Former undisputed light-welterweight king Kostya Tszyu has revealed the best fighter that he ever shared a ring with.
The Russian-Australian great established himself as one of the best fighters on the planet at one stage, racking up victories over the likes of Jesse James Leija, Zab Judah and Julio Cesar Chavez Sr at the height of his career.
He became the undisputed world champion at 140lbs back in November of 2001 when he stopped Judah in the second round of their battle at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in what is considered to be the best win of his tenure.
Tszyu suffered just two defeats along the way, falling short to Vince Phillips in May 1997 and the late-great British icon Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton in June 2005.
In a round of ‘Best I Faced’ with The Ring Magazine, Tszyu didn’t hesitate to reveal Mexican great Chavez as the best fighter that he ever crossed paths with, brandishing the three-weight world champion as a ‘huge legend’.
“He’s the huge legend in my eyes and I fought him in not his best condition but again that’s not an excuse for me or him. I fought in not the best condition against Ricky. I never thought I was gonna lose to him. At the same time Chavez wanted desperately to be a champion again but at that time no one could stop me.”
Tszyu stopped the Mexican icon in the sixth round of their clash back in July 2000, making the second defence of his WBC light-welterweight title at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona.
Chavez is often credited as being one of the greatest Mexican fighters to have ever lived. The three-weight world champion fought on no less than 115 occasions throughout the course of his memorable 25-year professional career where he faced fighters such as Hector Camacho, Meldrick Taylor and Oscar De La Hoya before his retirement in 2005.
