Prime Kostya Tszyu vs. Timothy Bradley @ 140

[Silkstone]

Gotta go with my all time favourite fighter, Kostya. I don't see this necessarily being close either. I'd bet good money one a mid round KO. All technicalities aside, (tendency to drop his hands after powershots, occasional flatfootedness etc.)it comes down to the simple fact that it's near impossible to handle the power of prime Kostya. There's a reason he retired after the Hatton fight.

And overrated? You've got to be kidding me Dynamite. He's one of the more underrated fighters if you ask me.

[Frank Martin]

Gotta go with my all time favourite fighter, Kostya. I don't see this necessarily being close either. I'd bet good money one a mid round KO. All technicalities aside, (tendency to drop his hands after powershots, occasional flatfootedness etc.)it comes down to the simple fact that it's near impossible to handle the power of prime Kostya. There's a reason he retired after the Hatton fight.

And overrated? You've got to be kidding me Dynamite. He's one of the more underrated fighters if you ask me.

Vince Philips?

[Silkstone]

Vince Philips?

Sure. It happened, but all of my statements still stand regardless of that one loss. Pac's been KO'd, and that doesn't make him any less of a fighter. Benn lost to Watson in his prime, Watson was not the better fighter. Tyson lost to Douglas, does that negate the fact that he was the youngest HW champ in history, and his place as one of the greatest Heavies ever? It doesn't. The fact that you bring up Phillips has absolutely no bearing on Kostya's career, which speaks for itself.

[sunny31]

Kostya takes this, bradley is a little too open and reckless in my opinion. It is true that the kostya that fought hatton wasn't necessarily washed up but had been through too many injuries. His body was giving up, he had a pretty bad shoulder injury going in to the hatton fight, he said it hurt every time he threw a left hand. You could see he was just trying to decapitate hatton with one right hand the whole fight.

The beautiful thing about tszyu in his prime was that he was a ko artist, but not someone who would just swing hooks and power punches, many of his ko's were very fluent. He generated unbelievable power from straight punches. It is true he had his limitations, his height and reach made it so he was never gonna be a fighter who went through weight divisions, especially considering he liked to fight long. But at 140 in his prime, he is too good for bradley. Too smart, too surgical, underrated hand speed (in his prime).

[Silkstone]

Kostya takes this, bradley is a little too open and reckless in my opinion. It is true that the kostya that fought hatton wasn't necessarily washed up but had been through too many injuries. His body was giving up, he had a pretty bad shoulder injury going in to the hatton fight, he said it hurt every time he threw a left hand. You could see he was just trying to decapitate hatton with one right hand the whole fight.

The beautiful thing about tszyu in his prime was that he was a ko artist, but not someone who would just swing hooks and power punches, many of his ko's were very fluent. He generated unbelievable power from straight punches. It is true he had his limitations, his height and reach made it so he was never gonna be a fighter who went through weight divisions, especially considering he liked to fight long. But at 140 in his prime, he is too good for bradley. Too smart, too surgical, underrated hand speed (in his prime).

Excellent and thoughtful post. Green.

[Grimmer]

I voted Kostya, but it's far too early in Bradley's career to state otherwise. Given a few years and this vote could be a landslide in his favour. Bradley has real potential.

[Dynamite Kid]

The responses in this thread co-sign the notion Tszyu was overrated, he is being made to look like some bat outta hell who can hit like Julian Jackson.

He was open to overhand rights, he was flat footed, could not fight inside at all, got poleaxed by Vince Phillips, lost to Hatton and his best win is Zab Judah who lost to Baldomir, thats not fiction its fact, oh he does not hit as hard as people make out.

Tszyu showed zero adaptability in his fight with Roger Mayweather, admittedly early in his career but i cant say i saw his adaptability improve all that much.

I thought he looked uncomfortable against Leija when Leija stayed in the pocket against him, he got dropped by Hurtado.

Im sorry i just dont see any versatility in Tszyu, he was a good amateur but he was not the same fighter in the pro's from what ive seen.

He did not train right for Phillips by all accounts but he still showed as he did throughout his career that he was wide open to overhand right hands, he also should of had enough left to beat Hatton imo but he lost.

Tszyu was a an elite fighter but he was the poorer relation of the elite fighters like a Joe Calzaghe, an A- type fighter more so than a A+ Mayweather/Jones.

Maybe im taking it too far and he does beat Bradley but i cant say that i dont believe what i just posted about is not what i see when i watch him fight.

[Frank Martin]

Sure. It happened, but all of my statements still stand regardless of that one loss. Pac's been KO'd, and that doesn't make him any less of a fighter. Benn lost to Watson in his prime, Watson was not the better fighter. Tyson lost to Douglas, does that negate the fact that he was the youngest HW champ in history, and his place as one of the greatest Heavies ever? It doesn't. The fact that you bring up Phillips has absolutely no bearing on Kostya's career, which speaks for itself.

Im not saying he's overated. He got a good resume. My point is that no one is invincible. To say Tsyzu will dominated Bradley is debatable since its a fantasy fight. Im not saying Bradley will beat him either. Its just that I hate the fact that people compare him to Zab Judah.

[Dynamite Kid]

Im not saying he's overated. He got a good resume. My point is that no one is invincible. To say Tsyzu will dominated Bradley is debatable since its a fantasy fight. Im not saying Bradley will beat him either. Its just that I hate the fact that people compare him to Zab Judah.

Particularly when Judah was a lefty, Tszyu just happened to be very adept at fighting left handers to.

[IMDAZED]

Bradley doesn't have the power to do what a Vince Phillips did. And Tszyu, while known as a heavy hitter, wasn't a bad boxer either. And was pretty quick handed. With loads of experience, both amateur and professional. Maybe a couple years down the line Bradley improves and can beat a seasoned guy like Kostya but I just don't see it. Tszyu UD12