Rate these fighters: Tszyu, Arbachakov, Nazarov

[Flea Man]

I never said that

[Lester1583]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

I always said that

Stop it, Flea!

Ricardo Lopez is not overrated!

[LittleRed]

Flea I know you don't like Lopez but damn that was harsh.

[Flea Man]

If I say I didn't McGrain will just come in and edit my post or summat to continue with this conspiracy painting me as a Lopez 'hater' or detractor! I'm not

[Vysotsky]

Originally Posted by Lester1583

I have only seen him against Freitas.



Actually I think Kostya's handspeed often gets underrated.

He had pretty good handspeed early in his career.



Jeff Fenech said Kostya was P4P#1 after Kostya beat LaCoursiere in 1993.

That's 10 years of total dominance.

Same with being a slow starter and lack of defense. All three areas were very much the opposite early in his career and mid way through there was a steady neglect until the Phillips loss, after which he tried to re-polish himself to an extent although the handspeed didn't return on account of him filling out and becoming more muscular as he aged.

[LittleRed]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

If I say I didn't McGrain will just come in and edit my post or summat to continue with this conspiracy painting me as a Lopez 'hater' or detractor! I'm not

Flea that sounds a little paranoid. New herb?

[Lester1583]

Originally Posted by Vysotsky

Phillips loss, after which he tried to re-polish himself to an extent although the handspeed didn't return on account of him filling out and becoming more muscular as he aged.

True.

Ruelas fight probably was the last one Kostya looked in his physical prime but with a new measured approach.

Originally Posted by Vysotsky

Same with being a slow starter and lack of defense.

Yeah, he wasn't a slow starter early in his career.

I'd say Kostya had an average/above average defense.

[Flea Man]

Originally Posted by LittleRed

Flea that sounds a little paranoid. New herb?

[sweet_scientist]

Interesting that a few are saying Arbachakov has a better resume than Tszyu. Would anyone want to say more about that? Break it down perhaps?
Without putting much thought into it myself, that's not something that intuitively sounds right to me.

[Flea Man]

I didn't say that

[lora]

Originally Posted by sweet_scientist

Interesting that a few are saying Arbachakov has a better resume than Tszyu. Would anyone want to say more about that? Break it down perhaps?
Without putting much thought into it myself, that's not something that intuitively sounds right to me.

For me mostly just that i think Kittikassem, Sasakul better than anyone Tszyu beat imo.The rest of his challengers on much the same level as Kostya's.

Tszyu has some faded names and the bigger amount of decent\solid 2nd-tier and competent 3rd-tier types than Arbachakov, but i think Yuri's actually tended to be a bit more rounded\better schooled.

Tszyu was more dominant than Arbachakov comparing average performance against challengers, but there is the Cool Vince disaster, which Yuri avoided

I wouldn't argue much if anyone put Kostya ahead though.

[sweet_scientist]

Originally Posted by lora

For me mostly just that i think Kittikassem, Sasakul better than anyone Tszyu beat imo.The rest of his challengers on much the same level as Kostya's.

Tszyu has some faded names and the bigger amount of decent\solid 2nd-tier and competent 3rd-tier types than Arbachakov, but i think Yuri's actually tended to be a bit more rounded\better schooled.

Tszyu was more dominant than Arbachakov comparing average performance against challengers, but there is the Cool Vince disaster, which Yuri avoided

I wouldn't argue much if anyone put Kostya ahead though.

That's a fair assessment, and I can see where you're coming from.

I don't think Sasakul and Kittikasem are significantly better than say Mitchell and Judah to offset Tszyu's depth of resume, myself. They are better, but not by much imo.

Tszyu's an interesting one, I think some of the lesser known fighters he beat were actually quite decent, and in some ways better than the bigger names like MAG, Ruelas, Hurtado, Rodriguez (especially at the time Tszyu fought them). I speak of guys like Hugo Pineda, Oktay Urkal, Hector Lopez, even Jan Bergman, who looked a decent sort until Tszyu poleaxed him.

The loss to Cool Vince is pretty damaging to Tszyu's legacy, but of course he offset that to a certain degree by hanging around longer than the others and taking some decent scalps.

Despite his one dimensionality for the better part of his pro career, I actually think Tszyu was more talented than the other two. Unfortunately, he probably left his best behind before he actually became a champion.

[Lester1583]

Originally Posted by lora

Punching power

Tszyu and Nazarov with Arbachakov slightly behind likely due to his constant problems with his hands.

I'd say Yuri's power came from his speed, accuracy and a very good technique.

He wasn't as naturally heavy handed as Orzubek or Kostya, in my opinion.

[Lester1583]

Yuri had a very short prime.

Already in the Nam-Hoon Cha fight you can see that Yuri didn't have the same spring in his legs.

And he had been struggling with hand injuries as early as the Yun-Un Chin fight.

[lora]

I think tszyu may have been the most naturally talented as a technician as well sweet, it's a shame he went down the powerpunching route.

I can't say i ever had any time for Sharmba Mitchell.He's one of my most disliked and overhyped (well sort of) contenders of the 90s\early 00s.Judah too, though i recognise he was a dangerous early-mid rounds fighter at 140.Tszyu's win was a very strong one there.