i think this fight could go either way. kostya in his prime had great speed along with power so pacquiao would have had his hands full.
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i think this fight could go either way. kostya in his prime had great speed along with power so pacquiao would have had his hands full.
This would be an amazing fight. I think at this point I would edge Pacquaio. Too quick for Tszyu.
Tszyu would stop Manny Pac who would be eating big right hands all day. Kostya was a master boxer puncher and his timing was exceptional.
one good fighter and one great fighter here IMO but an interesting styles clash and Tyszu's right hand would always be dangerous. Still would have to favor Manny. Too much speed, power, punch variety.
Style wise this is a good match up for Kostya Tszyu, if you allowed Kostya Tszyu mid-distance range where he could time you with his power shots. And lets face it Kostya Tszyu had excellent timing, he was very effective.
Fighters who smothered him, and didn't allow him room to get punching distance. He struggled against forgetting if he was past his prime or not right in this fight or that fight, he still had trouble with that type of opponent end of.
Now Manny Pacquiao does fight at mid-distance, which would give Kostya Tyszu a chance. It really would depend on how well Manny Pacquiao could take the shots. But IMO its a close match up i think style wise its winnable for Kostya Tszyu, but it really could go either way.
I'd pick Tszyu if we are talking absolute prime, he fought a lot of slick, fast boxers and timed them with the right everytime. It's easy to forget how fast Tszyu was in his younger days also check out the mid to late parts of this vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqLhPutAl6Y
Manny is a freak though and looks terrific lately so who knows. Be a great fight though.
Their might understandably be a rush to side with Manny,bit of what have you done for me lately.Can see his hand speed giving Tszyu problems but Kostya was a very solidly grounded fighter with deceptive reflex and awesome punch selection.
Dont see the southpaw factor in play,Tzsyu faced many slick and capable leftys with good results though none as imposing and forward willing as Manny.The Phillips factor is always hung on Kostya and with cause.But it was totally different circumstances and styles.Manny had the speed,freshness,flat out skills but punch for punch (lead hand)and maybe......maybe chin...I dont see Manny along side Phillips at all.Phillips had a hellacious right hand.Phillips was basically being well overlooked off loss going into that fight and outside the ring drug-legal problems prior.Kostya may have been reading headlines prematurely with looming Oscar fight.For Manny he would be 100 % focused and geared up.Manny can be found coming in and Tszyu was very deceptive with that lean back and fire style but cannot get passed Pacs speed and huge confidence...dude savors a battle,lives for it.Kostya would give him all he could handle and can see him hurting Manny big time.I lean ever so slightly with a primed and lean Kostya but he gets smacked around early.
How early the fruit is falling this season:rolleyes: Anyone who thinks Tszyu would be beaten easily by Pacquiao is misguided in their beliefs. If Marquez could land some solid shots and controversially lose two close fights with Pacquiao then Tszyu would do a lot better than he did. I still believe that Mayweather was darn lucky he didn't fight Tszyu. Did anyone ever notice that whenever Mayweather talked about Tszyu it was with reverence and not his usual dissing self?
Yeh that's what I was thinking, and Tszyu was no slouch at 140lbs, arguably even a kingpin at that weight at some stage. Hence my wondering of how Pac would go against him.[/quote]
I don't think it would be a walkover for Manny in anyway because Tszyu was first class hit hard and was tough but even though Kostya did do well against fast southpaws he also was not the quickest fighter out there, I think the speed would be too much for Kostya as it seems to be with most of Pacquiao's recent opponents.
You never know though because Kostya had the ability to end things with one punch and Manny would be no exception to the rule
i dont think pacquiao would have any problem with tszyu
Pac was absorbing Left hooks, uppercuts and right hands from a Miguel Cotto at 145.
With that. Every decent 130 to 147 lb fighter beats Pacquiao in a fantasy fight. ;)