Open letter from Kostya Tszyu to his fans...

[Martin (Top Knowledge)]

Dear Tszyu Crew,

The time has finally arrived and this weekend I travel to Manchester in the UK for my fight with the IBF No.1 contender Ricky Hatton at the MEN Arena in the early hours of June 5 local time. I am looking forward to this fight with Ricky and I am excited!

My training has been very good. I have had four or five different sparring partners and the boys have been very helpful. They did some great work to the best of their abilities and helped me a lot.

The support from you the Tszyu Crew has been tremendous and I have enjoyed reading your emails and our live chats in the Forum at www.KostyaTszyu.com. There is great confidence amongst all the people around me and my team has worked very hard and there is not much more to do. The mental preparation is always there and I will be sharpening a few things over the final two weeks. Nearly all the work is done and my body is very fit and I am ready for this challenge.

Being at your best is all about desire. I have seen many fighters come to this final stage of their career where they start finding shortcuts in training and in preparation. If you have done everything, you can say I can do this a bit differently now. This is the first mistake you can make. I am training the same way I have trained years ago. Even harder and I have no excuses for myself.

After fighting in Australia and the USA my entire professional career, defending my world title in Manchester is going to be something different. I haven’t fought in Europe for so many years and I have to show my best abilities over there. I am World Champion and I have to show all the world why I am the World champion. I have to fight anywhere, anytime and be ready.

My team has arranged a dinner for me on my return to Australia after the fight with Ricky Hatton. On Friday 10th June 2005 I will be at the Panthers World of Entertainment in Penrith, NSW. More details are available from my website www.KostyaTszyu.com and tickets can be purchased via email: oliver@helpinghand.com.au or by telephone: (61 2) 8338 8755.

Some people have said that because I have not fought many rounds over the last few years it will work against me, but I see it as an advantage as I am a fresh 35 year-old. I am the world champion who is willing to fight and who has big desire. I can make this fight with Ricky Hatton very easy for me, or I can make this fight very hard for myself. I have been doing boxing for 27 years and I have fought against opponents with a similar style and I beat them. I am confident in myself. Confident in the way I have trained and the way I have prepared myself.

Remember the Tszyu Crew rules always!


Your champion,

Kostya Tszyu.

Undisputed Super Lightweight Champion of the World

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That last paragraph is VERY interesting!

[masterdirector]

Tszyu better win. That's all I know. Judah should be the one to beat his punk ass.

[Martin (Top Knowledge)]

Tszyu better win. That's all I know. Judah should be the one to beat his punk ass.

Yeah... Judah's always gonna have that nasty black mark on his resume. If he'd have just lost, it wouldn't be so bad, but it's the fact that not only did he get heavily knocked out, he threw a temper tantrum after!

He does need to avenge the Tszyu loss... But To be honest, I don't think he'll be able to beat Kostya Tszyu.

Styles make fights... Ricky Hatton's style is the kinda style you need to beat Kostya Tszyu (I'm not saying that Ricky will win). - I think that Zab Judah's style is just made for Kostya Tszyu, and a rematch between the two would end in the same way as the 1st.

[moochi]

Kostya is just superior against any and all styles so far..........He is one hell of a computer in the ring with two sledge hammer hands..........

The only person who i think would have a chance would be Mayweather, and this only and only by running and by points.

Kostya Tszyu is a legend.

[Martin (Top Knowledge)]

Kostya is just superior against any and all styles so far..........He is one hell of a computer in the ring with two sledge hammer hands..........

The only person who i think would have a chance would be Mayweather, and this only and only by running and by points.

Kostya Tszyu is a legend.

I do agree with you... But I do think that Ricky Hatton has a chance of dethroning King Kostya.

Simply because of Ricky's style... (Very fast paced - and he ties the opponent up a lot) Which Kostya doesn't like.

That said, read the last paragraph of his letter to the fans... Kinda makes me worry as a Hatton fan!

[tyson]

Yeah... Judah's always gonna have that nasty black mark on his resume. If he'd have just lost, it wouldn't be so bad, but it's the fact that not only did he get heavily knocked out, he threw a temper tantrum after!

He does need to avenge the Tszyu loss... But To be honest, I don't think he'll be able to beat Kostya Tszyu.

