KOSTYA TSZYU ON CLOUD 9 IN RETURNING TO U.S.A.

Kostya Tszyu was back on American soil this week in what he always finds most enjoyable but usually just too infrequent to conduct business as one of boxing’s premier world champions.

Tszyu, 34, is still elite among the wealthy nomads, considering the affection remains deep for his native Russia and adopted Australia, establishing headquarters at Sydney in 1992.

Showtime Championship Boxing was Tszyu’s host
with two days in New York and two more in Los Angeles where the WBC-IBF 140-pound champion eagerly renewed acquaintances with the media since the cable network will televise Tszyu’s return to action Nov.2 with the site and venue yet to be determined.

Perhaps he didn’t expect it, but Showtime’s night off for Tszyu was being a ringside guest Saturday at Foxwoods Resort Casino where Diego “Chico” Corrales TKO’d previously undefeated WBO lightweight champion Acelino Freitas in 10 rounds.

The main event likely wasn’t the main event in Tszyu’s mind since Sharmba Mitchell was defending his interim IBF 140-pound title against Moises Pedroza in the semi-windup.

Kostya didn’t learn anything he didn’t already know about the New Yorker, having faced him as a challenger Feb.3, 2001 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Mitchell is down for a rematch with the awesome Aussie Nov.2 and improved his resume to 55-6, 31 KOs, stopping Pedroza at 2:55 of the second round.

In the original two and a half years ago, Tszyu methodically dominated Mitchell with his full arsenal of combinations, prompting the latter’s corner to stop the bout in the seventh round.

One of the sport’s most engaging champions, Tszyu was overwhelmed visiting the United States again although he will return to Sydney in his early training for Mitchell.

“It’s been a long time and I’m very happy to be back in action, plus seeing my friends in the States. Mitchell is an outstanding fighter and champion but Johnny Lewis, who is the top trainer in Australia, will have me at my peak. When we were at the Mandalay the first time, I showed Sharmba who the great fighter is, controlling the action. And we’ll show him again more decisively”.

Kostya and his wife, Natasha, haven’t set a timetable for their three sons on how much longer the superb titleholder will thrill international audiences with his multi-skills.

“Our family had a chance to take a six-weeks vacation earlier this year which included Russia. It was great to go and great to be back. As for boxing, I’d say at least a couple of more years, making up for some of the time this shoulder injury has cost me. There are still a lot of big fights out there. But I only want to fight the very best. To be the best you must beat the best. Now I’m not looking past Mitchell, nothing else,” Tszyu reflected.

“However, Arturo Gatti is a great fighter and that trilogy with Micky Ward was incredible. It would be the kind of gate I’d be looking for. Floyd Mayweather stands out at the top, an undefeated champion but I think he is more talk. If he thinks he wants to fight me, let him step up to the plate. I’d fight him tomorrow night. So let’s go in and fight.”

Australia has long been legendary in lionizing its’ super achievers from all walks of life and for Tszyu, one of the most significant innings in his illustrious career arrived Jan.18, 2003 in Melbourne.

It was a special night for boxing in the Land Down Under with more than 30,000 loyalists packing Telstra Dome to honor their adopted son. Kostya was making his first appearance in his new home in almost five years where he originally turned pro Mar.1, 1992 with a one-round knockout.

Despite an eight months layoff, the bilingual Tszyu gave roaring partisans exactly what they wanted when he wore down rock-ribbed Jesse James Leija, a former world champion from Ft. Worth, TX., at the end of six rounds with Showtime televising the title bout scheduled for 12.

Leija, an ex-WBC super featherweight ruler, was pressing and dipping against the patient Aussie, backing him into the ropes early in the third round on combinations Sydney’s newest hero started his turnaround with overhand rights and began to dictate the fight’s tempo late in the fourth round. Tszyu’s hard left hook opened a cut over Leija’s right eye in the fifth round. In the sixth round, the incumbent champion began to score big time with combinations to the head and body.

The finish was quick when referee Malcom Buiner announced gritty Leija could not come out for the seventh round, reportedly suffering a fractured right eardrum. Three judges had Tszyu leading on scores of 59-55, 60-54, and 58-56.

Leija, whose resume dipped to 43-6-2, 1 NC, 18 KOS. told the press “I’m sure the ear is busted.”

“It happened around the fourth or fifth round, I’m not sure but suddenly I wasn’t sure of my footing. Kostya Tszyu is a great fighter with a very good defense and very quick, I felt I did pretty well for four rounds, so I’m
happy with my performance.”

It was a special night with a special triumph for Tszyu, who improved his credentials to 30-1-1 NC in defending his WBC, WBA, IBF crowns.

“I dedicated this fight with my wife, Natasha, to our son, Timophey, for several reasons. It was his eighth birthday and I had not fought in Melbourne for five years and it was 11 years since that night I turned pro here. I was on the undercard when Jeff Fenech and Azumah Nelson, two great champions, fought at Princess Park. I also learned that Leija had fought Nelson four times in the States and I didn’t look at tapes because I knew he was tough.”

Undisputed champions in boxing today trying to manipulate three titles and keep every body happy is virtually impossible and Tszyu would learn he is no exception, especially in dealing the WBC’s Jose Sulaiman.

Mandatory-wise, next up for the Thunder Down Under was the WBC. Sulaiman, the body’s president for life, had named Italy’s undefeated Gianfranco Branco as its’ No.1 contender but he was virtually unknown on this side of the Atlantic and a no-no at the box office. However, Sulaiman’s edict on mandatories is defend or be stripped.

