(prime) Tszyu v Pac @ 140lbs

[The_Infinite]

This has already been discussed before when Pac beat Hatton. But maybe there has been a change of mind after the Cotto fight.

[Dark Lord Al]

Id have to go with pacman , Vince Phillips beat a prime Kostya , and PAC is lightyears ahead of that.

[Snakey]

Id have to go with pacman , Vince Phillips beat a prime Kostya , and PAC is lightyears ahead of that.

Kostya was not at his best in that fight, he had issues outside the ring. But to say that because Phillips beat Kostya then Kostya would of lost to pac is kinda unfair because they were different styles. Kostya had a tendency to knock out fast southpaws, anyone notice that? I think of Kostya as a more powerful JMM and i think he would of given pac hell.

[Themantonio]

Kostya had a tendency to knock out fast southpaws, anyone notice that? .[/quote]

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.

[rjj tszyu]

I really don't know on this one, I'd like to say Tszyu, but I don't know!

[eagle]

The obvious answer is Pac after his recent victories, but Kostya would have a punchers chance. If KT could use his timing to catch Pac early he could get on top but the longer the fight went without that happening the more it'd go in Manny's favour.

[blegit]

Man, that would fight would be explosive. This is a knockout for sure. I would lean towards Pac but you can't let Tszyu hit you square because anyone of those overhand rights could put a 154 pounder out. So I would bet on Pac but I wouldn't be surprised if Tszyu took him out.

[DaxxKahn]

Kostya had a tendency to knock out fast southpaws, anyone notice that? .

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

[TheBranMan]

Id have to go with pacman , Vince Phillips beat a prime Kostya , and PAC is lightyears ahead of that.

Kostya was not at his best in that fight, he had issues outside the ring. But to say that because Phillips beat Kostya then Kostya would of lost to pac is kinda unfair because they were different styles. Kostya had a tendency to knock out fast southpaws, anyone notice that? I think of Kostya as a more powerful JMM and i think he would of given pac hell.

Very true, good point about knocking out many fast southpaws. Kostya was an ATG in my opinion. It's a pitty he went to England to fight Hatton where he lost a wresting match complete with elbows and all. Even that old Kostya could've beaten the 'hitman' in a fair boxing match.

[J_Undisputed]

Real difficult fight to predict 10 out of 10 times. Tszyu has lots of pop and he knew he wasn't that fast so he worked on his timing counter punching and always tried to exploit his opponents mistakes. Theres no doubt, he'd have a plan against Manny.
Manny on the other hand, has speed and power and better movement than Kostya and would probably be one of the few guys that wasn't dwarfed by Tszyu in terms of power. Hes also got a good trainer that would no doubt have a plan to exploit some mistakes by Tszyu.

I'd be leaning towards Manny at this point, because i dont know if Tszyu had every faced that kind of offensive pressure and speed at the same time. Judah did well early in the first using his speed before Tszyu turned him into jelly. Hatton's pressure and swarming over a whole fight took its toll on Tszyu even if you discount the punches to the cup every few rounds. Manny seems to be able to take a decent shot and unless Tszyu drops Manny with one shot and lays him out, i would put my money on Freddie changing the plan and turning it into a whole different fight. I think the odds are with Manny, but if he deviated from the plan to test Tszyus power like he did with Cotto, it could've be the biggest mistake he ever made.

[milmascaras1]

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.

[The Fightfan]

This would be an amazing fight. I think at this point I would edge Pacquaio. Too quick for Tszyu.

[Master]

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.

[ICB]

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.

[Kel]

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.