Why did Kostya Tszyu retire after the Hatton fight when it wasn't as if he was on a loosing streak before that?
Despite being prime (imo), I think it took a lot out of him. It was one hell of a war and on reflection, at his age, can he keep fighting at that level? I think the decision was wise. He was a great champion and fighter and could still be a force at 140 should he return. Edit: Oh, it's losing streak, not loosing streak. A loosing streak sounds like diarrhoea.
Yeah because little guys are often at their peak at 35. He was an old man and had enough brains to realize he didn't need to prove anything by fighting on and taking more beatings. Take note Jones, Holyfield et al
I didn't realise it was a written rule. Tszyu was fairly inactive but still very dangerous and looked every bit as good against Hatton as he did against Judah, Chavez and even Mayweather. That, in my book, makes him prime.
That fight is all that it needed for Tszyu to realise that he was gettng past it, his love for the sport wasnt what it used to be and his skills were on the decline.. Id have Tszyu over Hatton in their primes, but then again, im an Aussie - so im a little bias towards Kosta.
Why not? You're basing this on his age and not his performances in the ring which showed no signs slowing up, ageing, stamina, resistance or any other attributes of a fighter past his best. I fail to see the correlation.
He had already had a very long layoff (nearly two years) before fighting Sharmba Mitchell, after a pretty serious injury, and was going to retire even before the Mitchell fight which was 7 months prior to Hatton. He was ready to leave the sport no matter what happened.
He was going to retire before the Hatton bout. The only reason why he fought him was because it was a payday. After he beat Sharmba the second time he said he wanted Vivian Harris. That fight never materialised and he was going to retire. Even prior to that after he unified he was only fighting once a year and was stripped of the WBC and WBA for inactivity.