Tszyu. Trying to outbox Tszyu in the mid-distance is a mistake....and Randall was neither a "runner" nor an aggressive, strong come-forward banger. Good boxer, but not good enough and Tszyu's right hand, timing and accuracy find a home...as does his rough attack at close quarters. Peace.
i dont think randall was agressive enough to beat tszyu. nor did he have the best chin. tszyu beats him on points.
ok. but care to address his power, durability, heart and courage? the keys to phillip's victory over tszyu?
Bah. That's like arguing that Naseem Hamed should be in the IBHOF because he wasn't as sucky as Barry McGuinan. Anyway, you two are missing one huge parallel. Phillips was a big weight cutter. He hit the ring well into the 150s. Randall didn't.
vince phillips at one point was a fierce fighter. he's a bit hot and cold, but when he turned it on, he had a whole lot to offer. randall was a good mover with decent power, but nothing special. if my memory serves me correctly, tszyu had only lost twice in his career. how many losses did randall have during his run at 140 prior to becoming a stepping stone opponent?
Before the Chavez fight, he lost to Edwin Rosario on points and Primo Ramos by KO. His stepping-stone career really began when he moved up to 147 in 1998. By that time, he'd lost the rematch to Chavez, which he should have won, lost to Coggi once out of three bouts and lost by tknockout to Khalid Rahilou.
I've picked against Tszyu plenty before. :dunno: At times I will point out what he does well because I often think his skills are underrated and some love to generalize about him. But in THIS match-up? Who do YOU pick? Come on, now. :warning:
The key to Phillip's victory was that he was willing to march forward, trade, take Tszyu's best and keep firing shot after shot until he literally overwhelmed and wore down Kostya.... Not to mention Phillips was the bigger man with that huge right hand. To me it's a very different fight. Good match-up though, most definitely. Peace.
It all comes down to a heart, really. Sure, Randall has a better resume (after all, the BEST guy Zoo ever defeated was Sharmba Mitchell, while Randall battered a prime JCC into submission), but what tips the scales in Frankie's favor is his heart. There was not an ounce of quitter in Randall. There was a ton of it in Zoo. Randall by brutal RTD in the 5-th.
