No Limit Boxing Defends Reputation After Controversial Tszyu-Mahoney Draw

Matt Rose has moved to defend No Limit Boxing’s reputation after the fiery fallout from Nikita Tszyu’s controversial draw with Ben Mahoney, pushing back at any suggestion the promotion had a hand in the chaos around the scorecards.

What should have been a breakthrough night for one of Australia’s rising stars instead descended into a debate about judging, power, and who really runs the sport.

A thriller that solved nothing

The IBF super welterweight world-title eliminator on Wednesday was everything the matchmakers promised. Two unbeaten Australians, both willing to trade, both refusing to fold.

It was brutal in patches. Tszyu, the heavily backed favourite, poured on the pressure through the middle rounds. Mahoney, roared on by a partisan local crowd, soaked up heavy shots, rallied late and finished the fresher man, with Tszyu’s face telling the story of those final stanzas.

The judges, though, saw three very different fights.

Veteran official Phillip Holliday, a former world champion who once beat Jeff Fenech, returned a 117-111 card for Tszyu – nine rounds to three. At the other end of the spectrum, Sabrina Kerr had it 115-113 to Mahoney. The third judge, Carl Zappia, split the difference with a 114-114 draw.

The announcement triggered a wave of jeers from Mahoney’s supporters, who sensed their man had done enough down the stretch. The result solved nothing. It only deepened the questions.

“I wanna slap the s*** out of someone”

The drama didn’t stop when the final bell rang.

In raw, emotional scenes in the ring, Tszyu initially admitted Mahoney had been the better boxer on the night – an extraordinary concession from a fighter still tipped as one of the faces of Australian boxing.

At the same time, No Limit boss George Rose took aim at comments from Mahoney’s corner, visibly incensed and letting the frustration spill out.

“I wanna slap the s*** out of someone,” he snapped, before challenging anyone booing to “meet him out front and we’ll sort it out.”

The temperature in the arena spiked. This was no neat, polished TV product. It was messy, human, combustible.

Later, at the press conference, Tszyu walked back his in-ring assessment, explaining that his remark was born out of disappointment in his own performance, not a belief he had clearly lost the fight.

Mahoney’s camp draws a line

If the judges’ cards were divisive, Mahoney’s reaction was crystal clear.

The Queenslander, who had already endured a controversial draw on a previous No Limit show, laid bare the personal cost of nights like this.

“I don't want to throw any officials or judges under the bus. But athletes put their lives on the line for this,” he said, voice cracking as he spoke of his newborn child. “I just had a baby and have been in the gym for eight weeks of 14 weeks of her life.”

He then delivered the line that lit the fuse under the promotional war.

“We’re going to have to look at our [rematch] options; I'm open to it but it sure as hell isn't going to be on another No Limit card.”

That stance was backed firmly by his promoter, Mick Francis, a rival to No Limit who also guides Jai Opetaia and Justis Huni.

“Phil Holliday, I don't know what he was watching … those scores were way wide and I'm going to make an official inquiry about it because that's not right,” Francis said. “We haven't heard the end of it.”

The implication was clear: Mahoney’s camp felt something was badly wrong, and they were prepared to take it upstairs.

Rose hits back

George Rose chose not to front the media after the fight. Instead, his brother and No Limit co-founder Matt Rose sat alongside Tszyu, with long-time manager Glen Jennings.

Matt Rose confirmed “a couple of comments made in the ring” had set George off, but he welcomed the prospect of a formal review of Holliday’s scorecard, convinced it would only strengthen Tszyu’s case.

“I’d be happy for them to challenge because I don't think the scorecard of 115-113 was right at all,” he said. “And that would mean Nikita wins the fight.

“But we'll accept the draw. At the end of the day, I'm not going to complain about the 115-113. That's the decision they made and that's how they saw it.”

The line was deliberate. No Limit, Rose insisted, does not touch the judging.

His tone hardened when Mahoney’s vow to avoid future No Limit shows was put to him.

“What, it's going to be on a Tasman card in front of 200 people?” he shot back. “Who would stage it then?

“Please don't try to diminish what we do in the sport. The shows we put on are the best in the country.

“If people are going to be critical of judging, it has nothing to do with us whatsoever.”

That’s the crux of the argument now. On one side, a fighter and promoter who feel back-to-back controversies on the same platform can’t be a coincidence. On the other, the most powerful outfit in Australian boxing, adamant the system is clean and the spotlight should be on the judges, not the promoter.

The fight was billed as a world-title eliminator. Instead, it has become a litmus test for trust in Australian boxing. The rematch sells itself. The real question is where – and under whose banner – it ever gets made.