Nobody knew it right away but Tszyu came out of the Leija fight with a damaged shoulder which would ultimately sideline the affable Aussie for 18 months.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the damage was coming on in that fight and I’d say early. Gary Shaw, my promoter, didn’t believe it when I told him it was about the third round. I know I felt some pain but it was more difficult emotionally when I wasn’t able to train,” said the irritated champion.

After all sorts of legal shenanigans, Sulaiman gave Tszyu a break, but he still wound up as a WBC-IBF champion when the WBA stepped in to strip, naming Vivian Harris of NewYork (23-1-1) as its champion.

Team Tszyu, with Vlad Warton managing, is greatly pleased to know the next outing will be in an American ring where this premier champion has showed his versatility in dramatic victories.

When it comes to explosive domination, it is hard to imagine Tszyu can surpass Nov.3, 2001 at the MGM Grand Garden when as WBC/WBA ruler he added the IBF diadem by annihilating previously undefeated Zab Judah in two rounds.

There have been nights in his career when Tszyu lived up to his reputation as being slow of the gate and this looked like one of them when the southpaw Judah scored with combinations and an uppercut to win round one.

Nobody seem to notice the left-right Tszyu landed just before the bell. Now Judah was a different fighter. Kostya had Zab dancing from side to side with his gloves down. In the coup de grace, Tszyu’s two TNT rights put Judah airborne quickly in the second round, landing on his back with legs askew.

Devoid of instincts, Judah fell and got up twice without taking another punch. Referee Jay Nady seemingly saved the victim from serious injury when he called it off at 2:59.

Tszyu agreed with the stoppage.

“The referee did the right thing. Judah could have been seriously hurt. If the fight had gone on. I would have hit him harder because the knockdown wasn’t my hardest punch.”

In contrast, Tszyu can show himself as being matchless with his boxing skills as he did May 18, 2002 at Mandalay Bay where he defended against IBF No.1 contender Ben Tackie of Accra, Ghana.

Though also known as warriors, these combatants view each other with deep respect as boxer-punchers. Tackie, with a 24-2,15 K0s ledger, was openly excited on getting his first title shot at 28. Despite returning from a seven-months layoff, Tszyu was a 5-1 favorite via Nevada’s licensed oddsmakers. On scales, Tszyu was 140, Tackie 139.5.

Considering the highly-skilled opponent he was facing, Tszyu set the tempo in the first round with his solid combinations working off the jab. Like most imports out of Ghana, Tackie had that ever-forward style but it made the night a little easier for the champion.

There were no knockdowns but it’s incredible that the free-wheeling Tszyu was an eye-blink away from a shutout with the local judges. Chuck Giampa and Bill Graham both had it 120-108 while Duane Ford voted 119-109. Ford gave Tackie the 11th round.

Tszyu wasn’t joshing in his reference, “This was
a great fight and an entertaining fight. I say that because Tackie is a tough, strong guy with plenty of heart.The key in this fight was for me to be patient. And boy, was I patient! You hit Tackie and he just keeps coming forward. Believe me, I was always aware of his right hand.”

Tackie chastised himself “for not fighting a much smarter fight. I waited too long to make my moves. I am not pleased with my performance tonight. I wanted to be more aggressive and pressure him Kostya did everything so well...that’s because he is the best. I tried to get him in the later rounds but faltered. I think Kostya is the very best pound-for-pound fighter I have ever faced.”

In retrospect on the highs and lows of his career, Tszyu doesn’t feel Dame Fortune gave him a cool kiss in his fight with Vince Phillips, the only one he lost as a pro on May 31,1997 in Miami, Fla.

Kostya said the unexpected upset changed a lot of things for him---in and out of the ring. Even though there was no Tszyu-Phillips rematch, it changed his thinking.

“The Phillips situation taught me never to be in one fight and looking ahead to another fighter. When you start breaking your mind for a lot of different things, it can play against you. You won’t see me thinking beyond any more. When I’m asked which fight I have learned the most from, it has to be Vince Phillips. I had made a lot of changes in my preparation for the Phillips bout. But I’m glad it happened because I gained good experience,”

Perhaps today some associates might have pondered Kostya’s condition on how the scenario played out. Tszyu used speed to outbox Phillips in winning the first four rounds. Tszyu was cooking a speed trap for Phillips when he opened a cut over his right eye in the sixth round.

It was the speed that wearied the former Soviet soldier and Phillips rebounded with some heavy right hands that pinned Kostya over the ropes in a neutral corner, a TKO victim in the 10th round.

Tszyu probably looked like he had been down nine miles of bad road coming out of the ring. But nobody x-rayed his heart, little did they know Australia had been blessed with the kind of gladiator who had emerged as the finest product of the old Soviet amateur boxing system.

For a lesser man lightly-directed by dedication and sacrifice, he would be a distant also-ran in the quest of Australia’s all-conquering hero.

It’s wise not to forget that Kostya was virtually, unsung when he invaded Las Vegas Jan.28,1995 to challenge Jake “Snake Eyes” Rodriquez for the IBF junior welterweight crown at the MGM Grand Garden.

It was all over in six rounds, the Aussies newest world champion had won his first title in 14 pro bouts. Kostya went on to make five defenses before Vince briefly put him in limbo. But the road back began when Tszyu punched his way to the vacant WBC 140 crown and then took WBA honors for his own triple crown. All that in less than two years since the Phillips debacle and if that’s’ not enough, Ring Magazine voted Tszyu Comeback Fighter of the Year for 1998.

Exaggeration? No way, Jose! It just beats whatever is second.

(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquartered in Las Vegas and is a regular contributor to Ringsports.Com and other national websites).