Did Floyd dodge Tszyu?

**Steak** · 10-05-2007, 05:31 PM

sigh...if Mayweather publically called out Tsyzu, then its hardly ducking him. the only way youre going to have any type of argument is if you can find some quotes from Tyszu attempting to fight Floyd and Floyd either declining or asking for obscene amounts of money. But there are none.

and Tsyzu was never p4p #1 like you've claimed. at least not for a whole year. although he was ranked quite a few times. Tsyzu was a great fighter, but your description of him is just too much

and Im not saying this is the reason, but the big names might not have gone after Tsyzu because the 140 division was not that big. none of the fighters you mentioned stuck around at that weight for long at all. let me put it this way...Arturo Gatti was considered the #2 or #3 guy at 140 when Floyd fought him. by Ring Magazine.

and please, enough of these topics, Barrera vs. Pacquiao is tomorrow, cant we talk about that? theres plenty of time for this stuff when December draws near.

**THe TRiNiTY** · 10-05-2007, 05:37 PM

I give you credit for a decent post. However, if you HONESTLY think De La Hoya, Mosley, Mayweather, and even Trinidad (though you didn't mention him), were ALL afraid of Kostya, that's just crazy. Honestly. De La Hoya has made a career of NOT ducking people, almost any magazine you read will tell you that. He's fought a lot of his biggest fights against BIGGER guys, you honestly think he'd duck a naturally smaller guy? At the time, the size wouldn't have been that noticeable, but it stil would have been there as Oscar could make a weight that Tszyu would never try to make in his career.

As far as Mosley, he's fought bigger guys, fought big fights, and has taken on all comers, other than the SLIGHT duck he gave to Mayweather (though, i think he did that for De La Hoya's sake.) Neither here nor there, at that point in his career, he ducked no one.

Mayweather called out anyone at that point in his career. When he was younger, he called out Naseem Hamed, Kostya Tszyu, Oscar De La Hoya.. Jesus Christ a couple of times. And who are you to say what he meant or didn't? Maybe he didn't go the extra mile for the fight. But the fight was never made, so clearly, by your logic, neither did Kostya.

Trust me, Kostya Tszyu, great 140 pounder, great champion, when it comes down to it. He was by no stretch, some intimidating figure who EVERYONE ducked. Also, he was in the p4p at that particular point of his career, due to a long lay-off. He was inactive from early '03 ro late '04. Not saying he would have lost, I'm simply saying.. that's a bit of resting on your accomplishments (whether injured or not, he did it.. I don't blame him, it's just facts) Also not to say that if he fought, he would have lost. I don't know. I'm simply saying that he rested in the top 5 p4p, he didn't much defend that spot. So to speak, (I know you don't ACTUALLY defend it, so-to-speak).

I'm not saying that he wasn't ducked, everyone at the top has been ducked by someone, but by everyone, is crazy. Just crazy. (And don't tell me Hatton didn't duck him, because one could make an argument that Hatton fought a fading Tszyu, as no one has proof that Kostya could fight at the level he had, before that fight. He hasn't fought since, so it actually goes against that happening, evidence-wise.)

NOTE: I'm not a Floyd Boy, I could name a couple of pure boxers I happen to like better, eevn think are overall better, I'm just not going to claim things I don't know for sure, and state them as fact.

**Wiley Hyena** · 10-05-2007, 07:18 PM

Originally posted by C-Drone

I give you credit for a decent post. However, if you HONESTLY think De La Hoya, Mosley, Mayweather, and even Trinidad (though you didn't mention him), were ALL afraid of Kostya, that's just crazy. Honestly. De La Hoya has made a career of NOT ducking people, almost any magazine you read will tell you that. He's fought a lot of his biggest fights against BIGGER guys, you honestly think he'd duck a naturally smaller guy? At the time, the size wouldn't have been that noticeable, but it stil would have been there as Oscar could make a weight that Tszyu would never try to make in his career.

As far as Mosley, he's fought bigger guys, fought big fights, and has taken on all comers, other than the SLIGHT duck he gave to Mayweather (though, i think he did that for De La Hoya's sake.) Neither here nor there, at that point in his career, he ducked no one.

Mayweather called out anyone at that point in his career. When he was younger, he called out Naseem Hamed, Kostya Tszyu, Oscar De La Hoya.. Jesus Christ a couple of times. And who are you to say what he meant or didn't? Maybe he didn't go the extra mile for the fight. But the fight was never made, so clearly, by your logic, neither did Kostya.

