Yeah thats it. He is remembered like a God here but both Cervantes and Arguello were both Past there best when Pryor got them in his Prime. Yet they still go on about Pryor and bag Tszyu's record. If i was to tell this R4H that the fact remains that Kostya Tszyu fought a total of 12 former or future World Champions. Compared to Pryors 3. Or that Tszyu's opponents had a combined record of 1100 Wins to 150 Loses Pryors opponents were 900 wins and 400 loses And Pryor had 7 or 8 more Pro fights than Tszyu yet and i did research on Tszyu fought more fighters in there Prime at a younger age than Pryor ever did. Yet Tszyu still getting No Love. Yes Pryor beat Arguello Tszyu beat Chavez in fact Tszyu killed Chavez. Does this guy need more info.
Who knows? Fact is Arguello never beat a top10 JWW and was never a proven 140 pounder. Who is the best boxer in his prime or close to it that Pryor beat?
No question in my mind that KT at his best would likely be the dominant figure in the current 140lbs era... But... If you transplanted fighters like Loi, Locce, Cervantes, Perkins, Ross, Ortiz, and at least a couple more from previous eras, they'd probably dominate this division just as easily as KT would. 140lbs is historically a deep, deep division...And I think many of the people who consider KT to be overrated do so not to denigrate his talent (which was impressive), but to state that there were other, probably better fighters who aren't quite as lauded as Tszyu was, and continues to be. HOF? Sure. Top 10 at 140lbs? I don't have any issue with that. But claiming he's Top 3 in a division that has a number of ATG's might be stretching things, imo.
I will gladly as I don't throw the word great around lightly. The obvious: SRR, Leonard, Armstrong, Arguello, Ali, Louis, Duran, Pep, Langford, Greb, Charles, Whitaker, Chavez, Olivares, Monzon.......these are off top of head. These guys were DOMINANT in a division and many had success moving up. Some couldn't move up because there was no up.....and a some chose not to move up but were very dominant where they fought. Kostya couldn't EVER be apart of this LIST......ever......Never EVER? NEVER EVER!!!!!!!!!!
KT beat a version of Chavez that was far, far, far removed from even the past prime version that was going life-and-death with Frankie Randall in the early 90's. To give an indication of how far gone he really was, JCC had been shut out by Willy Wise in his previous fight, so that fact that KT stopped him doesn't make it all that great of an achievement, or even one of his five best victories. I've got Judah, Mitchell II, Hurtado, Tackie, and Rodriguez as his five best wins, personally.
You should take RUBEN OLIVARES off that list because he doesn't belong on it. One of the most OVERRATED fighters of all time IMO. Being a legend in Mexico and having a big national following like most Mexican greats does not make you an all time great.
I like how everytime someone proves that someone doesn't need to be great to be in the hall they bring up McGuigan.
Tszyu was great and I think he would have a reign had he been prime fighting in these times. The only guys I can see that can beat him are Khan and possibly Maidana.
Can someone tell me where the official ATG list is other than in your own mind? Or maybe Bert Sugar's books if you agree with Bert? Tszyu is a first ballot HoFer. He is without question the dominant 140 pounder post Chavez, Hatton only defended a couple of times and Pac never defended - I think the weekend fights show that the current and very talented crop are not quite at that level yet. Emmanuel Steward following the second Mitchell fight dubbed Tszyu "The greatest Jnr Welter of all time". If people here think he's overated - It's all academic now - He did it and achieved it.
I like him.....but ok.....you don't like him then I will put another guy who doesn't have the names on his resume but that was because no one would fight him in his prime. Ask Boxing historians about Mark TOO SHARP Johnson.....he is considered one of the best flyweights. Much of his career though was in PURGATORY but he is considered one of the greats. A shame he didn't really get a big fight until he was old and moved up in weight beyond his where he could fight effectively. or you could put Ricardo Lopez on the list but many say he was scared to fight Mark.....I like both these guys. But it is hard picking guys from the more modern era because they don't have the number of fights and there wasn't the depth in the weight classes for them to build up similar like resumes of the guys of the past.
No one has really said Kostya wasn't hall of fame. This is an imaginary argument by Kostya fans who have made an issue where there is no issue. No one said Bradley or Alexander are better than Kostya....but Kostya is NOT ATG period! And even his accomplishments are weak when you look at the fine print. The people he beat for his trincket belts are weak titleholders at BEST and BITCHES and MENTAL MIDGETS AT WORST!
One thing you do throw around lightly is your oppinion, and you hand in your pants when mumma's out the house! Kostya is seen as the one of the greatest Junior Welters of all time, no doubt about it in anyone's mind but you! What i dont understand is all the hate? did he sleep with your girl on one of his Vagas trips or something?? Pull out the used tampoon, clean the blood stains on your jeans and move on with your life :hi:
Who are all these people you are referring to? You mean the same people who TROLL these forums and bring him up every time anything is happening at 140lbs? Or do you mean the same TROLLS who every so often put out feeler threads to see if they have enough support to put out KOSTYA IS AN ATG THREAD without looking like an ASS! You guys remind me of REPUBLICANS who try rewrite GEORGE BUSH JR's record in the whitehouse. Always putting the propaganda out there. Always putting out feelers to see if the public has forgotten and they can now rewrite what really happened. GIVE ME A BREAK ALREADY!