Back in his era, how would he have fared? Does he win a belt? Does he struggle at the weight? Does he keep taking names?
So if we take the 2001 version of Tzyu which is the one that just beat Zab Judah and Shamba Mitchel to become the the top dog at 140 and match him with the top guys at 147, I think he does well against most of the top ten but falls short against Shane Mosley and the Golden Boy. The other top guys like Forest, Andrew Lewis and Corey Spinks pose interesting matchups but I would favor Koysta against all of those guys. I think he wins a title at 147 but 140 is definitely the right weight class for him. At 5'7 with a 67 inch reach, he would be pretty undersized at WW.
After losing to Hatton, I think Tszyu would've had a really hard time beating guys like Mosley, Forrest, Cotto, Margarito or even Mayorga. They were stronger and more physical than fighters he was used to. Judah had even filled out more. 140 was Kostya's weight.
Unfortunately once Tszyu became undisputed he stopped being quite as active, and his body broke down a little bit. I think in 2002 he would have been able to defeat Mosley or Forrest or Mayorga in 2003. Tszyu was a great fighter, but there’s certain moments in his career where timing wasn’t on his side and thus he’s pretty not regarded as great as he would have been.
