Tim Tszyu should not give up. Even in my father’s career there were the most offensive defeats.
Igor Nekrasov April 3, 2024, 16:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Kostya lost the world title, being the clear favorite.
Last weekend, Kostya Tszyu’s eldest son suffered the first defeat of his professional career. Tim fought for two junior middleweight world champion belts: the WBO, which he owned, as well as the vacant WBC belt. Even though Tszyu was the favorite in the fight with Sebastian Fundora, he failed to win. Tim received a serious cut that hampered him throughout the fight. As a result, Tszyu lost a split decision and lost the championship belt. But Tim should not give up: even in the career of his legendary father there were failures that did not prevent him from becoming one of the best national boxers in history.
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Kostya Tszyu also lost at the amateur level, although there he reached considerable heights, including the gold medal at the World Championships. And in the professional ring, Kostya was undefeated for quite a long time and was one of the most promising boxers not only in his weight class, but also regardless of weight categories. At the age of 26, Kostya knocked down the current IBF world champion Jake Rodriguez four times and became the new owner of the belt. By the way, Tszyu made four successful defenses of the title, after which he began a difficult period in his career.
How Kostya Tszyu was robbed of victory:
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First, Kostya’s victory over Leonardo Mas was taken away from him by an allegedly illegitimate blow delivered after the gong, and then came the first defeat of his professional career. What’s more, a defeat that no one expected. On May 31, 1997, Kostya made another defense of his IBF championship belt. His opponent was the American Vince Phillips, who had 38 fights and only three defeats. Despite this, it was Tszyu who was considered the clear favorite in the upcoming fight: four successful defenses, 0 in the loss column – Kostya was winning fight in fight, and the experienced American was supposed to become one step closer to the Russian’s path to greatness.
KOSTIA TsZIU AND LEONARDO MAS
Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
But the fight didn’t go according to Tszyu’s plan. More precisely, not everything. In the first half of the fight, Kostya clearly looked better than his opponent, especially in terms of speed. Tszyu was constantly ahead of his opponent, hitting hard counters and giving his opponent virtually nothing to do. This continued until the seventh round: Kostya confidently took the fight on all the judges’ cards and really dominated in the ring.
However, at the end of the seventh round came the turning point. Vince managed to catch Tszyu with a good uppercut combination and Kostya was taken down. After getting up, Tszyu continued the fight, but he was no longer himself. The Russian plan for the fight began to fall apart. Kostya made beneficial trades for the American, failed a lot and stagnated. There was no trace of the previous speed, and in the tenth round Vince completed the main sensation of his career. Phillips once again managed to shake Kostya, pin him against the ropes and finish him off powerfully. Tszyu tried to clinch, but could not escape the final blow. The American unleashed a flurry of punches, to which Kostya virtually did not react, barely able to stay on his feet. The referee was forced to intervene in the fight and stop it, recording Vince Phillips’ victory.
Then Kostya Tszyu lost his title and was stripped of his championship belt. It is interesting that at the time of that fight Kostya was 28 years old, and his son Tim lost for the first time at 29 years old. But Tim has a great example in his eyes that you should never give up on. Kostya returned to his winning streak, and not only returned, but became the only national absolute world champion at this time. I would like to believe that Tszyu Sr., who has been through a lot in boxing, will find the right words for his son, and Tim will also please his fans with victories and titles.