Styles make fights... Ricky Hatton's style is the kinda style you need to beat Kostya Tszyu (I'm not saying that Ricky will win). - I think that Zab Judah's style is just made for Kostya Tszyu, and a rematch between the two would end in the same way as the 1st.

Wouldn't be so sure. Zab made the mistake of moving straight back with his hands down when he was knocked out, and he probably did so because he was overconfident. After all, he did extremely well in the first round, out-speeding and tagging Kostya with nice uppercuts.
I don't really buy the "he don't get rematch because he didn't behave himself last time" crap from Tszyu either.

In my mind, Tszyu came across as a little desperate in the second round, jumping in punches and neglecting defence. I think Kostya knows Zab will present a hell of a challenge the next time around.

Don't get me wrong here, Kostya is on top 3 on my favorite fighter list, but this is just the way my mind sees it.

[Martin (Top Knowledge)]

Wouldn't be so sure. Zab made the mistake of moving straight back with his hands down when he was knocked out, and he probably did so because he was overconfident. After all, he did extremely well in the first round, out-speeding and tagging Kostya with nice uppercuts.
I don't really buy the "he don't get rematch because he didn't behave himself last time" crap from Tszyu either.

In my mind, Tszyu came across as a little desperate in the second round, jumping in punches and neglecting defence. I think Kostya knows Zab will present a hell of a challenge the next time around.

Don't get me wrong here, Kostya is on top 3 on my favorite fighter list, but this is just the way my mind sees it.

Ohh, I reckon Zab Judah will be a VERY tough fight for Kostya Tszyu!... And I think Zab Judah will win a lot of the early rounds, but I get the feeling that Kostya Tszyu will eventually catch up with Zab and knock him out again.

(People said that Tito will eventually catch up with Wright and knock him out... I think there's a WORLD of difference between Tszyu and Tito).

And Zab Judah, may think he has the most awesome skills in boxing, but he CAN be hit... Corey Spinks put Judah on his ass and I rate Tszyu a lot higher than Spinks.

Also I believe that Corey can put you down and you'll get a second chance because he doesn't hit very hard... where as Kostya Tszyu's got a punch like a kick from a mule!

Zab Judah got banned for a year etc, for his childish actions after the 1st fight, so he's done his time... I wouldn't buy the "He doesn't deserve a 2nd chance, ****" either!

[The Troll]

One other thing about the Tzyu Judah fight. Judah hit Tzyu with one of his finest uppercuts in the first round and it did not do a whole lot of damage to Tzyu. Tzyu KO'd Judah with just 1 right hand. And Judah must have a problem with his chin if he is able to be knocked down twice by Corey Spinks. And dropped on one punch from Tzyu. You cant fight a puncher like Tzyu unless you can take a good punch.

[tyson]

One other thing about the Tzyu Judah fight. Judah hit Tzyu with one of his finest uppercuts in the first round and it did not do a whole lot of damage to Tzyu. Tzyu KO'd Judah with just 1 right hand. And Judah must have a problem with his chin if he is able to be knocked down twice by Corey Spinks. And dropped on one punch from Tzyu. You cant fight a puncher like Tzyu unless you can take a good punch.

I think Tszyu would win a second match-up too, eventually...
All I'm saying is that I don't think it would be another blow-out like last time. I actually think Judah would lead on the scorecards most of the fight, right up until he would get overwhelmed by Kostya in the middle-late rounds.
But it's a big risk for Kostya to take, because it's not certain that he will catch up, even if it's most likely.

I think Kostya know somewhere inside of him that another fight with Zab could cost him dearly at this point. I always thought Zab managed to hit him clean almost at will last time, with Kostya being too slow to do anything about it. The millimeter-presicion he relies on in dodging punches with an open guard seems to be fading.
In addition, I think he's fallen more and more in love with his power to the point that he relies on it, with the only exception being his fight with Ben Tackie.

That's why I see Tszyu getting hit with lots of hard, clean punches through the fight, relying only on his power and pressure to beat Zab. I don't know if Kostya is willing to take that risk this late in his career. After all, he doesn't need Zab.

[Martin (Top Knowledge)]

I think that Zab Judah's downfall in his career is gonna be his chin.

I think it'll catch up with him sooner or later.