wtf did Kostya Tszyu do to get into the HOF ????

Andrey, Tszyu didn't need to move up and face guys outside of his best weight range and peak condition, BUT if he wanted a chance at true greatness, he should have done it.

What's better 2 or 3 wins over the likes of DLH, Whitaker and Mosley or a decade of defences against Rafael Ruelas level fighters?

IMO, Tszyu knew his limitations and stuck within them - he would have moved up chasing game at 147 if he thought he could beat those guys there.

 

Why???? Mayweather's 154 so called championship or Pacmans 154 "championship or De La Hoya's middleweight title means ****????? DOES IT????

Why don't u suggest to Hagler that he should have got some balls and moved up... that would be pretty stupid.

Domination a single division over a period of a long time IMO is better then shitting in every division not really making a difference in any of them.

If those guys thought they could beat him why didn't they??? They came up from 135. They could have dethroned him on their way to 140. It would have been a superfight regardless.

I do agree it's a shame he was never matched with a De La Hoya, or Mosley. Heck I though he would have plowed through Cory Spinks for welterweight championship but I respect him defending his true division

Andrey

 

Well, they would have meant **** if the fighters they beat there 'meant ****', you know what I'm saying?

I'm not suggesting Tszyu would have gained much from moving up and facing an old DLH level fighter, a Margarito level fighter or a Sturm level fighter. I'm suggesting that if he took on these prime, elite guys at welterweight and beat them, then his resume would have been a LOT better.

This is a criticism leveled at Hagler and it has some merit, but at the end of the day, Hagler still had his Hearns, Duran, Leonard at middleweight. Kostya had Zab, Mitchell and Phillips. Quite a different level of opposition there.

Agree.

Simple answer: Tszyu was a high risk, low reward proposition. If they wanted to face the best guys at all costs, they should have faced Kostya Tszyu definitely.

Spinks would have been a nice addition to his resume, but at the end of the day it's Cory Spinks. Nothing too much lost by not fighting him, even though a belt would have been on the line.

 

Funny, how coincidentially the ones persistent that Tszyu isnt HoF material are all Chavezittes.

 

thats right tszyu,wanted to unify the title so as to be the real champ.everyone ducked him as they new he was a hard nut.when he fighted judah,judah was like the superman of the jw and tszyu just walked through him.the guy was a freak to watch as he loaded up on his oppements and they all buckled.he made a **** loads of money and gave fans great fights.always humble and has said time and time again that he will come back for a big fight...

 

:thumbsup

And add a great am career!

 

:rofl

Exaggerate much?

 

Exactly - he was on strict Russian government training regime and was set for the weight he trained for.

 

On the Hagler staying in one division and not moving up issue........
What reason was there for Hagler to move up when the best fighters in boxing were a division or two below him???

Who was at 168 lbs that was worthwhile for Hagler to move up??


175 lbs vs Michael Spinks did'nt make a whole lot of sense in that Hagler was not a big middleweight to begin with.
Hagler was short, and I just could'nt imagine him putting on 15 lbs on his lean frame and fighting much taller fighters at lightheavyweight.

 

Vlade, I agree with you, HOWEVER, imagine he did go up and beat Michael Spinks? Would have been a great victory and meant a lot more to his p4p standing.

Jose Napoles was little more than a junior welter when he tried to dethrone Carlos Monzon.

Chasing greatness sometimes means taking on these unreasonable challenges.

Tszyu had more reason than even Hagler to move up given that Tszyu's division didn't imo have a single very good let alone great fighter there to challenge him.

Guys like Judah, Mitchell, Phillips, Gonzalez etc. were all good fighters, but very good? NO.

 

The money fights for Hagler were Duran, Hearns, Leonard........A Spinks fight would not have created more interest or have been a bigger money fight than any of those three.....


On Tszyu, the Welterweight division was much closer to his weight class than 175 lbs for Hagler, and that division for Tszyu did hold money fights, in fact many money fights.......

I wonder however whether any of the top guys at 147 lbs were willing to fight Tszyu?

When DLH beat Chavez at 140 lbs, a DLH-Tszyu matchup was being talked about by the boxing media.
DLH however skipped town on Tszyu and moved to 147 lbs to take on your fighter Scientist, Whitaker who at that time was struggling with the likes of Rivera and Hurtado and who DLH figured was prime for the taking.

I have no doubt in my mind that DLH figured that Whitaker was an easier beat for him than Tszyu.

I would have loved to have seen a DLH-Tszyu matchup at 140 lbs.........



.....and to Andrey and Boppa, the Tszyu experts around here.......Did Tszyu ever talk about wanting a fight with DLH????
Did he ever say he was willing to move up to 147 lbs if a DLH fight was offered to him???

.......I get the feeling that had Tszyu been offered a money fight at 147 lbs vs DLH, he would have took it.

.......but since Tszyu did'nt have that name appeal with the casual fan, he certainly, as dangerous a puncher as he was, was'nt going to be offered a fight from DLH.....

DLH was too much of a Pansy to offer a real fighter a chance that did'nt have name appeal......he much prefer to callout the likes of Paez, Hernandez, an old Chavez at 147 lbs than even acknowleadge that Kostya Tszyu existed.


How about it guys, did Kostya ever mention wanting to matchup with the bigger names at 147 lbs, because I cant seem to recall if he did?

 

Oscar, Trinidad, Forrest or even Mosley are much bigger than him. Tszyu was 5ft 7 and bulked out to the max. Defensive wizards like Mayweather and Whitaker who had similar size moved up successfully but against more limited opposition.

 

True, but in terms of legacy, I think a win over Spinks would have been huge. Hearns, Leonard and Duran are all legacy boosters anyway though, so it's not like Hagler took a soft option.

No one would have taken him on without good reason to do so. Had he not lost to Vince Phillips he could have built his profile up a bit quicker and then guaranteed more money for the guys at 147, or if he forced his way into no.1 contender status in the welterweight division he could have forced their hands. But no one was going to take on Tszyu unless there was a good reason to. He was too dangerous for that.

I think you're right. Throw in the fact that Whitaker would have been a bigger money fight and had a bigger reputation than Tszyu, DLH made the wi$e decision.

It's a pity a fight wasn't made. Would have been a beauty.

Pre-Phillips there were talks of Kostya moving up I think but that loss blew him out of orbit. He had to take some years before he re-positioned himself as a viable challenge and by then the other guys had moved on...

You're right though that DLH wouldn't have given Tszyu a chance unless it suited him. If there was a confluence of cash and merit, DLH woudl take you on, but if their wasn't economic incentive and you weren't ripe for the picking, DLH wasn't interested.

To me, DLH's biggest ***** move was avoiding Whitaker and taking on Chavez, Camacho and a slew of welterweight cans rather than rematching sweet pea after their 97 fight. I know the fight wasn't exciting or anything, but it was close enough to merit a rematch. Jermain Taylor gave Hopkins another shot after their first fight cured insomniacs the world wide... DLH wouldn't do it...

 

"almost ko'd" is a bit of a hyperbole...he was stunned by a single punch.