How come Mayweather never fought Kostya Tsysu

[Bomp]

at 140. Was there ever any negioations at the time between the two at 140. Who would have won ?

I think there were. I'm not positive, but I think Mayweather was going to fight KT if KT got past Hatton. Hatton messed it up for him so he had to beat Hatton silly and bounce him off a ring post.

Mayweather never took risky fights unless he was going to get seriously paid. Going for KT's IBF belt was higher risk, lower reward, compared to cherrypicking the WBC belt. So Mayweather was busy fighting title eliminators with "quality" opponents like Chop-Chop and Brussels in search his chance at Gatti's WBC belt and the large paycheck that goes along with a Gatti fight.

I don't think it was matter of Mayweather ducking Tzysu. A KT fight would be been there for him if KT had won against Hatton. It was all about $$$ and grabbing a LWW belt in the process. Floyd targeted Gatti from the time Gatti won his belt off Branco. Gatti's star was at it's highest at that moment. He was coming of the Ward trilogy and was one of the most popular fighters in all of boxing. Kostya was less known in the U.S., pretty much unknown to casual fans (unlike Gatti who is a household name) and Kostya had utterly destroyed his last two opponents. It made far better business sense to go after the WBC belt. I've always thought it was a bit of a biatch move, but it made financial sense. He doesn't call himself "Money" Mayweather for nothin'.

KT was the guy Floyd wanted at 140, you'll find interviews of him talking about it with Floyd mentioning it would be p4p1 against2. But Hatton was the mandatory and the rest is history.

[RozzySean]

at 140. Was there ever any negioations at the time between the two at 140. Who would have won ?

I think there were. I'm not positive, but I think Mayweather was going to fight KT if KT got past Hatton. Hatton messed it up for him so he had to beat Hatton silly and bounce him off a ring post.

Mayweather never took risky fights unless he was going to get seriously paid. Going for KT's IBF belt was higher risk, lower reward, compared to cherrypicking the WBC belt. So Mayweather was busy fighting title eliminators with "quality" opponents like Chop-Chop and Brussels in search his chance at Gatti's WBC belt and the large paycheck that goes along with a Gatti fight.

I don't think it was matter of Mayweather ducking Tzysu. A KT fight would be been there for him if KT had won against Hatton. It was all about $$$ and grabbing a LWW belt in the process. Floyd targeted Gatti from the time Gatti won his belt off Branco. Gatti's star was at it's highest at that moment. He was coming of the Ward trilogy and was one of the most popular fighters in all of boxing. Kostya was less known in the U.S., pretty much unknown to casual fans (unlike Gatti who is a household name) and Kostya had utterly destroyed his last two opponents. It made far better business sense to go after the WBC belt. I've always thought it was a bit of a biatch move, but it made financial sense. He doesn't call himself "Money" Mayweather for nothin'.

KT was the guy Floyd wanted at 140, you'll find interviews of him talking about it with Floyd mentioning it would be p4p1 against2. But Hatton was the mandatory and the rest is history.

I have no doubt Mayweather wanted KT at some point. I should have written "go after the WBC belt FIRST." He just wanted to cash in on Gatti, grab a belt, and make the KT fight a big unification. That's why he wasted his time on those stupid eliminators. I'm sure he expected Kostya to get past Hatton, and then the unification fight would have been huge. The timing was perfect. Hatton beat Kostya the same month Floyd beat Gatti. If Kostya wins, you get a KT vs Floyd in late 2005 or early 2006. But along came Hatton, and as you said, the rest is history.

[Taeth]

Mayweather would have beaten Kostya, he is too fast while still being very tough and having godlike defensive skills.

[Greig]

When Mayweather first moved to 140 Kostya was injured, then he had to take care of his madndatory (Sharmba Mitchell)

When he did that, he wanted the biggest fights for the biggest money. Obviously the biggest out there was Floyd, but after he KO'd Zab in 01, Tszyu signed a multi fight deal with Showtime, whereas Floyd had been a long time HBO fighter. Those types of deals are very hard to get done, the negotiations are a nightmare and only happen when there is a mint to be made for both sides (I think the last one was when Showtime's Tyson fought HBO's Lennox).

So, Tszyu fought Hatton in Britain for a fortune. I don't think it was any secret that Tszyu didn't want that fight, especially in England, but the money on offer was huge compared to what he would have made elsewhere. Hatton beat him up, and the rest is history.

For what it's worth, I think Kostya would have given Mayweather FITS. Tsyu was never outboxed - the only way to beat him was go into the trenches and try and out tough him. He was always at his best against slick boxers. Tszyu/Mayweather in there primes would have been outstanding, wouldn't like to pick a winner there.

But in 2004/05 when the fight had a chance of happening, I lean towards Floyd on points. Tszyu was slowing a little and floyd was just entering the peak of his powers...

[blegit]

Well, there are a lot of dream matches that would have been made but fighters ruin other fighters looming matches. Then you have HBO, Showtime, promoters, etc who have personal interest that often bring about problems which have stopped fights from happening. PBF did want to fight KT and it would've went into tight negotiations after a Hatton win. PBF voiced wanting KT many times and he even said some time after the Hatton fight that he would still fight KT but as we all know after Hatton KT just rode off into the sunset. And deservingly so, Tszyu was without a doubt the dominate champion at 140 for enough time to be secure in his legacy. There is life after boxing and Tsyzu is one of the few fighters to realize this and come to grips with it.

[THE THIRD MAN]

It was going to happen if KT got past Hatton, I think at 36 yrs Mayweather would have won.
However, the Tszyu of 1999-2001 is a different story and i think he would have nailed Mayweather at some point, Mayweather was tailor made for him.
It would have taken all of Floyd's defensive skills to avoid getting knocked out, in doing that would he have done enough to win a decision?
I notice that Mayweather never disses Tszyu at this time, afraid of the repercussions Floyd?

[eagle]

Mayweather would have beaten Kostya, he is too fast while still being very tough and having godlike defensive skills.

I belive PBF would more than lkely have won, but KT had more chance of winning against Floyd than Hatton ever did. Slick fast fighters seemed to suit KT, Mitchell, Judah etc. Neither if them are as good as Floyd of course but i hope it helps my point. It was the pressure fighters that really troubled him.
KT's biggest asset was his power and timing, and even tho PBF has those godlike defensive skills u talk of, if anyone was ever gonna break thru them it was KT. If a fighter gave him time to get set and wasnt putting constant pressure on they were in trouble.