fight. His security detail will be about triple what we usually have for a fighter.”
Just days away from the fight, Schleibs doubled down on his comments about Volkanovski’s loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 last month.
“I don’t care, so be it. I didn’t say anything wrong – he did get iced,” he told this masthead of Volk. “The difference between me and Volk – I know he’s a UFC champ and a legend – but I got up.
“He stayed down. I’m not having a go at him again, but those are just facts.
“I’m a one-man army, I’m not worried. I like that confrontation. I like that animosity.”
Despite the heated build-up, which resulted in more back-and-forth at Monday’s press conference, Goodman denies claims Schleibs has gotten under his skin, calling the ‘Magic Man’ a weak imitation of Mundine.
“He’s trying to go down that Mundine route, but Mundine could actually fight,” Goodman told this masthead. “There was a lot of substance behind what Choc did.
“Choc’s a different animal to Mark Schleibs. You can’t even compare them.
“He hasn’t even sold a ticket. He’s acting like a clown and there’s a few people who want to see me punch his head in.
“But I’m not going to drop to his level and act like an absolute scumbag. People turn out to watch my fights to watch me fight.
“You see that with the tickets I sell. After this, he’ll be back fighting on undercards and at RSLs again.”
Koen Mazoudier can tee up title fight PPV against Nikita Tszyu
Sydney’s Koen Mazouider can put himself in a position to fight for Nikita Tszyu’s Australian super-welterweight title with a win over Travis Druce on Wednesday’s undercard.
Tszyu had been in line to fight Viliami Liavaa if the Kiwi got past Anton Markovic last Wednesday, but “The Axe Murderer” scored a huge second round body-shot knockout win to upset those plans.
That leaves Mazoudier in the box seat to land a fight with Tszyu.
Mazoudier says he isn’t looking past Druce, but would be lying if he hasn’t thought about fighting Nikita – especially after Tszyu’s fast-tracked path to pay-per-view stardom after taking a few years off the sport.
“The Tszyus are the big names and top dogs,” Mazoudier told this masthead. “There’s a part of me that thinks, ‘I didn’t take time off this sport’ but at the end of the day, my journey’s my journey, and his journey is his.
“But, ‘Mazoudier vs. Tszyu’ it just sounds right, and I see that happening more than once.”
Asked whether that means a fight against both brothers, Mazoudier said: “I’ve gotta earn my way there, but we’ll see what happens.”
Issac Hardman plots path to world title
A win over Venezuelan middleweight Endry Saavedra on Wednesday will put Queensland’s Issac Hardman into the top five with the WBO, and within touching distance of a world title shot.
But the ‘Headspitter’ says he’s also interested in settling a few scores on the local scene along the way.
“The perfect run for me would be Brock Jarvis – because he said he’s eyeing me off, so we can do that – then Andrei Mikhailovic, who’s just signed with No Limit,” Hardman told this masthead. “Mateo Tapia’s just signed with No Limit too, so I can see us fighting in a world title eliminator and going on and fighting for a world title.”
Hardman also wants to run it back with Michael Zerafa after their bitter feud resulted in the Headsplitter being knocked out in the second round in 2022.
Zerafa must first get past wily veteran Erislandy Lara for the WBA world title on the Tim Tszyu vs. Keith Thurman undercard, but Hardman is hopeful of a rematch.
“I’d love that,” he said. “He’s gotta win against a 41-year-old Lara, but if I can get into the WBA rankings, we can do it.
“He should win. Lara’s slippery, but he’s 41. I’d back myself against nine out of 10 41-year-olds, and the one would be a 41 year old Mike Tyson.”
Latest Tim Tszyu news
Newly crowned WBA super-welterweight champion Israil Madrimov, and his promoter Eddie Hearn, wasted no time in calling out WBO title-holder Tim Tszyu on the weekend.
The dangerous Madrimov won the belt with a savage beating of Magomed Kurbanov in Saudi Arabia, before looking ahead to unification bouts.
It’s a fight that Tszyu is keen on, with the Aussie hinting at a unification showdown in the future.
Tszyu fights Thurman on March 30 (March 31 in Australia) in a non-title fight, and No Limit boss George Rose said Madrimov joins a long list of potential opponents, including pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford.
“The belts were held up for too long by (Jermell) Charlo, but now there’s more options out there for Tim, and Madrimov’s now one of them,” he told this masthead. “Whether it’s belts, or big names, we’re heading towards big-time opportunities.
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“The moment Crawford decides he wants to move to 154, he gets a free shot at Tim, so it plays straight into our hands.
“As soon as he decides he’s ready to have a few extra bowls or ice cream or a steak and put on that seven pounds to get up there, he gets the shot at Tim.
“And Tim’s preparing for everyone.”
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