...would his career be better than it already is? No disrespect to the Aussies but when I compare the Kostya in his amateur fight with Vernon Forrest and the Kostya that fought in the pros, its like watching a natural boxer turn into a slugger. Johnny Lewis is probably a good trainer conditioningwise, since his most famous fighter Jeff Fenech thrived on attrition battles. Compare the Kostya in his amatuer fight vs Vernon Forrest [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA-PybmMePA[/ame] To the almost crude slugger he became when he fought Hurtado: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uivIX-12UaM[/ame] If Kostya had come over with his Russian trainers, or if Kostya had gotten the premier trainers like Steward, Reid or Roach, how much further would he have gotten?
He gets away from shots better in the first fight and does seem to have a lot more thought to his work. A lot of fighters change styles when they turn pro,maybe they felt he was not making enough of an impact fighting that way in the pros and decided to use a more risky style which brought ko`s and attention.I can see your point though someone like Steward would have worked with the amateur style he had and developed it.Maybe he could have done more with a trainer like that.
Kostya essentially trained himself mate, Lewis was more of a guide for him - there wasn't much he could offer in the way of technique etc. after such an extensive amateur career, he said it himself in Kostya's book. Kostya became a very efficient/economical fighter after he turned pro - he fell in love with his power in his early pro days, and hence his loss to Phillips - he was able to be drawn into a brawl and came off second best on that occasion. He did rely on his power a bit more than his technique in his latter years, but he was a still a brilliant tactician, a chess player in the ring, but used his footwork and ring generalship to put his opponent where he wanted them before dispatching of them with his power.
Steward, and Roach arent the answer for every fighter. Tszyu is a HOFmer for Christ sake, and did just fine with his style while still maintaining his skills. I'd say he maximized his talent, and that Lewis did just fine with him.
Watch KT in his first couple years as a pro. He's the only boxer in the world I would ever say could have taken the title in his pro debut, that right hand was insanely quick and powerful, and his reflexes were amazing. A lot of boxing observers believe he stayed in the amateurs waaaay too long, had way too many fights and we didn't even get the best of him as a pro fighter, or not for very long anyway.
Even as a pro he still thought about his punches and was a good tactician at times. I think he did well for himself, **** he's HOF material.
Yeah, no disrespect to Johnny but I'd wonder how well Kostya would have done with his Russian or American coaches. He moved very naturally as an amateur but as a pro, he came off overly stiff and I can't help but wonder if Johnny tried to mold him as a 2nd Fenech.
I don't think so, like Irnbruman said, Kostya essentially trained himself. You can't develop in a vaccuum. Even though Australia has some good fighters, it can't compare to the US in terms of sparring and coaching.
Tsyu wasn't all that good. I never saw what others did in him. B-Level fighter with A-level results, to his credit. LUCKY.
:---patschatschatsch He fought Hector Lopez in US and won his first title against Jake Rodriquez as well in US. Andrey
I can't see how he can be called a great fighter when he managed to avoid all the good fighters of his era? Maybe it wasn't his call but if he'd really wanted to he could have at least gotten in the ring with one of these guys; DLH,Quartey,MOSLEY,WHITAKER,CAMACHO,AN UNDER 39yr.old CHAVEZ,FMJ