i still think tsyu is an all time great because of being an alltime great jr. welter i personally think hatton's reign at 140 is stronger then tszyu's and even his resume overall but thats just imo...but i'm just looking at tszyu being an all-time great at the division....hatton has a stonger case to be ahead of tszyu because of the win and resume....thats why i didnt like the way the question was phrased....
One of the most recognizable fighters ever to step into a ring. The mongolian plait alone makes him an ATG everything else is just a bonus
Hoya's risk/reward against Tszyu is FAR scarier for DLH than it was for any of those guys. Each of those guys brings much bigger money than Zoo did, and Kostya being given the shot against DLH is NOT going to be an easy fight for Oscar no matter what. Oscar knew that. He stood a very realistic chance of an embarrassing loss to a non-American, non-Hispanic, Russian-Aussie with limited English and zero name recognition. If he beat Zoo for (comparatively) little money, he gets a big "so ****ing what" from his audience. If he loses, it's a disaster for the Golden Boy's PR division. Also, if he loses, he cops a beating along the way, and almost certainly does the same even in victory. Another point in Zoo's ATG favour is his travelling. He went to his opponents, and that is a long - ****ing - way from Australia. Both his defeats came half the planet away from his home fans, and this is a hardship that many ATGs never really knew. If you live in New York or Philly, then flying to Vegas for a fight is no big deal. But if you live in Sydney, then you pack all your **** up, move away from your home and family, and live in a foreign country half a world away for a couple of months. That type of **** can be mentally draining, and Zoo had to battle it every time he fought. He deserves (a little) extra credit for that, always being the visitor in the ring. Lastly, I think a lot of people forget Zoo's amateur career entirely when they discuss his standing in the sport's history. He was one of the best amateurs ever, and this must again help his case. :hat
bad comparison..... yeah tyson lost to douglas...but Tyson beat far better fighters in his career than KT...not even close.....and Tyson was active.... KT fought pure and utter garbage fights in his prime and toward the later part of his career... everyone was wanting to see some kind of superfight or competive match up...but we got remtches with sharba mitchell, ottkay urrakal, chavez -who was on his 105th fight... where was the DLH fight? Frankie Randall was a beast then, kicking chavez ass for the first time.....whitaker was out there....hes is def NOT and all time great...you have to fight guys that are wothy and mean something....
I would say Tszyu and Calzaghe are about the same in ATG status both borderline 100 calzaghes name win was vs past prime BHOP Tszyus vs Chavez Tszyu Kod his next best opponent Judah Joe beat Kessler (whos not as good as Judah) Joe probably scrapes ahead because hes unbeaten. I wouldnt have any in the top 10 fighters of the last 15 years
KT was well known at that time, it wouldn't have been 'so what' if ODLH won. In fact, KT was pretty considered an unstoppable monster and the fight with ODLH would have been a classic, most likely. The reason it didn't happen is that KT got beat by Phillips and then Hoya didn't HAVE to fight him, after that the risk/reward WAS a bad proposition. That one loss changed soooo much for KT, it really sucks that just one defeat can **** a fighter over that bad.
In my opinion, NO. Kostya Tszyu is not an ATG. He is not a top 100 OAT fighter at all. Damn good fighter, one of the top 25 or so of his era, but some way short of ATG standard. The resume just isn't good enough IMO. I rank him below guys like Trinidad, Winky, Mosley and JM Marquez. The next level down - around on a par with guys like Calzaghe, Tapia, Izzy Vasquez and JL Castillo.