Kostya Tsyzu..all time great???

[WillieW]

Ricky Hatton would knock Kostya Tszyu out cold.

Thanks bro, I needed a laugh.

[BrooklynBomber]

IMHo you can judge if a fighter is in top 100 p4p only after he is done... And for all these people who say that Hatton will KTFO Tszuy.... Ya all musta forgot how Zoo ktfo'ed Juda, Ya all musta forgot how he dominated his division and beat a ****load of great fighters while Hatton beat non.

[grayfist]

Just because Roy Jones has recently sucumbed to old age doesn`t mean he is less of a fighter. He achieved quite a bit in his career and dominated teh lightheavy weight division for almost 7 yrs. This guy is an all time great, he should be ranked higher than Tsyzu.

The argument may rage on for quite a while. Roy dominated the light heavies for some 7 years, right; but Tzyu, did it for 10 (with one debacle in the hands of Philipps, one can still call it "domination" as he virtually rolled over all subsequent opponents; e.g., the U.S. is still the dominant world power even after Vietnam and with all the problems in Iraq, and nobody's saying it isn't). There has been a lot of complaints about Roy's roster of victims, little has been heard about Tszyu's. Roy has been reported countless times as having ducked (a return match) Hopkins for years--only conceding for a possible rematch after Hop appeared to have advanced in age; but that possibility remained in the realm of possibility, becoming ever more remote now. Tszyu has never been reported to have ducked anyone.

But the more interesting discussion to me would be Oscar-Kostya. The Golden Boy has faced (and lost most) nearly every big name in his vicinity; Tszyu still has to face one. At catchweight of 144, the fight should be staged. Why 144? So that Kostya can claim he fought below the next higher division and gets a chance to have a win (if a win it shall be)listed as a jr. welter win. And Oscar, if he wins, has a shot at improving his welterweight all-time status.

[grayfist]

Think it is still too early to decide if he is an all time great, since his carreer has not ended yet. People tend to remember fighters last fights (example Spinks was highly regarded before being destroyed by Tyson). So until he hangs up the golves for good, his place in the all time list not be really validated.

Spinks is still highly regarded as a lightheavyweight. In most lists of all-time lightheavyweight greats of highly respected journals, he occupies a slot at the top ten.

He lost to Tyson as a heavyweight, well above his best fighting weight.

But I agree, Spinks, like the man he beat--Holmes-- for a tighter grip of his all-time status, is one great fighter often overlooked--but, that it not all because of the loss to Tyson (only partly so). It is just that for most of the history of boxing, lightheavy, smack in the middle of the glamour divisions such as the heavy and the middle, has always been the lesser neighbor.

Only the devoted of boxing fans remember Sam Langford--a light heavy, and one of the greatest of all time regardless of weight. There are even those among fans who remember Sam only because he fought heavyweights!

The lightheavyweights used to be where the cruisers are now...