Thread: Tszyu Vs Mayweather--- 2002/2003

I am not massively familiar with Tszyu and his previus fights, but after seeing Mayweather acting the fool in the press conference with De La Hoya, I would love to see him put on his ass in that fight. It got me thinking, I don't think De La Hoya has the quality anymore to beat Mayweather, but would the Kostya Tszyu of 2002-2003 have been able to do it? As I have said, I'm not the most knowledgable of people on Tszyu's history, so i would like to hear some opinions on it.

A classic match up of 2 greats. At 140 it would be very interesting. Tszyu was a master at figuring out his opponents style and adapting his own to control fights. I just think PBF would've had too much for him

PBF UD

tszyu packs a hell of a punch. his sparring partners used to say he hits like a heavyweight aparently. must be a bit of an exageration i know but he was awesome and i reckon he could very well have had the power to put mayweather on his arse. but as we havent realy seen floyd take a decent punch yet we cant really judge how he would have handled geting hit by a fighter like kostya.

PBF would have had to stay away from Tszyu's right all fight long....he could have done it but KT was mighty quick and he took out PBF's good buddy Zab Judah pretty quick.


Too dangerous of a fight for Floyd to make it....and so he didn't

Originally Posted by Lyle

PBF would have had to stay away from Tszyu's right all fight long....he could have done it but KT was mighty quick and he took out PBF's good buddy Zab Judah pretty quick.


Too dangerous of a fight for Floyd to make it....and so he didn't

agreed. mayweather chose to go for gatti to win an easier title and then claim he beat the best in the division and was the man at 140. i remember watchin an interview with floyd that someone put on where he was talkin about paper champs and all kinds of shit. the interviewer ended up making him look silly to cut a long story short.

....I don't blame him for skipping Tszyu....Mosley and De la Hoya did it but then again they made up for that by making some big fights at 147.


I always wondered how KT would have done at 147

First, Mayweather never fought at 140 until May 2004, so if Floyd and Tszyu ever would have fought, it would've been in 2004 or early 2005. This is during the time when Tszyu took a 16 month layoff prior to fighting Hatton in mid-2005.

Tszyu was a great champ, but IMO he would've been beaten rather soundly by Floyd. The only time Tszyu fought during this time period was when he lost to Hatton. If he had to quit on his stool against Hatton, then he would have been beaten by Mayweather as well. That is, unless you think that Ricky Hatton is a better fighter than Floyd Mayweather

Originally Posted by jbirdy

agreed. mayweather chose to go for gatti to win an easier title and then claim he beat the best in the division and was the man at 140.

One thing everybody fails to consider is that Tszyu was a Showtime fighter, whereas Mayweather and Gatti were both signed to deals with HBO. Those two networks don't work together, unless it's a huge exception like Lewis and Tyson. To ignore the politics of the sport is avoiding the whole story regarding any potential fights with Tszyu.

Originally Posted by Lyle

....I don't blame him for skipping Tszyu....Mosley and De la Hoya did it but then again they made up for that by making some big fights at 147.

Mosley jumped right from 135 to 147 to take a big fight with DLH, so Tszyu wasn't an option.
As for DLH, see my above comment about network politics. DLH has been the cornerstone of HBO Boxing for over a decade. As long as Tszyu was with Showtime, I don't see where a fight would've been a possibility.

I thought zab was going to win when they fought and when Kostya knocked him down and he did that silly dance i knew then how good he really was i pick Kostya of 2002/2003 to ko Floyd in pretty much the same fashion thinking of Zab now doing that silly dance still makes me laugh

Originally Posted by SweetPea

First, Mayweather never fought at 140 until May 2004, so if Floyd and Tszyu ever would have fought, it would've been in 2004 or early 2005. This is during the time when Tszyu took a 16 month layoff prior to fighting Hatton in mid-2005.

