BoxRec

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I would pick a prime Cervantes over Pryor. Aaron is all wrong for Tszyu, he would eventually mug him though Kostya would have a nice size advantage.

I'd say Pryor was better than Tszyu and he is also much more overrated.

I agree on Pryor being wrong for Tszyu. The guys that beat Kostya mugged him, and Aaron's game was largely that of the mugging variety.

BoxBuzz wrote:As I recall Darla....I believe you do not share my high opinion of KT...though we may be closer to the same page regarding Cervantes.

Not sure I have ever shared my views on Tszyu with you, Buzzy.

Here's the story. I consider him a very good, but not great, fighter. Rather like how I view Cervantes.

I have heard from a few people that Kostya's son is shaping up to be a pretty good fighter too.

I tend to think that Tszyu is often overrated by Australians (myself included at times), but is currently being seriously underrated by many on BoxRec. I agree that the quality of his opposition was not fantastic and included many well past their best, but on the other hand, I would not be confident of any fighter at 140lb beating him.

I still think his 2nd round KO of Judah is a very impressive win - look who Judah has been in the ring with since - no one beat him as convincingly as Tszyu did. Losing to a prime Hatton is no shame either, especially considering Tszyu was 35, had fought once in the previous 28 months, and the fight had started to turn in his favour before being hit with a massive low blow (for which Hatton was only warned, not to mention all his hitting and holding). Also consider that he is one of few men in the modern era to unify the titles in his division.

For me, he is an ATG, though certainly in the lower tier.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:

BoxBuzz wrote:

Ezzard wrote: Nice one!

Thank you G.I.!

Great image.

Too bad my post had absolutely nothing to do with grammar whatsoever.

No body likes a pedant

I wonder if Johnny Lewis thinks Tszyu was over-rated. As a fighter probably not but if what Lewis has apparently written in a recent book is right, then he wouldn't rate him highly as a person (allegedly ripped his trainer off numerous times)

KT was good, but just lacked enough variety in his overall game to be up there with the truly elite.

He struggled with movers and quick boxers (but did force the stoppage eventually, however neither Hurtado, Mitchell or Bergman were normally that sturdy), he struggled with guys like Phillips and Hatton who jumped on him and forced him to fight out of his comfort zone (in terms of bout tempo, moving around the ring, punch output). He also struggled if he was not allowed to measure his right hand - He needed leverage and space to throw it, something Hatton did not allow, or Phillips.

People say that the result over Judah was a fluke, it's clearly not as you can see him measure the right hand 3 times in the previous round and doesn't connect cleanly. Judah was never the same after that, he apparently couldn't handle white guys in sparring.

The 2nd Mitchell fight shouldn't really be counted, his knee went in the first and he was doing well over the first 4 rounds or so. He hadn't looked particularly good since then and his movement was definitely affected. Not that anything should be taken away from Kostya as he was coming off a long lay-off with no warm-up and a lot of people picked him to lose. He did what he had to and stopped him in 3.

... to answer the thread, he is overrated by many. Though not as overrated as some others. He was a very good fighter but was no legend.