Nikita Tszyu v Ben Mahoney, undefeated Aussie boxer Ben Mahoney once lived out of his car, preview, latest news, how to watch

Ben Mahoney once lived out of his car, but isn’t real keen on discussing it.

Same as this undefeated Aussie fighter – and greatest ever test for Nikita Tszyu – has little interest in reliving a time where struggling financially, and emotionally, he would often wonder “how the f*** am I getting through this day”.

Tszyu v Mahoney | Wednesday August 26 from 7pm AEST | The only thing standing between Nikita and an IBF world title shot is Ben Mahoney. The stage is set for an All-Australian blockbuster with the winner securing a direct shot at IBF champion, Josh Kelly. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.

“Because this isn’t a sob story,” Mahoney says now, on the eve of his IBF world title eliminator against Tszyu. “Plus, for me, I’m real big on things never being about where you were … but where you are now.”

And right now, this once homeless Gold Coaster is on the cusp of having it all.

Yet to understand what sort of rise this represents, you have to know where it began, right?

“But going into detail with you about what my life was, and what it entailed,” Mahoney shrugs, “that would condemn people in my life now to the person I was then.

“And my family, my circle, they’re beautiful people.

“But back in the day, not everything was this way.

“So I could come out now and say I’ve done this the hard way, because I have. I moved out of home at 15, slept in cars … I’ve had had no money, no food … I’ve done this like a f***ing hungry dog in the street.

“And sometimes, life has a way of trying to hold your head underwater.

“So to be where I’m at now, yeah, it’s special.

“And that’s also why I don’t want to go into my past. Doing that would cast a shadow that doesn’t exist anymore …”

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Which also goes some way to explaining why Mahoney has been so, err, subdued this week.

Although to be fair, so has Tszyu.

With neither fighter giving up much before a bout which, ironically, gifts so much.

Yet while ‘The Butcher’ is now among the most dissected athletes anywhere in Australia, much less is known of the former Muay Thai fighter who has long been considered the nation’s best super welterweight not named Tszyu.

What we do know, of course, is that Mahoney once famously broke the jaw of Benjamin Hussain in a domestic scrap – a moment which not only saw him mentioned on the Joe Rogan podcast, but for a time became the No.1 Google search for broken jaw.

Same as this fighter has also broken his own right hand seven times, part of a whopping tally of breaks numbering almost 50 – and which includes, in one old Muay Thai fight, breaking his cheekbone, forearm and shin.

And yet beyond all that, Mahoney has known darker times still.

Which, he says now, are fuel for everything coming against Tszyu.

“Yes, massively,” he says.

“Because that past, it shows me what I’ve done with my life.

“Which is just as powerful as where you don’t want to be.

“I’ve now got a beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter who is a couple of months old — I’m in a really good place, and my heart is full.

“And that’s all come from staying in the fight.

“What I have now, I can’t lose that. And I have to keep building.

“Sometimes what you don’t want is just as important as what you do.”

Despite all his setbacks, Mahoney has still managed to fight his way to No.7 in the IBF super welterweight rankings – just two places behind Tszyu.

It’s a big part of why he is finally getting his shot.

Yet tellingly, Mahoney also knows Team Tszyu were likely buoyed by his scrappy decision win over Dan Hill in April, a performance so poor he has never watched it back.

“And that was a s*** performance,” Mahoney says simply.

“Still, it did probably help me get this fight. Tszyu’s team have probably looked at that one and said ‘OK, easy money’.

“But that will be to their detriment.”

Asked why he hasn’t taken aim this week, like so many of Nikita’s rivals, at the perceived Tszyu privilege, Mahoney has a simple response.

“Because it’s not true,” he says. “And to those people who talk about the Tszyu boys getting stuff because of their name, man, I say props to Kostya.

“They deserve it.

“It’s why I don’t have a problem with them, with the Tszyu name, with the idea of the silver spoon or whatever people are saying. I don’t care.

“I see Nikita Tszyu as just another guy who has worked his arse off to be here. Same as me.

“So however their path has been different, doesn’t bother me.”

Soon after, Mahoney continues: “Once you have a child, you want to give them everything.

“You want to give them the money, the shiny car, it would be sick if you wanted them to struggle.

“And the Tszyu boys have got promoters who’ve looked after them. A team that’s provided the blueprint.

“And that’s f***ing brilliant.

“Kudos to them.”

Still, what chance the family’s great Australian unbeaten streak is now about to end?

Ask Mahoney why he fights, and the Queensland says: “For a time there, the gym was my place to go when nothing else was going right in life.

“When everything else was f***ed, I know that’s the one place I could go. And eventually I became obsessed with getting better.”

Then after a short pause, he cackles: “I also remember the first time I got offered two grand for a fight … and what a massive difference that made in my life”.

Elsewhere, Mahoney also recounts the rollercoaster peaks and troughs already included in a career where he has fought on the same night Jeff Horn upset Manny Pacquiao before 50,000 at Suncorp Stadium.

“And then next up,” he laughs, “fighting at Brisbane’s Meriton Hotel in front of 15 people. I actually remember fighting and being able to hear my dad shouting abuse at people …”

Huh?

“My opponent’s manager was in the corner hurling stuff at me the whole fight,” Mahoney continues. “Saying ‘oh, he’s just a Muay Thai fighter, he sucks

“I remember looking at this guy, I can hear him screaming, then my coach Josh was screaming at him, my dad – remember, the joint is basically empty – and eventually I knocked the guy out of the ring and onto a table …”

Given years ago, Mahoney was initially considered an opponent for Tim Tszyu, we ask if he feared a fight against either brother might eventually pass him by?

“Honestly, I never thought this fight would happen,” he says of the IBF eliminator. “Although for anyone who says I’ve been chasing this fight, I haven’t.

“Both the Tszyu boys, they’re great boxers. Tim is already on the world stage and myself and Nikita are now right there ourselves.

“But I was calling Tim Tszyu out before he even won the Australian title.

“This was years ago. He was at the top of the local scene and so was I. And so I kept thinking ‘OK, I’m next in line’.

“Although after three years of that not happening, I just thought it was never going to.

“Then once Nikita started rolling through I thought ‘OK, maybe this one will get to fight me’. That he would get to fight me as part of looking to get to where Tim is.

“Then he kept fighting other guys and my name never got mentioned …”

But still, Mahoney never worried.

“Because this hasn’t ever been about the Tszyus,” he says. “And if those fights never happened, I just thought I’d go and do things my way.

“I mean, ever since I’ve come into boxing I’ve done things my way … and now it’s got me here.”