Tszyu's laser-like str8 RH finds it's way through the SP stance enough to rattle Cal on occasions & earn a rugged UD
There was a time where I would said Tszyu by far, but Joe has proven more lately than Tszyu EVER did! Kostya P4P was more talented than Joe, but Calzaghe is alot mentally tougher and more versatile, and in the trenches, thats what would matter. Tszyu was a very good fighter who coulda been a great one if he wasnt a front runner. Calz by UD, or possibly Tszyu quits late.
Tszyu losing via quit has become the new Marciano losing via cuts it seems. I think that ODLH would lose any MM via body punch too, now that I think of it, or maybe Vitali by torn rotator cuff. How about Hagler losing any MM via spending the first 4 rnds fighting orthodox?, or Foreman via exhaustion?
:clap: P4P this would be a very close fight - People tend to hate on Tszyu because of the Hatton fight.
Tszyu folded up the only two times in his career he was faced with real adversity. When Philips, and Hatton were able to take his punch, and pressure him back with heat of thier own, Kostya lost. But of course, the Tszyu groupies will say that Tszyu was pre-prime when he lost to Philips, and shot when he lost to Hatton. Tszyu was a front-runner. That doesnt mean he had no heart, or that he was a pussy, but it does mean that when the going got tough, Tszyu failed twice. Calz on the other hand always finds a way to pull out tough fights.
Tszyu folded up the only two times in his career he was faced with real adversity. When Philips, and Hatton were able to take his punch, and pressure him back with heat of thier own, Kostya lost. But of course, the Tszyu groupies will say that Tszyu was pre-prime when he lost to Philips, and shot when he lost to Hatton. Tszyu was a front-runner. That doesnt mean he had no heart, or that he was a pussy, but it does mean that when the going got tough, Tszyu failed twice. Calz on the other hand always finds a way to pull out tough fights.
So those were the only two tough fights Tszyu ever had and since Kostya quit in one of them, he quits every time out
X. surely you know that's circular logic. I read people using the same kind of thing with Tyson-"everytime somebody stood up to Tyson-He lost" Do you get the point I was making about MM's in general?
Only if you go on to lose the fight apparently. (for some fighters) If you go on to win, then by definition, there was no adversity involved. (for some fighters). How could there have been adversity?-I mean they won, didn't they?
I would reckon Kessler and maybe ever Reid were better pure boxer/technicians than Tszyu. Having said that, this match pits two factors against each other: 1) Tszyu's adeptness at beating southpaws 2) Tszyu's vulnerability to pressure Tszyu has an undefeated record against boxers (who gave him room to punch), but he's often struggled with fighters who took it to him and backed him up. His succeptibility to pressure was evident in both his losses, as well as some of his harder earned wins (ie: Urkal, Leija). Tszyu's right hand would land on the southpaw Calzaghe, but the southpaws that Tszyu beat were generally boxers types (ie: Mitchell, Judah, Pineda). Off the top of my head, I can't recall him handling a good southpaw who took it to him. Moreover, Calzaghe showed against Hopkins that he can beat fighters that are supposed experts at beating southpaws. I'll take Calzaghe by clear decision or late round TKO.
I don't disagree with most of your post, except the very opening. There's just nothing in the career of Reid or Kessler that suggests they're on par (or better) techincians than Tszyu.
Look what I came across.... How about the fact that Kessler rarely gets hit clean? Tszyu got hit by everyone. his defense sucked. Calzaghe would have beaten him by wide dec. Calzaghe-Reid means little when looking at this fight unless we are matching a green Calzaghe, who had a broken hand against Tszyu.
calzaghe was the more versatile fighter, although tszyu punched a lot harder and also had underrated handspeed. not sure how p4p would apply since tszyu was a devastating force at his weight class and calzaghe didnt really step up until he was past his peak.
This is a hard one to pick. Do you shrink Calzghe down? If you do, then Tsyzu wins. If you do the opposite, Calzaghe wins. If you make them equal like you should, it's hard to predict.
Tszyu gets some serious shit around here. Too bad, he was awesome. I don't know if he would beat Calzaghe, but that's a solid match-up. One that most would have picked Tszyu to win seven or eight years ago when both were prime.
