Looking back at Kostya Tszyu... maybe he wasn't that good

Many good posts here and a couple of pointless ones attempting to illustrate that whiskey is jingoist westerner who lack PhD

 

I heard you'd pick Tszyu to stop Whitaker inside of 6.

 

You've got that wrong. He said Terry Norris.

 

Sweet Pete would discombobulate both those fools

 

I don't think it is a sureshot that Zoo beats Bradley. It's pretty much a pick em imo

 

Agreed that his reputation as a quitter is overstated. He was old and beaten when he decided to call it quit against Hatton.

 

I think in order to beat Tszyu, you either need to have the firepower/strength to back him up, or you need to have exceptional skills. Bradley had neither.

A Benitez, Whitaker, or Floyd, sure... they counter the shit outta Tszyu. But Bradley simply didn't have that kind of talent and skill level, and didn't have the firepower to make Tszyu gunshy. And perhaps more importantly... Bradley was EXTREMELY easy to hit with straight punches.

Your favorite "can opener" Crawford, I see the strong case for him beating Tszyu.... but Tim Bradley plain and simple wasn't that good.

 

it's a shame...i think his career would have looked alot differently if he hadn't have had the luxury of Au$tralian support

 

Bradley would force Zoo out of his comfort zone. He would go inside and pressure him, a bit like Hatton did, and would land a lot of his looping punches. To win, Zoo will have to catch him numerous times with something big when he's coming in. Bradley didn't had elite skills or talent, but he was so tenacious that he was very hard to beat.

 

Firstly, I assumed we were talking about a prime Tszyu... not the faded Tszyu that Hatton beat.

Secondly, Tim Bradley is simply not as effective as an aggressive fighter as Hatton. Why? Well, for starters... the man can't crack an egg. Hatton wasn't some Trinidad puncher, but he was a bruising/heavy handed guy at 140.

How quickly many forget, but Bradley damn near lost and got stopped by Kendall Holt, and had MANY problems with Holt's straight power punches. Holt definitely beats Bradley if he wasn't a mental midget.

Tszyu would land A LOT on Bradley, and he'd hurt him a lot.

 

mythical matchups are 100% opinion

 

Yes but not all opinions are equal

"Floyd would win because him have the cars"

"Floyd would have trouble dealing with Tommy Hearns' height"

 

Hey!

Welcome to the internet, you must be new here.

 

Ahh, back in the day,.. I reckon Tszyu would have given Floyd a slight zap,... Floyd would activate 'maidana mode' ...stink it the fuck out,.. and rely on the robbery that was always going to be there as the top American draw, a draw that solely relies on his spurious '0' ,...

 

One of the problems for Tszyu is that history hasn't been too kind to the guys he whupped. Roy Jones gets huge credit for beating Bernard Hopkins when he was a nobody, hand't won a title but then he goes to be being one of the best MWs in history and a fairly dull title win looks a legacy defining fight. In contrast, Zab Judah looked like a superstar up until he he did his punchdrunk dance and never became the very good-great fighter that some thought he could be.

 

Zab was his best win. And Zab actually did go on to have some decent wins throughout his career after Tszyu, and like it or not, he stopped Spinks for the lineal welterweight title.

No fighter before or after destroyed Judah the way Tszyu did, so Kostya does deserve credit for that win.

 

You guys are being a bit rude

 

MAG was Tszyu's most complete performance.

His destruction of Bergman, which I mentioned before, was also impressive. Not that Jan Bergman was some great, but the way Tszyu took him apart was impressive, and the finish was brutal.

 

Of the three guys you mentioned, I feel like Shane would have been the worst matchup for him. For one, Tszyu was a sucker for right hands, and prime Mosley had that blinding fast, powerful overhand right. Two, Tszyu depended on being physically stronger than his opponents to win... and Shane was physically stronger than Tszyu.

Had they fought in 99, when both were at their bests, I highly doubt Tszyu lasts the distance.

 

True.

So I think this thread has taught us that Tszyu is rated correctly, at least on this forum.

Nobody thinks he was a great fighter, but we all acknowledge he was very good.

Of course, if MWS was here, he'd tell us that Tszyu was a total bum.

 

I remember thinking tszyu's wipeout of tackie was impressive. Not as much in hindsight.

 

That's a good example, it's easy to forget that Tackie was regarded a tough challenger who would match up well against Tszyu's perceived weaknesses...but he went on to shut him out (not the best time for a boring shutout given that he was programmed against Ward-Gatti that night) and now a young boxing fan would look at Tackies record and say so what.

 

My favourite Tszyu's fight is his proper introduction to US audiences against Jake Rodriguez

 

Hate to bring this up, but the judah fight is marred by a terrible early stoppage. Not his fault, but still

 

I wouldn't call it early, especially not 'terrible'. Judah went berserk but he was in no position to judge it, plus the fact that the round was ending shouldn't affect the decision

 

He got up and then fell down... 99% of the time a ref is waving it off right then and there ... the stoppage wasn't even close to terrible

 

It was terrible. It was obvious that he was shocked by the kd, and tried to get up too early. Count wasnt even at 4 when he waived it. He wasnt in that bad of a shaoe, and was steady on his feet a few secs after nady stopped it. I was rooting hard for zoo at the time, but i was disgusted at the stoppage.

A few people let their emotions cloud their judgement, but if we are honest, there is no way that stoppage is acceptable, even more in an unification fight