This would be a hell of a fight most likely a war. Tszyu was good against southpaws and would be the heaviest puncher Taylor has ever fought. I love both guys but I think I would favor Tsyzu he is just a lot more skilled than anyone else Taylor has fought.
As of now, Tszyu It would be a good fight for sure but prime Kostya was an offensive monster with murderous power in both hands (upstairs and down), superb laserlike accuracy, fast hands and he was an absolutely brilliant and ruthless finisher.
Tszyu wins. Tszyu was an exceptional all around boxer puncher who relied heavily on accuracy and timing, and carried formidable punching power; he is often regarded as one of the hardest-punching light-welterweights in the division's history. It would be a hell of a fight though as both are warriors.
Kostya with a proper Russian coach, like Lomachenko senior would have had an even more amazing career. Johnny is a decent enough fella but he really didn't have the technical skills to bring Kosta to the elite level. It's sad thinking how good Kosta could have been.
Tszyu never lost going in with rounds under his belt. If the other guy could hang with him, he's very good. It's not just the punching power. It's his physical strength, precision punching (in combination) & general physical toughness. The only real limitation he had was that he could be outworked & outpunched at the back end of a fight by a stayer. When Tszyu went in with rounds under his belt, that didn't happen either. Johnny was very good at picking opponents for Kostya. He doesn't get enough credit for that. He was the one principally doing that during Kostya's career & rarely got it wrong. The only time he did (they opted for Leonardo Mas instead of US Olympic alternate Charles Murray as an opponent) it cost them a couple of wins (the Mas fight was initially ruled a technical draw, Kostya didn't get any rounds in & was left underdone going into the Vince Phillips fight next up). Kostya may have burned more brightly for a while if he was based in the US. He wouldn't have had the longevity of career that he had fighting out of Australia though. And the opportunity to unify the titles only really came late in his career. He likely would have been disowned had he slipped up while based in America instead of being able to rebuild as he did fighting out of Australia. Swings & roundabouts.
This..is a scrap I would've loved to see...I'd favour tszyu but I'm not gonna count out Taylor...best boxer we've produced on our shores since calzaghe for me ...he's that good I'm not even arsed he's a jock lol
What an amazing fight this would be. I have to favor the power and timing of Tzysu in this one although I think very highly of Taylor and am looking forward to seeing how his career progresses.
