BoxRec

I had the honor and privilege of meeting Antonio in Hawaii between the Ortiz and Kadota fights in 74. Great person, very polite and humble, well respected by those who knew him,

Kostya's career may not be over but he has been the other Super Lightweight that I have had great respect for.

Since these are my two favorite super lightweights I probably will not pick a winner.

But who would win this Match Up and why?

Too much info at first, so I have cut to the basics.

http://boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=009005

http://boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=004388

My pick in this fight would be Cervantes, who stood 5' 10" and scored 36 kos in 66 wins. Tszyu has had a fine career and defeated some very solid boxers but I don't know if he has faced anybody with the combination of skills and advantages that Cervantes brought to the ring with him. Tall and rangy Cervantes could punch a little as 10 kos in 16 defenses will attest, and he could box a bit as well. He is the only man to stop Nicolino Locche, who finished his career 117-4-14 with only 14 kos, and Saoul Mamby who was quite slick and hard to hit. His loss to Benitez was a split decision and he was 35 when ko'd by Pryor. His other losses came early in his career as he had had only 3 amateur fights. I can't see Tszyu, who has lost ( or neglected to use) much of the foot speed he had early on, walking Cervantes down like he has so many opponents. And its not in the cards for him to box from outside as this isn't Ben Tackie. Cervantes by comfortable decision or late TKO. Tszyu's chance is in landing something huge but I'm pretty certain CVervantes could take his punch and I don't know if Tszyu really qualifies as a "one-punch" guy anyway.

I saw Cervantes on television twice, first bout was with
Esteban De Jesus and the second was with Aaron Pryor.
De Jesus was a top fighter who is almost forgotten now.
After a tough first round, Cervantes outboxed De Jesus
easily.

- Chuck Johnston

A tall rangy guy against Kostya?? Zoo by TKO within five rounds.
Did I mention I'm a huge Zoo fan?

I'm a Kostya fan myself. I think both of them are. and will remain way underated. I do think that Kostya is a shoo in for Hall of Fame as Antonio already is.

I sometimes wonder if Kostya isn't over-rated - Or wasn't always over-rated?? -

And I am a big Tszyu fan (as a matter of fact) - But he either didn't fight enough (at times)...or his really only big win is Vs Zab Judah (and possibly Sharmba Mitchell ) -

Many of the others he beat were actually JLW's / LW's moving up to his 140 division (where he amazingly managed to stay for his whole career).

Tszyu had tremendous assets without a doubt.....but when I look at his record....it just doesn't impress me at times -

Beating old Roger Mayweather's and Chavez's are meaningless title defenses - Beating an over-rated LW Miguel Angel Gonzalez doesn't do much for me ....ditto that for Rafael Ruelas.....

Not to mention beating up very solid Calvin Grove's and James Leija's....(again two guys who were past their primes...and at their best weight divisions lower.....LW / JLW)

Tszyu did have a very solid win Vs Oktay Urkal (I'll give him that).

It was the way he beat them... not who he beat?

He fought everyone who was available at the time. That's always a problem when your trying to gauge potential, the quality of opponents at the time. You can argue he wasnt as tested as some others.

locoxelbox wrote:It was the way he beat them... not who he beat?

Ahh - I can only buy that to some extent (hell, people could have said the same things about Herbie Hide and Bruce Seldon for years and years).

BoxBuzz wrote:He fought everyone who was available at the time. That's always a problem when your trying to gauge potential, the quality of opponents at the time. You can argue he wasnt as tested as some others.

I understand this completely - But actaully Kostya could have either fought more (he was inactive for long periods of time....from time to time)...or he could have moved up and fought bigger names...or made fights with bigger names while they were at or passing through 140 -

As I said, it seems like he fought many actual LW or JLW ...who just happen to move up to 140 toward the end of their careers -

Hell, he should have done what ever it took to even fight even V. Phillips again (after Phillips beat him) - Phillips didn't lose again for 2 years after that fight -

Don't get me completely wrong I like Kostya quite a bit....just not so sure he was as good as all the press clippings about him.

I am a huge Tszyu fan.

Kostya is legend.

Vince Phillips spoilt what at the time, would have been the fight of the decade.

Oscar De La Hoya V Kostya Tszyu.

End of.

Loki wrote:I am a huge Tszyu fan.

Kostya is legend.

Vince Phillips spoilt what at the time, would have been the fight of the decade.

Oscar De La Hoya V Kostya Tszyu.

End of.

And I think Tszyu beats DLH - TKO -

As good as Cervantes was, He is too mechanical and does not have the speed you need to make up for it.