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"Coming off injuries"? Tszyu fought in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 (Hatton), and was top ten P4P in all those years. All older champs have something so that really is an overstatement and an excuse. The worst you could say about Tszyu at the time of the Hatton fight was that he was another year older (age 36). It was just a classic case of an older great champion getting into the ring with a young, determined contender and the title finally changing hands. A new era. Kudos to Hatton for having the balls to be the one to finally bring Tszyu down.Comment
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And this is ****. Articles published in 2005 where Floyd now covers his ass by saying he called Tszyu out all the time!! lol Dios, find the actual statements themselves instead of the hearsay. I suspect you won't find any in 2003 and 2004.NUMBER ONE:
May 19th, 2005:
- Is there anybody out there that you want to fight after Gatti?
- Like I said at my last fight when I called Kostya Tszyu out. I called him out. Kostya Tszyu don't never call my name out. Every time they ask about my name, he try to duck and dodge the question and go around my name. I am not like any of these guys; I got a chin, I can give it and take it, I can box, I can fight on the inside as well as the outside and I am smart. He knows I am an intelligent fighter. Smart fighters know smart fighters.
NUMBER TWO:
"I can't make these guys fight," said an exasperated Mayweather, who had hoped to face Wright in what would have been one of the year's most intriguing bouts instead of what will turn out to be nothing more than a glorified exhibition.
Former lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight champion Shane Mosley was offered a bout against Mayweather, but declined.
Mosley said he wanted a couple of tuneups, but said he'd fight Mayweather next year.
Kostya Tszyu isn't sure he'll fight again. His conqueror, Ricky Hatton, turned Mayweather down before money was even discussed.
Oscar De La Hoya has mentioned Mayweather, but said he won't consider him until late 2006.
That's around the time when Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he'd be willing to put young and promising Miguel Cotto in against Mayweather.
NUMBER THREE:
Jan, 2005
http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxin...yu-hoya-cotto/
Today’s sensational 140-pound crop includes universally recognized champion Kostya Tszyu (31-1), his next challenger Ricky Hatton (38-0), Mayweather (32-0), and Cotto (22-0).
Gatti (38-6), resurgent recently, has a big following, and adds steam to boxing’s best division.
It all sounds great until the socio-political stuff factors in. Tszyu fights for Showtime.
Mayweather, Cotto and Gatti all fight for HBO. It’s a highly unusual situation that the smaller of the two subscription-cable boxing giants holds sway over a division populated by so many of the larger network’s fighters, but that is the position.
"I would love to fight Kostya Tszyu,” Mayweather said. “If the money's right, I'll go to Russia to fight him. I just want to show I'm the best. But with HBO and Showtime, I know it's going to be hard to make the fight."
Mayweather’s first order of business is a June pay-per-view fight with Gatti, which is a long, long way from a done deal.
He would like Tszyu after that, unless Oscar De La Hoya wants to rumble. Mayweather still craves that fight, though De La Hoya consistently has remained three weight divisions heavier. But if De La Hoya drops back to welterweight as advertised, they will be separated by just one division and seven pounds.
"It's part of history. My uncle's a two-time world champion, we've got a lot of controversy with my dad and my uncle, two fighters from the same family, one training the Golden Boy (Floyd Mayweather Sr.) and one training the Pretty Boy (Roger Mayweather). It's a fight I think should be made,” Floyd Jr. said. "I know at the end of the year, it's going to be me and Oscar. We've got to get it on. He can't keep ducking and dodging."
"The theory of the five bums" - After Castillo, Floyd fought 5 bums in a row-N'dou, Corley, Mitchell, Sosa, and signed for Gatti before the Hatton/Tszyu fight. Where was Tszyu?? He was the undisputed HOF champ at 140 during some of this time, the holder of two belts some of this time, and finally lost the IBF to Hatton in 2005. As Larry Merchant kept publicly stating at Floyd fights: "WHERE IS TSZYU?"
5 bums and no Tszyu. And, no serious inquiries by the Floyd camp to EVER get a fight with Tszyu. True story.Comment
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Yeah... Tszyu was EXTREMELY healthy in the tail end of his career.
Posted 1/18/2004 10:09 PM
Tszyu injures shoulder, pulls out of fight against Mitchell
By Dan Rafael, USA TODAY
Sharmba Mitchell's exasperating three-year wait for a rematch with junior welterweight champ Kostya Tszyu was nearly over. Now he'll wait at least six more months.
Tszyu, citing a partially ruptured shoulder tendon, has pulled out of their Feb. 7 rematch, which was scheduled to take place in Moscow as part of Showtime's historic split-continent doubleheader.
"I was really disappointed," Mitchell said Sunday from his Vero Beach, Fla., training camp. "I guess he wanted to find some way out of this fight. He's already pulled out on me. I don't really know if he's even injured. Show me some papers, a video of his surgery."
This is the second time Tszyu has bailed on Mitchell. The fight was slated for September, but Tszyu backed out because of an Achilles' tendon injury.
"It's really disappointing. All of a sudden the fight of your life, your fight for redemption, is taken away from you through no fault of your own," promoter Gary Shaw said.
Showtime's Jay Larkin said he hopes to reschedule this summer. Showtime planned to air Tszyu-Mitchell II via same-day tape from Moscow and then go live to Las Vegas for a heavyweight bout between James Toney and Jameel McCline. Now Mitchell will fight on the Toney-McCline card.
"I can't let it set me back," Mitchell said. "I need to keep on moving on with my career."
Mitchell probably will face another Australia-based fighter, South African Lovemore Ndou. A decision will come today after Mitchell's trainer, Marvin "Rock" Simms, looks at a videotape of Ndou fights.
Tszyu injured his shoulder training last week and backed out Thursday night. He was to have surgery Saturday, according to a statement released by Matthew Watt of his management.
"Kostya is devastated," Watt said. "He has been training extremely hard for several months. It is also particularly disappointing for Kostya because this would have been his first professional fight in Russia, his country of birth."
When they met to unify belts in 2001, Mitchell aggravated a knee injury during a close fight and retired after seven rounds. He's wanted a rematch since and was taking it seriously, spending three weeks in New Orleans working with fitness guru Mackie Shilstone — "a training camp for training camp," Shaw described it — before going to boxing camp last month.Comment
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