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Tszyu never ducked Judah

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By Paul Upham: The excitement continues to build as November 3 nears and boxing draws another day closer to having an undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world, when WBC/WBA champion Kostya Tszyu, 27-1-1 (22), faces IBF title-holder Zab Judah, 27-0 (21) 1 NC, at the MGM Grand Arena Garden in Las Vegas.
In a fight billed as “Undisputed Unification Confirmation” by promoter Vlad Warton, the irresistible speed of Judah will meet head-on with that immovable force, the power of Tszyu.

Before arriving in Las Vegas on last Sunday, Tszyu spoke to the world’s boxing media from his home in Sydney, Australia with the hard-hitting Russian refuting any suggestion that he had delayed the clash with Judah when facing No.1 contender Oktay Urkal in June.

“It was time for my mandatory defence and the time limit had come. I had a letter from Jose Sulaiman regarding this and I said no problem we’ll fight Urkal,” said Tszyu. “I will fight against the No.1 contender all the time, once a year at least to prove who is the best fighter in the world and to prove to my organisation why I am the champion there.”

Promoter Vlad Warton supported his boxer stating that Tszyu had asked for a fight with Judah as soon as possible. “Showtime wanted to get the fight on May 19. Kostya did say to me a long time ago that he wanted to fight Zab at the earliest opportunity. Kostya did express a desire to fulfil his mandatory obligation under the governing organization of the WBC and, as Kostya pointed out, the scheduled mandatory defence was due to take place from memory, by about June 23 and Kostya wanted to get it over and done with before taking on the unification challenge,” said Warton.

“I think it benefited Kostya to a great extent because in going 12rounds I think he well prepared himself for the Zab Judah challenge. Where as on the other hand, Zab had a little bit of a walk in the park only going a couple of rounds against a much weaker opponent. I think Kostya did a great job in disposing and winning against Urkal. I think he will be very, very victorious come November 3.”

When asked whether former foe and legend Julio Cesar Chavez should fight again as has been rumoured, Tszyu made it very clear that he believes the Mexican should stay retired.

“I don’t think so. What else does he need to prove? His last fight against me was a sign that he cannot do it anymore. Physically he can come back and he would be all right for some time against someone who is at a different level. What else does he have to prove? How good he was? He will never be the same Chavez we all knew from the past. He has to be proud to be retired and everyone will remember him how great a champion he was,” said Tszyu.

“He was a great champion, a great boxer. I destroyed him in the beginning and then I finished him off. He wasn’t in his best form in a few years, but he was very determined to win. Usually what I do with my opponents is break them down inside and, when they are destroyed, then just a couple more punches they are gone.”

Tszyu dedicates himself to his training and always insists on a 10-week preparation before any fight, which at 32 going on 33 years, allows him to stay at the top. “I have always done the same preparation in the physical foundation part in Canberra in the training camp at the Institute of Sport and then I started my normal routine with the sparring.

“It is a very simple thing, but I am doing everything a little more. Usually, I would spend two hours in the gym in the afternoon. Right now I’m doing a little extra, two and a quarter and sometimes two and a half hours. Doing a little bit more of everything. A little more rounds, a little more skipping, a little more everything and this is going to play a big role in the end,” said Tszyu, who really likes to study his opponent in the lead-up to a fight.

“Some of the boxers don’t like to watch their opponent, but I do. I like to study, I like to analyse every single movement of my opposition. Of course when they are going to fight me it is going to be a different story. Still, I want to know how they usually react on some of the things, some of the punches, how they through their punches and where exactly they are going to go. I do study this a lot. On the day of the fight, I can close my eyes and know exactly how the fight is going to go.”

With trainer Johnny Lewis, Tszyu has put together more than one plan to defeat Judah. “I have a few different plans, some of them are going to work, some of them are not. We just have to see how it is going to be. You are planning one thing usually and then you come into the ring in a split second it is going to be completely different. You have to be ready for it and I am ready for any situation any circumstances that come will not be difficult for me,” said Tszyu, who finds it hard to understand how anyone can question his defence.

“Many people think that I have got a really bad defence and then next fight they come up against me and they can’t go through anyway. It looks simple, it looks easy to go through, but first of all they have to try and many people say that I have got no speed but when they fight me they say, ‘Yeah, he’s got some.”

Despite the terrible tragedies that occurred in the USA recently, Tszyu feels secure and had no negative thoughts about travelling there. “I look forward to go there and all my team are very happy to go there,” said Tszyu, who does not agree that his super-fight is being lost between the Hopkins-Trinidad and Rahman-Lewis II fights.

“All Australia is very excited about this fight because they know what it is going to happen and it is a history fight. Over there in the USA there are so many things happening so it is understandable. It’s usually very hard to compete against the heavyweights. But at the same time, some of the fights in the lighter divisions are more exciting than the heavyweights. I’m not saying that this fight between Lewis and Rahman is going to be boring, it will be an exciting fight as well,” said Tszyu, who really enjoyed Bernard Hopkins win over Felix Trinidad last month.

“It was a great, great, great fight and I really enjoyed it from the beginning to the end how Hopkins done the job. Many people never believed that it was going to happen,” said Tszyu, who is not worried that Judah is an overwhelming favourite in the Las Vegas casinos.

“Unfortunately this gambling is part of boxing and you can’t really stay away from it. For me it doesn’t mean anything at all. These people are not fighting, they are just predicting and a lot of time the predictions come the wrong way.”

The IBF title that is held by Judah once belonged to Tszyu before he lost it in 1997 to Vince Phillips. He is looking forward to getting it back on November 3 and returning home with the matching set of three world title belts.

“It is good for me to come back in six years time to get another world title, the IBF title which I lost and put all of them together in one collection,” said Tszyu.

Promoter Warton believes that expectation for the fight will really build over the next ten days and that the fans are in for an all-time classic fight.

“I think the hype is going to increase immensely. I think this is possibly the best fight of the year even including the Hopkins-Trinidad fight because you have two equalling weighing guys. Not one guy trying to come up or one trying to get down to another guys weight. You have two guys weighing in a 140 pounds. Kostya has been at junior welterweight for a long time and Zab Judah has been very comfortable at 140lbs for a while,” said Warton.

“Their records are very even on paper. You are looking at Zab’s speed and youth versus Kostya’s ringcraft, experience, strength and wisdom. I think that in itself promises to be the best fight of the year otherwise I wouldn’t have gambled so much on it.

“I might add that I’ve been delighted that we have been accommodated by the MGM Grand Garden Arena which is one of the best centres in the world for boxing. As Kostya said earlier, he won his first world title there in January 1995 against Jake ‘The Snake’ Rodriguez another slick southpaw and hopefully that will be a good omen.”

“I do believe once the fight is past, it will be talked about for a hell of a long time,” he added.


Paul Upham
Contributing Editor
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