just got to thinking about this shitty new Max Kellerman show faceoff- which i think misses the mark, but hey any boxing is good boxing to me. But the art of the faceoff is an underrated one. Does anyone have any good faceoff stories- where the fight was won before the bell?? my favourite involves my favourite fighter of all time- in what was his most gratifying win. Zab had been trashing Kostya for years leading up to the fight- and upon the day of the weigh in Zab had bridged up , acting all Brooklyn- ready for his confrontation with Zoo. here it is , told by Scoop Malinowski: A few years ago I inadvertently stumbled upon another illustration of successful utilization of mental warfare. A simple, non-probing question asking Kostya Tszyu if he had ever met Mike Tyson yielded a fascinating story. “No I haven’t met him. But he’s been in the corner of Zab Judah when we fought. But actually, he was in his corner, but he knew that Zab was gonna lose.” Whoa, I thought. Really? How did Tyson know? “I’ve got inside sources,” the former Super Lightweight champion said with a sly smile. So you knew you would beat Judah before the fight started? How could you know? “Of course I never knew that it was gonna be in the second round. I did predict about eight or nine where he’s gonna be tired. The way I train, no one trains. And I knew if I would put pressure on him, he’s not gonna be able to withstand this pressure for a long time. He’ll make mistake. It’s all about one split-second. Boxing is a funny thing. You blink your eyes and somebody says good night to you.” Then it hit me. There was a memorable image during fight week at Tszyu-Judah in Las Vegas, I remember Tszyu put his arm around Judah, warmly smiling at him, almost like a father to a son. Judah looked stiff and uncomfortable like he didn’t know how to react. Tszyu knew what I was talking about. “When somebody can be intimidated, I use this. Because I’m very wise person,” Tszyu smiled a devilish grin. “I know how to intimidate my opponents. I know how to play tricky stuff for them. Boxing’s not really physical, it’s all about mental. And I beat him before the fight. I think it was at the weigh-in.” Yes. And you put your arm around his shoulder. “You know what I ask him? I ask him about his daughter,” the champion continued as I tried to conceal massive curiosity. “And this was shock for him. You expect something different. When the unexpected thing comes up, he was shocked. Look. I love kids. And his daughter is (named) Destiny – I did some homework. His daughter was just born. And how’s your daughter? He expected something different before fight. And he lost himself in that question.” here is the pic that captures the moment : http://cdn.bleacherreport.com/images_root/image_pictures/0206/4046/th_tszyu-judah_feature.jpg I love that story. anybody have another to share?
great read and thanks for sharing... I do disagree however, i dont think Judah was much effected at all and was supremely confident entering the fight.
If they didn't stop it he might be dead now from the next punch he'd have eaten. That was an easy stoppage imho. It was the Chicken Dance of all Chicken Dances. If Zab was in some sick way show boating and pretending to be hurt when he was actually okay then he deserves an Oscar for acting and a kick in the nuts for doing it at the wrong time. Maybe it was a lucky punch but it was still a correct stoppage.
:rofl:rofl KD 3 times from 1 punch and it was a BS stoppage? I suppose Berbick was OK against Tyson too was he?
one of the most overrated fights of all time zab totally owned zu in the first round but in the second round he gat knock down and decided to get to fast and the rest is history.