Trust me, Kostya Tszyu, great 140 pounder, great champion, when it comes down to it. He was by no stretch, some intimidating figure who EVERYONE ducked. Also, he was in the p4p at that particular point of his career, due to a long lay-off. He was inactive from early '03 ro late '04. Not saying he would have lost, I'm simply saying.. that's a bit of resting on your accomplishments (whether injured or not, he did it.. I don't blame him, it's just facts) Also not to say that if he fought, he would have lost. I don't know. I'm simply saying that he rested in the top 5 p4p, he didn't much defend that spot. So to speak, (I know you don't ACTUALLY defend it, so-to-speak).

I'm not saying that he wasn't ducked, everyone at the top has been ducked by someone, but by everyone, is crazy. Just crazy. (And don't tell me Hatton didn't duck him, because one could make an argument that Hatton fought a fading Tszyu, as no one has proof that Kostya could fight at the level he had, before that fight. He hasn't fought since, so it actually goes against that happening, evidence-wise.)

NOTE: I'm not a Floyd Boy, I could name a couple of pure boxers I happen to like better, eevn think are overall better, I'm just not going to claim things I don't know for sure, and state them as fact.

Who said "everybody" ducked Tszyu? Some people on this site make it a point to have to run down Tszyu in order to make their precious Mayweather look bigger and better, simply because Hatton beat him. Sometimes, the record has to be set straight.

**SkillspayBills** · 10-05-2007, 07:19 PM

Didn't DD expose you to the truth that Floyd DID NOT duck Kos, my goodness you don't let things go.

**Tyson Jones** · 10-05-2007, 07:20 PM

**Sin City** · 10-05-2007, 07:21 PM

Floyd had a couple years to fight Tszyu.. never did though, I say yes.

**Ray Ray** · 10-05-2007, 07:23 PM

Originally posted by Wiley Hyena

Did Floyd dodge Tszyu?

In my opinion, he did.

You know I hate to drive Mayweather fans into yet another spastic fit of fury. They are becoming quite defensive these days. I can just see Dios Dominicos gnashing his teeth, sprinting for his gigantic pile of collected articles and You Tube fight clips, and frantically sifting through them to find something, anything, to dispel the truth. "Where's the Phillips fight? Oh thank God!"

Meanwhile, Hatton fans...lean back and enjoy the ride.

In 2004, when Floyd moved up to 140 lbs and was claiming to be the best welter weight in boxing history, Kostya Tszyu was the undisputed king of LWW (140), a position he held since the very early 90s. Tszyu was the first man to unify the LWW belts in 30 years. He fought his whole career at 140, is generally considered to be one of the top three LWWs in modern times, and is a lock for the Hall of Fame. Floyd fans, if you dispute this, then you're not just biased, you're deluded.

IF Floyd considered himself the best LWW of all time, then why didn't he fight Tszyu? Is it just a coincidence that Oscar and Mosely didn't fight Tszyu either? Unless you're prepared to embarrass yourself by saying Tszyu ran from all those guys, then the answer is oh so obvious. He was considered too dangerous an opponent to risk superstar status on. Judah did it when he was undefeated and was one of America's flashiest young boxers. He had superstar status written all over him. Judah had balls to take that fight. I'll give that to him. But, Judah's balls quickly gave way to the mighty Tszyu. He was knocked out in 2.

Floyd had years to get to Tszyu. Floyd publicly called him out to cover his ass, but never, I repeat never, made a serious effort to secure that fight. There was always something. Tszyu never moved from 140, while the so called superstars quickly skipped town and moved up in weight. They were bandits, touting their claims as the best at 140. However, Tszyu was the sheriff and he ran them out of town without a fight. It's just that simple. There is a huge gaping hole in Floyd's resume, about the size of Tszyu' legendary counter right hand.

And if you think Tszyu was washed up, hurt, laying-off, grandmother sick, pimples, etc...by 2004, then I would invite you to look at the p4p rankings from 2000-2004. I suspect you will have a surprise coming. I know you will.

And lastly, don't give me all that crap about how Showtime and HBO just couldn't quite get it together for a championship fight. That's a genuine cop out. If Oscar, Mosely, and Floyd thought Tszyu was so overrated or washed up, at least one of them would have moved in to take his title. They didn't, but one guy did. Lil ol' Ricky Hatton. Yes, it was 2005. Yes, Tszyu was another year older. But, he did it. None of the so called superstars did.

Hats off to Hatton. The MAN who finally brought the champion down.

**moochi** · 10-05-2007, 07:39 PM

one thing about tszyu....1. he never turned away from a fight, and 2. he never turned down a fight if it paid well either................he risked it all with injuries, old age, and a ****** fight time to go to england to fight hatton...and he didn't complain a bit.

**xxjace** · 10-05-2007, 07:40 PM

yes he did dodge him.

Did Floyd dodge Tszyu?