Just a completely random thought that came to me while watching Tszyu vs Sharmba Mitchell I. Recently Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley unified with a win over Kendall Holt. Showtime made a rather large to do about this being the first time a LWW has unified in some capacity since Kostya Tszyu. So that got me thinking..what if by some strange form or capacity, Tszyu fought during this time period (2007 to now) and Timothy Bradley fought from Tsyu's time period of dominance (I'll assume post Vince Phillips in 1998 to the Tackie fight in 2002). Basically what I'm asking is: How would Kostya Tszyu have done against this crop of light welters? Do you see anyone out of the current croup who could trouble him? Guys like Ricky Hatton (this form of Hatton), Kendall Holt, Junior Witter, Juan Urango, Victor Ortiz Manny Pacquiao, Nate Campbell and Malignaggi outline the crop. Does Kostya flirt with going up in weight? Is he a bigger star than he was in the late 90s? Does he suffer a surprising defeat similar to how he did against Vince Phillips? Any "flirting with death" type fights like he had against Diosbelys? And on the other end, How would Timothy Bradley have done against the likes of Sharma Mitchell, Diosbelys Hurtado, Zab Judah, Ben Tackie, "Irish" Mickey Ward, Vince Phillips, A faded but still active JCC and Jesse James Lieja? Does Bradley's lack of power make him an easy target for this class of LWWs? Are his hands fast enough to keep up with Zab Judah types in the division? Does facing off against Don King fighters while King's status in boxing was still relevant play into anything? This isn't a thread to bash or try to discredit either fighter. I just thought it would be somewhat interesting to see where Timothy Bradley stands in todays boxing world. He's kind of an intruging fighter in a sense that he has no real major strengths but is very well rounded. Would he be able to be transcend a time period? Likewise on Kostya Tszyu. Any responses are appreciated.
Kostya beats all of the current champs IMO..Hatton is always a hard fight for him stylewise but I think he would do better if he was physically in better shape. Im not really going to comment on Pac. Cant comment on Bradley to much yet...still has some proving to do IMO. With Kostya you have nearly a decade of solid opposition to gauge him on and Tim is just starting out. Even as the unified champ few would consider him even the no2 at the weight.
Why? Avoiding an argument or you just haven't seen enough? Either way I understand why you wouldn't. Thanks for your response.
I dont really want to say Pac loses these fights as he is my favourite fighter in the world and yeah basically he has had two fights above 130 and the condition of his opponants leaves a little to be desired..Hatton will change this and I will probably start commenting on 135-140 matchups involving Pac after he beats Ricky.
Manny Pacquiao - this could be a trilogy on it's own, Tszyu 2-1 Hatton - In a neutral arena against this version Tszyu UD Nate Campbell - Tszyu KO9 Juan Urango - Tszyu KO 5 (Urango would get mauled throwing those looping shots) Kendall Holt - Tszyu KO4
Bradley has unified? Kotelnik is facing Khan for the WBA strap and the IBF will soon be vacant! Bradley is decent, in all departments, but Tszyu would blow him away.
Ah, ok. I don't recognise the WBO. Actually...... I am coming close to recognising the WBC only to be honest. The WBA is seriously hurting boxing with it's bizarre interim fights (espec the featherweight one) and the IBF, whilst sticking to it's own rules, have a silly ratings system. The IBF could be the best, because they don't have no bull**** interim business, and stripping champs for refusing mandatories.... but the mandatories are bloody awful. If they rated fighters properly, they would be #1.
I would favour Tszyu over all the current junior-welters, except maybe Hatton which I could go either way on (if I was pushed I'd take Kostya on points). I'd bet my house on Tszyu stopping Pac. He was excellent against southpaws and it would just be a matter of time until he timed Pac coming in and landed his vaunted straight right. I don't think Pac can take too many of those. Bradley hasn't blown me away thus far - he looks like a good, solid fighter who doesn't do anything exceptionally well. I just don't think he has anything really "special" about him. I think the Judah that fought Tszyu would stop him (I think that's the first time I've ever picked Zab in a fantasy match-up!)
I don't pay attention to the organizations that much to be honest. I just thought it would be intriguing to take a small step back and compare the two of them. Since they are the last guys to "unify" the JWW class, figured it was worth a peek.
I get you. Bradley isn't all that IMO, but he hasn't done anything wrong thus far. Seems a nice kid, good luck to him.
