Kostya Tsyzu is a Hall of Fame inductee and was a former undisputed 140 pound champion. I recently had the honor of speaking to him in this interview, topics discussed were; Tszyu’s transition from fighter to trainer, Manny Pacquiao vs. Bradley 2, Sergio Martinez vs. Miguel Cotto. Kostya Tszyu also talks about Floyd Mayweather and how he thinks he would match up with the p4p star. Here is what Kostya Tszyu had to say in part 1 of my interview.
Robert Brown: Can you tell us some of the differences and some of the difficulties between being a fighter and being a trainer?
Kostya Tszyu: The most difficult and different part is, when you train yourself, when you prepare yourself for the fight, you have only one person responsible for everything. When you do train fighters, it’s another responsibility because if anything can happen wrongly, you’re part of the responsibility.
I’m never afraid of responsibility, but at the same time, when you’re asking your fighter to do something and they’re not doing it, everyone around is saying that you’re bad. In this way it’s a bit difficult, but most important for me is, I’m trying to teach not only be physically strong as hell, you have to be mentality strong as hell.
Robert Brown: The 140 pound division is extremely strong; do you think you would be successful against today’s top 140 pound fighters?
Kostya Tszyu: I think I still would be very competitive if I would fight them because they have many holes. They’re good offensive fighters but not the best defensive fighters. That’s always been key for my success, when I see the holes to capitalize on the mistakes that they do in the ring. I think I would be very competitive against these fighters.
Robert Brown: What are your thoughts on the upcoming Pacquiao vs. Bradley rematch?
Kostya Tszyu: Look, when I see the interview between the two guys, I agree with what Timothy said, that Manny Pacquiao is not hungry anymore. You can’t be on top of your game if you’re not hungry anymore. I lost my hunger in the last couple of weeks of my fights because when you achieve everything in sports, it’s so hard to push yourself over and over the limit.
That’s the thing, Manny did tremendous, became a legend in the ring, but he lost a bit of hunger. Maybe the loss against Timothy may help him to find his hunger, maybe, you never know. Timothy is still a young fighter and still got lots of goals ahead of him and for Manny there’s just one thing, to prove that he’s the best, only one.
Robert Brown: Who do you think will win that fight?
Kostya Tszyu: Look, both fighters can win. I still think if Timothy can make some mistakes, like he did against Provodnikov — try to brawl against the fighter that can brawl — he can lose. For Manny, he has to take a very good game plan and should forget the knockout he had and then he can be successful again.
It’s a very close decision, this time it’s 50/50 chance because both fighters are great. Closer to the fight, it’s all gonna be depending on the pressure that both fighters are gonna receive from the media, it’s a huge pressure.
Robert Brown: We also got Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez coming up, how do you see that fight playing out?
Kostya Tszyu: One fight Martinez surprised me, when he fought Murray, he couldn’t do anything really. That’s the one thing that concerns me. Cotto was the 140 lb champion for many years, he moved so many divisions now and he’s not that big really, but I don’t think it’s a good for him to brawl against Martinez because he’s much bigger and much stronger. In this fight, I believe Martinez has a bigger chance than Cotto.
Robert Brown: Floyd Mayweather is going to fight Marcos Maidana. Maidana is coming off a win against Adrien Broner, do you see him posing any problem for Mayweather?
Kostya Tszyu: The way Maidana fights, it suits Mayweather because he’s a tremendous counter puncher. He’s worked against big guys and he did an unbelievable job. I think he’s got more than 50% chance, I think he’s got a big advantage against any fighter who can try to push him. He’s probably gonna have more difficulty against a fighter that’s smart like him.
Robert Brown: Over a decade ago Mayweather was calling you out. Did a fight between you and Mayweather ever come close to materializing, and would you liked to have fought him?
Kostya Tszyu: No, actually that fight never was discussed with me at all. At that time I was under contract with Showtime and he was an HBO fighter. Unfortunately in my time he’d never been 140 lb champion, it wasn’t even able to talk about the fight.
Robert Brown: Hypothetically, if you did get a chance to fight him, how do you think you would have done against Mayweather?
Kostya Tszyu: Look, it would be a dream fight for me. Of course his style is very, very similar, and much better of what his uncle did, Roger. I fought Roger in 1995 when Roger was in the end of his career and it was the first defense of my world title.
It wasn’t an easy fight for me but at same time at least I knew what to do. In the last few years after my last fight, I realized that so many things in my career I did not 100%. Actually after my retirement I became much wiser. If I would fight in the ring now, I would do different things, which is use my skills more than my strength.
I disagree with Kostya – no way could he know that Pac lost his hunger when Pac himself is still doing (and much more) his sacrifices to maximize his winning chances. Kostya can not go inside Pac’s mind to know what Pac feels and think. Pac DOMINATED the Desert Worm in the 1st fight as the whole world saw and recognized it. When you got bashed that way, no manufactured ‘toughness’ will change it – there is always that FEAR that Bradley experienced (hence he did not fight toe to toe as he bragged before the 1st fight) that will HOUND Tim, feeling again the power of Pac- he will resort to hugging and running again – his girly punches has no pop – Jinkee Pacquiao punches stronger than Tim – he he he! Pweh!
