Can someone tell me a bit about his fighting style? I've never seen any of his fights, and I've only heard his name mentioned a few times. Is he an all-time great? Was he an exciting fighter? Any of his fights worth checking out?
Good assessment. I'd add that he was a better boxer after his first loss, though no longer in his physical prime. Kinda caught in between eras so hard to rate him as an ATG. Hatton is considered elite today because he beat Tszyu - showing that his scalp was considered something a bit special, even though it was (presumably) the end of his career.
I think he's close to an ATG. Before Phillips beat him he was pretty much a come-forward destroyer. Incredible power in both hands and relentless aggression. KT coming out of the amateurs was extremely hyped, he was almost this mythic creature. Remember those were the days before the internet days, and I remember references to him on American TV as being almost unbeatable, but we couldn't see his fights so who knew. Phillips took his shots and exposed him, but Calabrese is right, KT came back after that a much better fighter, more patient and able to pick his spots yet still aggressive and able to physically bully most opponents. In his prime, I think Tszyu would give anyone at 140 pounds trouble. Remember Judah was undefeated, 27-0 and considered one of the flashiest boxers around when KT knocked him out. That win and beating Mitchell showed that he could take out slick boxers. Phillips had the right style to beat him, boxer/puncher who could take KT's shots and had the power to get him out of there, but I think the version of KT say in 1998-2001 is close to ATG status. He's hurt a little bit because he didn't really have a foil to push him, and many of his wins were against guys who were past it. But if you just look at how good he was, he's up there with any 140 lber of all time.
Tyszu was one of those figthers from what I've read about him that loved to train early in his career, then once he found his stride he let up quite a bit and went out and enjoyed his money, and later at the end of his career it all caught up to him fast and all at once. but he had awesome 1 Punch KO power, fought a ton of Amateur bouts and won, and was also a good boxer, very patient, at times too much so. He is an ATG at JWW for sure, top 10 in that division Yes, Possibly top 5 and a chance to KO anyone else rated above him, he definitley KO's Pryor for sure, but I see Chavez beating him at any point in their careers, him and Arguello would have been a good one.
Tszyu is not an ATG. Not if the bar for the ATG is set where it should be. Deserving of the HOF? Yes. Top 10 all time at 140? Yes. But then again, the all time talent pool at 140 isn't as high as other divisions.
I think he’s a great fighter. His resume perhaps didn’t age well but at the time he became undisputed 140 was white hot and he dominated and bar the hiccup (Phillips loss) in the middle was champion and the man for a decade. His skill and talent are clear to see too.
I think Tszyu is one of those fighters who isn't quite a genuine great (I mean in the all-time, proper sense of the word), but is in the chasing bracket. An all-time very good, if that makes sense. Similar to some of the other leading 140 lb champs like Cervantes, Randall and Loi. He did more or less all he could at 140 and beat some very good boxers there; Gonzalez, Hurtado, Mitchell, Judah etc. His losses to Phillips and Hatton (fair enough, he was getting on in years for the latter one) and struggles with guys he couldn't force on to the back foot leave me feeling that he was damn lucky that Mosley didn't decide to make a pit stop at 140 in 1999-2000, though, because he'd have knocked ten bells out of Kostya. I think throughout Tszyu's championship career 1995-2005, while he was taking care of some good fighters and being a dominant champion, the really exceptional fighters were either a few pounds south or north of him most of the time, and he never fought any of them even when they were briefly at 140: De la Hoya, Mosley, Whitaker, Mayweather, Trinidad etc. You can argue all day about who should have moved up or down to face him, or whether the timing was ever right, or whether Tszyu should or shouldn't have tried his hand at 147 etc. But at the end of the day he didn't face a really great, or even on-the-cusp-of-great fighter during his reign. I'm a Tszyu fan and still enjoy watching some of his old fights back, but he's just that little bit short of genuine greatness in my mind. But nevertheless, he was a very impressive, world class performer over a long period, and is a worthy opponent for any Light-Welter in history.
He was really really good but he had a nonstop struggle with injuries during the last half of his career, and quitting on his stool against Hatton justifiably knocks him down a few pegs. When he quit against Hatton it was probably one of the Top 5 saddest moments in boxing for me, along with Morales getting counted out against Pacquiao and RJJ getting iced by Denis Lebedev.
Fantastic talent who could have been an ATG if he had a better list of wins on his resume, missed out on a lot of big fights in the late 90's and early 2000's but as things stand his best wins are Sharmba Mitchell, Zab Judah and a shot Chavez, HOF worthy yes but ATG ?? Nah. The loss against Phillips IMO isn't a huge deal, he was young, overconfident and probably more focused on a big money fight with De La Hoya which was being talked about at the time but quitting against Hatton is more tarnishing for me.
You whitewash the Phillips loss too much. Vince exposed his limitations. Yes, Kostya rebounded well but was guided very carefully. The Hatton loss, which you don't whitewash, is actually understandable as he was winding down at that point. .
