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Tszyu targets pound-for-pound status

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By Paul Upham: For the entire year, WBC/WBA junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu and IBF champion Zab Judah have been looking towards facing each other to determine who is the undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world. Finally on November 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas the highly anticipated clash will occur: a classic confrontation between speed and power. Entitled “Undisputed Unification Confirmation”, the clash will be shown on Showtime in the USA at 10PM Eastern and Pacific.
The 31 year-old Tszyu ,27-1-1 (22), and 23 year-old Judah, 27-0-0-1(21), both made successful title defences on June 23 on Showtime at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, USA building towards this unification clash. Tszyu recorded a unanimous twelve round points victory over Turk Oktay Urkal, while Judah stopped Denmark’s Allan Vester in the third round. “I for one are very proud to be associated with the event and very pleased to be here,” said promoter Vlad Warton, which raised the question as to why this bout has taken so long to be made.

“It’s never really been postponed,” said Tszyu, who spoke to the world’s media this week on a conference call from his home in Sydney, Australia. “We planned this fight for some time already but it never really came too close to finalise the deal. This will probably be the best time of the year when two champions fight against each other - at the end of the year.”

“Everything has been said, except now we have to prove who the great champion is. I believe after a great year of boxing at the end of the year we will put another extraordinary fight on.”

The main question surrounding this fight seems to be whether Tszyu can handle the apparent speed of Judah.

“I have fought against guys who are faster than me and it doesn’t make any difference to me. I usually always adjust easy and it’s not easy to adjust with my style. Sharmba (Mitchell) was a very fast guy,” said Tszyu.

He added: “(Diobelis) Hurtado was a really fast guy. He is one of the fastest. He had a good amateur background and good co-ordination plus a strong boxer. But in a few rounds time his hand speed disappeared.”

But the dual world titleholder asks the question as to whether Judah can handle his power? “Of course, there is always a question mark when you fight against me,” added Tszyu. “I have got good power in both hands and I have increased my power right now. I’m training for 12 rounds and I have to be prepared for this. I will be and I am in really condition already. Two and a half weeks to go, a few things to polish and I am ready.”

“I never predict a knockout. If you start thinking about a knockout it will play a bad role against you. He (Judah) has got great power because of his speed. When he catches his opponent, they are not expecting it to happen. He has got quick and sharp hands, sometimes he doesn’t know himself where he is throwing to. The punches go everywhere and sometimes the accuracy of the punch is not the best when you are throwing a fast one.”

“Because he is throwing so many, a few of them are always catching in the right place. Because he is young and strong., his opponent usually goes down. He has a good record and I have said before, I look forward to these challenges. It will look good for me to prove who is the best in this division.”

With renowned trainer of world champions Johnny Lewis in his corner throughout his career, Tszyu has always been able to prepare more than one plan for his opponents and Judah is no different.

“We have got a few different plans, which we are working on right now. One of them is to come and destroy everything. Be tough, strong and never really let a second away, be there all the time on the face and hit hard make a good strong pressure and be there. I have got much stronger hands than other guys who knock him down. If I am going to catch him, it is going to be good morning, early morning,” said Tszyu.

When it comes to his place in the pound for pound ranking’s, Tszyu believes that he deserves to be in the top 10 after winning the WBA title in February to add to his WBC belt.

“At one stage in my career before my loss I really come close to the top five and was there in the top five. Then suddenly after a good beating, I went down and it took me some time to come back to the top 10 at least,” said Tszyu.

“But yes, I can describe myself as one of the top five boxers pound for pound right now. I can’t say that I am the best because it hasn’t been proven that I am the best. This year when I won the WBC and WBA titles, I should be there in the top 10 and now after this fight, that puts me in the top five definitely.”

Along with Hasim Rahman, Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins, Tszyu is one of only four boxers in the world to hold more than one world title belt simultaneously, but he has not received many accolades in the USA for his success. Tszyu puts this down to being out of the lime light in Australia.

“Because I live so far away from your country (USA) where boxing is very, very popular and you can’t see me much. You don’t know about me much. This will be the best position for me to promote myself. But because I am so far away and I am not yours, this is saying everything,” said Tszyu, who does not feel old and believes that he is at his physical peek and does not need to train any harder.

“Not really harder. I am 32 and usually in the last few years, all the best boxers start to explore themselves after 30 and I believe at my age it is not even harder to train,” said Tszyu.

“What the difference between me and other boxers is that I still have the desire. Great desire to come to the gym every day and spend time there. To show to my boys that you can do anything you want to for yourself. I am putting myself under huge high-pressure which young kids can’t handle. I am still there without any problem.”

Tszyu is often labelled as a power puncher and feels that he unfairly gets little respect for his own hand speed. “My sparring partners and my opposition are always saying that they are faster than me and at the end of the fight they are saying, ‘he is fast enough to catch us at the right time.”

Tszyu enjoys facing southpaws, even more so than orthodox fighters which he puts down to some much experience against then during his amateur and professional career. “I’ve got great history against southpaws. I get them many, many times and I have a few really great combinations against them. I won my first world title at the MGM Grand in 1995 against Jake Rodriguez who was a left-hander. Sharmba was a left-hander and many more difficult guys who were left-handers. I have got no problem at all. Sometimes it is easier to fight them than a normal orthodox,” said Tszyu, who was disappointed with the ending against Sharmba Mitchell in February when the WBA champion had to retire on his stool due to a knee injury.

“In one way yes, I am disappointed. In another way in a few years time, no one will remember what happened. All they will remember is the TKO. This is what counts. The fight was good. He fought like a good champion, a great champion and I just destroyed him in a way that he could not continue fighting,” said Tszyu.

In May 1997, Tszyu suffered his only career defeat to Vince Phillips, losing the IBF title which he will now try to get back off Judah. Tszyu paid tribute to the people close to him who helped him come back from the defeat.

“The people around me who believe in me. They told me it’s not over, it can’t be over because so many people believed that there had been some mistake which I had to prove,” said Tszyu.

“I have done it and I have done everything. I had a good talk with all my team and we have done lots of changes in preparation and in approach to preparation. We have seen the result now, great results where I am feeling much, much better and stronger in this age then a few years back.”

As for the future after the fight with Judah, Tszyu is intent on continuing his career into 2002 but is unsure as to what direction he will take.

“You never say never. Circumstances can change. I am comfortable right now in this division. We will see after this one how everything is going to go. Usually after each big event I have a good rest and make my mind refreshed and come back to the gym fresh,” said Tszyu.

Looking closely at his undefeated opponent, Tszyu believes that the New Yorker has not fought anywhere near the level of competition that he has faced. “If you look at his record he has only fought one world champion in his whole campaign. I started fighting ex-world champions when I was in my fourth professional fight. I had really good experience to fight against these guys. It has helped me a lot now,” said Tszyu. “I am not looking to see his talent but for his career, if he wants to continue after this fight, he has to put himself into a position where he fights the champions. The guys who are strong and good and quality opposition.”

Kostya Tszyu seems more confident than ever going into this fight, which may indicate that he sees Judah as an opponent that he is very capable of defeating.

“Everyone is supposed to be confident when they are doing the job. Of course I am very confident and I believe I am going to win. He believes the same thing otherwise what is the point to train and make a good preparation for it. Yes, sometimes we can become overconfident and some boxers think that the fight is going to be light and then a big mistake arrives. You have to decide for yourself where the confident and overconfident line is,” said Tszyu, who honestly cannot see any areas where Judah will pose him problems.

“I can’t see really many difficult things at all. Everything is normal. He is a human being with two hands. I can’t see any difficulties.”


Paul Upham
Contributing Editor
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