Also, lets not forget something here… media loves to blow things up way too much.
JMM is 40 yrs old and was toyed by a fighter that was 10 yrs younger – of course bradley says he had fun. I would too if given the chance to EASILY showcase my skills lol. Media blew this up big time because of the name (JMM) behind the body. JMM looked old, slow, tired, but bradley only managed to pull out a split decision?
Ruslan, who is not as talented as PAC, and is a flat footed fighter with just sheer power, mind you has no speed either, managed to knock bradley down twice, and was PAC’s sparring partner. Lets try to ignore those the media who tend to either be biased or just write with the intent of hyping the fight up.
As a fan of boxing… I only speak in truth on how i perceive it and how styles make fights. Bradley will lose majority of the rounds.
I dont think kostya is accurate to reads manny’s mind he actually commit mistakes for agreeing bradley’s comment if it’s true ..floyd too is not hungry anymore…
….yEah, even a famous austrAlian heavyweight fightEr remArked that no onE could tell mAnny pAcquiao whEn to retirE simply becAuse pAcmsn knows himself better thAn us, i firmly disagree with whAt Tim BradlEy hAs said that pacquiao hAs lost his hunger in thE ring. Tim is clearly playing mind tricks on those statements hOping that those words could affect mAnny. He better be prepared this 12th of April becAuse pacquiao will show no mercy!….
I agree kostya.manny not hunger coz numerous responsblty outside .you can’t master one thing if you do other thing.u need to fucos in one this is boxing.pyschcal,mental much more needed.the good thing bout manny is a warrior,agresevnes style with fury puches.but more dangerous bcos not defensive.when the fighter is on the highest level and they dont maintain consestenly.you loose hunger..
Kostya is very true. You cannot be on top of your game if you are not hungry anymore or your hunger is not 100%. Kostya did not say Manny will lose against Bradley but said its 50-50 on both of them. He knows manny is a politician, you will never excel in doing two things at the same time, to be a politician serving people and at the same time to excel in boxing world. Manny will never be a great politician and at the same time be called one of the greatest in boxing..You should choose only one career if you are aiming for the greatest. Manny tasted a bitter defeat in boxing when he entered politics. For sure, its a lesson for him…Maybe Manny is more hungry to serve his countrymen than to train to fight and knockout fellow boxers…I believed that Manny will win convincingly and k.o. Bradley if his hunger is 100%….
Between the two, who do you think dominates the most against their opponents in their fights for the last 3 years ?
Pac has always been dominant, win or lose. So the fire is still there. And he damages all his opponents physically or psychologically.
Bradley ? He’s dominant alright ……….in running. And when he tried to assert himself, he got owned and almost got KOd. Even with JMM he was only good at piling points but not doing much damage.
Tim’s being a motor mouth just shows how Pac got under his skin. Inspite of overwhelming evidence, Tim’s being delusional and to fight that doubt he goes into a make-believe world that he indeed won against Pac. His being motor-mouth is one way of covering his insecurities and doubts going into this fight.
tyszu – legend and a gentleman
A washed-out Boxer who lost to Hatton that was dismantled by Pacman.
Jealous analysis is all it is…
Yes but he lacks understanding about Pacquiao who is a very different specie of a boxer. To be great it is not enough to be hungry for a win. He has many other things going for him to defeat bradley decisively or even knock him out.. Another thing, dont be mislead that Pacquiao is no longer hungry anymore for victory. Just look at the way he trained. This should be a stern warning for Bradley.
Many people are foolish to say that PACQUIAO is not hungry any more…OF COURSE…manny is so rich now so he could buy all the foods that he wants..so how come that he will become hungry…YOU FOOLS!!!use your heads not not your BALLS
HAHAHA!!!
KOSTYA TSZYU was probably winning vs. Mexican legend Ricardo Hatton. It was such a close fight but he decided to quit.
He’s a quitter and a loser.
How does he sleep at night knowing he quit? Well, he answered:”With my eyes closed.”
Kosta Tszyu is not mentally tough. How can he be relied on to provide assessment on another boxer’s mentality? He does not even have the capacity to assess his own mental fortitude and go above it.
So true.
He should just STFU and keep retired in down under.
How can you say that pacquiao is not hungry anymore? If steamrolling Rios is not a proof, what then?
You can’t base Pacquaios desire to still box on his KO ratio? Cause he destroyed Rios after a year layoff. It’s a UD but Rios was on a defensive the whole fight in a turtle shell defense. Is that Pacquaios fault? Reason why there hasnt been a KO on Pacs record lately i because of stuff like what Rios did againts Pacquiao. Either theyre running or in a turtle shell defense.
By all indications, it will be Pacquiao who will win the next fight.