Who you with? Very intriguing match where I would favour Pea but Kostya used to be da man in that division.
Sweet Pea all day. Too slick, too fast, too much for Tszyu. I loved watching Kostya — real bombs-away guy who walked people down and unleashed, but he’d be following Pea around like a puppy dog eating right jabs and quick combos. I also think Whitaker’s (often underrated) body work comes into play here to keep Tszyu honest and give Pernell an edge when Kostya does get in range. This is similar to Pea vs Azumah — not a shutout but Tszyu is just made for Whitaker and it’s one the sweet Virginian will want to hang on his wall as a masterpiece.
I say Whitaker by decision, Sweet Pea's defensive art would have been too much even for a champion like Tszyu
Tszyu was a paint-by-numbers guy — if he did a still life of fruit in a bowl, it would look like a banana and an orange and an apple in a bowl. Pea was a Picasso … all strange angles and pieces that fit together in a funny way that they shouldn’t. His still life would look like fruit salad turned upside down and suspended in the air. The orange would be red, the apple yellow and the banana orange. Which is to say, to change metaphors, Kostya would be playing checkers while Pernell was running 4D chess strategies. Tszyu would throw a 1-2 and Pernell would be behind him tapping him on the shoulder, then smacking him in the face when he turned around, only to vanish and reappear somewhere else Kostya wasn’t expecting.
I think that’s underselling Ol Kostya a bit there, Pea might win and if he did I think it’d be a good bout.
Having watched Ramirez defeat Whitaker, and watching the corpse of JCC at a weight far above his optimal hold Whitaker to a disputed draw (I had Julio winning), there is no way I can picture that same fighter beating Kostya.
Pernell schools him. I will say that Tzysu did well against southpaws but I will take the greatest southpaw ever in this one.
Tszyu struggled vs pressure fighters who gave him no punching room Hatton, Phillips. But against boxer types Tszyu normally excelled and he had a decent record vs southpaws aswell. I'd favour Whitaker by decision but it wouldn't be a walk in the park Tszyu is good at timing and catching fast boxer types. I think Whitaker might have to survive a scary moment along the way getting dropped by a right hand en route to a points win.
