but this is what makes this thread a bit crazy, as hatton isnt finished his career yet, hattons could still fight, khan, juan manuel marquez, Bradley, or even de la hoya and have a career which compiles of loads of quality fighters, heck hattons opponents can raise his legacy say for example if Juan Urango beats andre berto and then compiles a career of great wins and title defense's and then that makes hattons win over him more special, Kostya even though is my favourite fighter, did fight loads of great fighters, but is still missing a mayweather, de la hoya or many other great fighters at that time, Kostya was the most complete fighter ive ever seen at 140, but if in 5 years were looking back i think hattons name will be shone after more
How many men have unified the Jnr W/W title in the history of the game?? How many will in the future?? Kostya was plagued by a dick brained manager also, Vlad was a ****ing moron, and destroyed a massive amount of Tszyu's potential. Believe me, we never saw the best of Kostya. Plenty of guys can make arguement against/for both. Either way, both are great fighters. The best thing for Tszyu's resume' also works against him.... inactivity over the last 3 years created a lackluste finale to his career. Kostya was a monster puncher, I don't give a **** what anyone says. Had he faced Hatton earlier on, its KT all the way. Lets enjoy the Hatton show now. He should kick Pacs arse, any match in the future with anyone will provide entertainment.. win, lose or draw.
Tzsyu never went beyond 140, Hatton picked up a title there. And tried to beat the best fighter p4p at that weight. Overall Tzsyu had the better skills but Hatton is doing a better job resume and legacy wise.
Its the wrong time to ask really. Hatton has got three or four fights left, including probably the biggest of his career up next. We won't know what his legacy is, until his career is close to it end.
IMHO Tszyu has the better legacy. However, neither are anywhere close to ATG status in my eyes. Tszyu is a modern great and Hatton maybe a hall of famer (depends what he does with the rest of his career). However, calling either guy an ATG is a big stretch IMO.
This isn't fair either though. Tszyu dared to fight anyone who would take him on, including former world champs before his 10th pro bout and Mitchell/Judah to unify the belts. Historically, a lot of the big name fighters (DLH, PBF, Mosley) have either skipped 140 or only stopped there briefly en route to the bigger money too be made at welterweight. Plus he fought both Judah and Mitchell (plus Hatton and Phillips) on their home turf, he wasn't afraid to leave his safe haven the way a lot of fighters are. He's not an ATG, but to question his heart or daring is, IMO, unfair.
Moron. Was Tszyu in his prime when he faced Hatton?? I believe Tszyu was the first man in Jnr W/W history to own the division. Had he been a continuous fighter, he'd have a far better resume'. Unfortunately, injuries and shitful managers destroyed a better level of appreciation. Dont fool yourself. Dont let the constant belting of 'would be' great names detract from his record. Just remeber, most of them are still trying to gain UNIVERSAL rememberance.
[quote="TKO";3764044]IMHO Tszyu has the better legacy. However, neither are anywhere close to ATG status in my eyes. Tszyu is a modern great and Hatton maybe a hall of famer (depends what he does with the rest of his career). However, calling either guy an ATG is a big stretch IMO.[/quote] top 3 140 fighter and top 3 australian boxer in history and not ATG??? KT is an ATG for me...he is in the same league as toney and tapia imo
Suddenly my $150 bet in favour of Hatton has switched. I look forward to a "FLYWEIGHT" canning Hattons arse. :hi:
Absolutely not. I'm looking at this in the big picture. Saying he is a top 3 140 fighter ever (I suspect the likes of Arguello, Pryor, Chavez etc... would have something to say about that) is one thing, but it's a relatively young division. As for being a "top 3 Australian boxer", Chris John is probably the top 1 Indonesianm boxer, is he an ATG as well? Australia is one relatively small country (in terms of population) and does not exactly have a distinguished history of producing legendary fighters. And certainly, neither Toney or Tapia are ATGs either. Greats of their generation yes, but in these days IMO, you need more than belts at 2 or 3 weights and a list of world-class victims. You need to have done something virtually unique in the sport. If guys like Tszyu, Tapia and Toney are ranked as ATGs then who else from the recent era makes the cut? Mosley? DLH? Trinidad? Marquez? Hamed? Barrera? Quartey? Calzaghe? Michalczewski? If you start giving guys like that ATG classifications, you can very quickly end up devaluing the currency. As has already been the case with the Hall of Fame, nowadays it seems like any fighter who can win a belt and beat a couple of top ten fighters is talked about as a hall of famer!
[quote="TKO";3764134]Absolutely not. I'm looking at this in the big picture. Saying he is a top 3 140 fighter ever (I suspect the likes of Arguello, Pryor, Chavez etc... would have something to say about that) is one thing, but it's a relatively young division. As for being a "top 3 Australian boxer", Chris John is probably the top 1 Indonesianm boxer, is he an ATG as well? Australia is one relatively small country (in terms of population) and does not exactly have a distinguished history of producing legendary fighters. And certainly, neither Toney or Tapia are ATGs either. Greats of their generation yes, but in these days IMO, you need more than belts at 2 or 3 weights and a list of world-class victims. You need to have done something virtually unique in the sport. If guys like Tszyu, Tapia and Toney are ranked as ATGs then who else from the recent era makes the cut? Mosley? DLH? Trinidad? Marquez? Hamed? Barrera? Quartey? Calzaghe? Michalczewski? If you start giving guys like that ATG classifications, you can very quickly end up devaluing the currency. As has already been the case with the Hall of Fame, nowadays it seems like any fighter who can win a belt and beat a couple of top ten fighters is talked about as a hall of famer![/quote] Both yourself and Asero need to read a little to gain some reasonable perspectives regarding Australian fighters through the decades. Simple.
[quote="TKO";3764134]Absolutely not. I'm looking at this in the big picture. Saying he is a top 3 140 fighter ever (I suspect the likes of Arguello, Pryor, Chavez etc... would have something to say about that) is one thing, but it's a relatively young division. As for being a "top 3 Australian boxer", Chris John is probably the top 1 Indonesianm boxer, is he an ATG as well? Australia is one relatively small country (in terms of population) and does not exactly have a distinguished history of producing legendary fighters. And certainly, neither Toney or Tapia are ATGs either. Greats of their generation yes, but in these days IMO, you need more than belts at 2 or 3 weights and a list of world-class victims. You need to have done something virtually unique in the sport. If guys like Tszyu, Tapia and Toney are ranked as ATGs then who else from the recent era makes the cut? Mosley? DLH? Trinidad? Marquez? Hamed? Barrera? Quartey? Calzaghe? Michalczewski? If you start giving guys like that ATG classifications, you can very quickly end up devaluing the currency. As has already been the case with the Hall of Fame, nowadays it seems like any fighter who can win a belt and beat a couple of top ten fighters is talked about as a hall of famer![/quote] i consider top 130 as ATGs...toney, wright, tapia, tszyu are around 115-130 position. barrera, morales and marquez are ATGs in the 80-90 spot... would you limit your ATG list to top 100? meaning fenech, locche, loi, pedroza and saldivar doesnt make your ATG???..they are around in the 100-115 place.. i do not consider darius m and hamed as ATG because they are outside my top 130