Phillips/Tsyzu - How Big Of An Upset?

It was a very big upset. I think the odds were along the lines of 4 to 1 or more, maybe even 6 to 1, in favor of Tzsyu.

I was shocked and my first reaction was that Tzsyu must be overrated. I figured he just wasn't as good as we thought...that he had been exposed.

Within a year though Kostya proved otherwise, winning decisive kayoes over Rafael Ruelas and Miguel Angel Gonzalez. After seeing how good Tzsyu was in these fights, I decided he must have had an off night against Phillips.

 

Spot on, Tszyu was the new Chavez and everyone knew Phillips was a bust, including me... Rightly Phillips made me eat a massive slice of humble pie, to remind me boxing has a way of biting your arse, no matter how much you (think) you know about boxing!

 

This isn't true, Phillips was just that good that night and he beat Kostya at his own game. He was on top of his game but would never rise to those heights again due to his crack addiction and bad training habits

It didnt stop Tyszu running from the rematch for the rest of his career so Tyszu didn't truly feel it was an offnight otherwise he would have rematched Phillips

 

Ring Magazine 'Upset of the Year' in fact.

 

on a side note vince is the only man to have ever stopped micky ward too

 

My impression is that by the time Kostya regained the title, Phillips had fallen from his perch. Thus, a rematch wasn't feasible from a marketing, business and promotional point of view.

You may be right about Phillips beating Tzsyu at his best. If so, however Kostya certainly learned from the loss and he improved his game as a result.

 

Phillips was a great fighter on his day lets not forget that. I think most big names would not jump at the chance to fight him.

 

But why no immediate rematch? Why did Tyszu fight lower run contenders like Leija/Tackie/Santos instead? This hurts Zoos legacy

 

I'm not completely sure, but I believe the Ruelas fight was before the Phillips bout. And Kostya was rocked in that fight also. But recovered to knock out Ruelas. Tsyzu looked vulerable in the late rounds for some reason. Not really poor stamina, but he just looked shaky in the late rounds. In the early to mid rounds though, He was awesome.

 

It was stopped on cuts.