Tszyu was a great champ, but IMO he would've been beaten rather soundly by Floyd. The only time Tszyu fought during this time period was when he lost to Hatton. If he had to quit on his stool against Hatton, then he would have been beaten by Mayweather as well. That is, unless you think that Ricky Hatton is a better fighter than Floyd Mayweather

Originally Posted by jbirdy

agreed. mayweather chose to go for gatti to win an easier title and then claim he beat the best in the division and was the man at 140.

One thing everybody fails to consider is that Tszyu was a Showtime fighter, whereas Mayweather and Gatti were both signed to deals with HBO. Those two networks don't work together, unless it's a huge exception like Lewis and Tyson. To ignore the politics of the sport is avoiding the whole story regarding any potential fights with Tszyu.

Originally Posted by Lyle

....I don't blame him for skipping Tszyu....Mosley and De la Hoya did it but then again they made up for that by making some big fights at 147.

Mosley jumped right from 135 to 147 to take a big fight with DLH, so Tszyu wasn't an option.
As for DLH, see my above comment about network politics. DLH has been the cornerstone of HBO Boxing for over a decade. As long as Tszyu was with Showtime, I don't see where a fight would've been a possibility.

Then by your rational the Tyson-Lewis fight among many others should never have happened.

The fact is Tszyu was a great champion and he was a scary fighter....he wasn't worth the risk is a better assesment of the situation.

I think Ricky Hatton has a better chin than Floyd Mayweather Jr.

I'd agree with that Floyd got shook up by Demarcus Corley he did had some jelly legs

Originally Posted by Lyle

Then by your rational the Tyson-Lewis fight among many others should never have happened.

Did you even bother to read my post?
I said the two networks don't work together unless it's a megafight like Lewis-Tyson. While Mayweather-Tszyu would have been a big fight, it wouldn't have had 1/10 of the mainstream appeal that Lewis-Tyson did. It wouldn't have given the networks the financial incentive to work together.

I think Ricky Hatton has a better chin than Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Based on what evidence?

Originally Posted by SweetPea

Originally Posted by Lyle

Then by your rational the Tyson-Lewis fight among many others should never have happened.

Did you even bother to read my post?
I said the two networks don't work together unless it's a megafight like Lewis-Tyson. While Mayweather-Tszyu would have been a big fight, it wouldn't have had 1/10 of the mainstream appeal that Lewis-Tyson did. It wouldn't have given the networks the financial incentive to work together.

I think Ricky Hatton has a better chin than Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Based on what evidence?

I guess based on Ricky having been hit in his career and mayweather not.

This however, is not a Hatton- Mayweather discussion, so try to keep it on track. As for the politics, although worth a mention, are not reall relevant. I was not asking if the fight could have happened, but what the outcome would have been if it had.

If Mayweather had fought Tszyu at any point prior to that year he took off before hatton, we'd be calling it the Mayweather shuffle.

And while I don't beleive Hatton to be better than PBF, he would have a lot better chance of making a guy quit on his stool. Hatton's body attack that night was shades of Lamotta. All PBF could do against Tszyu is run around hoping to score enough points to get a decision without getting caught and KTFO.

If he had to quit on his stool against Hatton, then he would have been beaten by Mayweather as well. That is, unless you think that Ricky Hatton is a better fighter than Floyd Mayweather

sweat pea by your logic then the fact that tszyu knocked out zab whereas floyd had to go the 12 with him makes kostya a better fighter than floyd then does it?
it doesnt work like that mate and you should know that. i seriously doubt that floyd would beat tszyu before hatton did. floyd would have boxed to a decision at best.

I haven't seen anything from Floyd that would make me think KT could catch him with a big shot and knock him out though. I think anyone who says so is basing it on pure speculation.
Floyd's got a chin and a rolling defense to absorb shots well to minimize impact when he gets hit.
If we're talking about the Floyd who injured his shoulder in 2002, the injury might put him in a precarious position to get tagged. But if we're talking pre-injury or 2003, Mayweather had perfected the left shoulder roll by then and I don't see KT landing an effective straight right well enough against his defense.