Kostya Tszyu

Konstantin Borisovich "Kostya" Tszyu (Константин Борисович «Костя» Цзю; born 19 September 1969) is a Russian-Australian former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2005. He held multiple world championships in the light-welterweight division, including the undisputed and lineal titles between 2001 and 2005. Tszyu was an exceptional all-around boxer-puncher who relied heavily on accuracy, timing, and carried formidable punching power; he is often regarded as one of the hardest-punching light-welterweights in the division's history.

As an amateur, Tszyu represented the Soviet Union, winning a bronze medal in the lightweight division at the 1989 World Championships, and gold in the light-welterweight division at the 1991 World Championships. He also won consecutive gold medals at the 1989 and 1991 European Championships.

In 1995, Tszyu won his first of many professional world championships at light-welterweight—the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title—by defeating Jake Rodríguez. Five successful defences were made until an upset loss to Vince Phillips in 1997, which was Tszyu's first professional defeat. He would spend the next eight years undefeated, winning the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) title in 1999 and the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version) title in 2001. Tszyu scored arguably his most famous win that year, when he knocked out Zab Judah to reclaim the IBF title, as well as the vacant Ring magazine and lineal titles, thus becoming the first undisputed light-welterweight champion in over 30 years. In 2005, in what would be his final fight, Tszyu was stopped by Ricky Hatton.

Tszyu is considered by many in Australia to be a national sports hero. In The Ring's March 2010 issue, Tszyu was ranked as the number one light-welterweight of the 2000s decade. In December 2010, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame for the Class of 2011. From 2012 to 2013 he coached professional boxers Alexander Povetkin, Denis Lebedev and Khabib Allakhverdiev. In 2023, his son Tim Tszyu won the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior-middleweight title.

Early life
Tszyu was born in Serov, a town near the Ural Mountains, in the former Soviet Union to a Korean (paternal)–Mongol (maternal) father and a Russian mother. Tszyu's father was a fitter in a metal factory, whereas his mother was a nurse.

Amateur career
As a child, Kostya was hyperactive, so his father decided to take him to a boxing gym, where he would channel that energy by fighting older boys. He impressed the Soviet amateur team coaches and he was sent to the Soviet Union's amateur boxing travelling training camps, where he visited more than 30 countries while training and fighting in tournaments. He trained with that group 250 days a year, and won various tournaments, such as amateur boxing's world championships. At the Cuban world championship tournament in 1987, he came in second place, and at the 1988 Summer Olympics, he lost in the third round.

Tszyu was a member of the Soviet Army, but since he was selected as an elite athlete, he was not required to serve the ordinary duty. He fought at the world championships once again, in Moscow in 1989, where he came in third place.

In 1991, he went again to the amateur world championships, this time held in Sydney. This was a trip that would change his life forever. Not only was the third time his charm, but he felt enchanted with the sights of Sydney and its people, and decided he wanted to live in Australia. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, early the next year, Tszyu emigrated to Australia with his girlfriend, where they married in 1993 and became Australian citizens, settling in Sans Souci, Sydney. Before marrying her, though, Tszyu had already turned professional, beating Darrell Hiles by a knockout in one round on 1 March 1992, at Melbourne.

Highlights
Schwerin Junior Open (57 kg), Schwerin, East Germany, April 1986: European Junior Championships (57 kg), Copenhagen, Denmark, September 1986: Soviet International Junior Tournament (60 kg), Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, December 1986: World Junior Championships (60 kg), Havana, Cuba, July 1987: Soviet International Tournament (60 kg), Leningrad, Soviet Union, December 1987: Soviet National Championships (60 kg), Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, January 1988: USA–USSR Duals (60 kg), Moscow, Soviet Union, March 1988: Pre-Olympic Tournament (60 kg), Seoul, South Korea, March 1988: Soviet International Tournament (60 kg), Leningrad, Soviet Union, June 1988: Summer Olympics (60 kg), Seoul, South Korea, September 1988: Soviet National Championships (60 kg), Frunze, Kyrgyz SSR, January 1989: Golden Belt Tournament (60 kg), Bucharest, Romania, April 1989: European Championships (60 kg), Athens, Greece, May–June 1989:
 * Finals: Lost to Jörg Heidenreich (East Germany) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/8: Defeated Manuel Moreno (Spain) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/4: Defeated Santo Serio (Italy) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/2: Defeated Daniel Dumitrescu (Romania) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * Finals: Defeated Fared Cheklat (France) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * Finals: Defeated Nikolay Dzhachvadze (Georgian SSR) RSC 3
 * 1/4: Defeated D. Boyev (Bulgaria) RSC 3
 * 1/2: Defeated Eduardo Rivas (Panama) KO 2
 * Finals: Lost to Juan Hernández Sierra (Cuba) by majority decision, 1–4
 * Finals: Defeated Serik Nurkazov (Kazakh SSR) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/16: Defeated Adylkan Bekbolotov (Kyrgyz SSR) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/8: Defeated Vladimir Kravtsov (RSFSR) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/4: Defeated Serik Nurkazov (Kazakh SSR) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/2: Defeated Samson Khachatryan (Armenian SSR) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * Finals: Lost to Orzubek Nazarov (Kyrgyz SSR) by split decision, 2–3
 * Defeated Donald Stokes (United States) on points, 16–8
 * Finals: Defeated Andreas Zülow (East Germany) by majority decision, 4–1
 * 1/2: Lost to Julio González (Cuba) on points
 * 1/32: Defeated Leopoldo Cantancio (Philippines) KO 1 (1:28)
 * 1/16: Defeated Sean Knight (Barbados) RSCH 1
 * 1/8: Lost to Andreas Zülow (East Germany) by split decision, 2–3
 * 1/2: Defeated Yevgeny Burchak (RSFSR)
 * Finals: Defeated Orzubek Nazarov (Kyrgyz SSR) RSC 3
 * (no data available)
 * 1/8: Defeated Andreas Zülow (East Germany) by split decision, 3–2
 * 1/4: Defeated George Cramne (Sweden) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * 1/2: Defeated Dave Anderson (Scotland) by walkover
 * Finals: Defeated Daniel Dumitrescu (Romania) by majority decision, 4–1

World Championships (60 kg), Moscow, Soviet Union, September 1989: Bulgaria–Europe Duals (60 kg), Varna, Bulgaria, November 1989: Mayor's Cup (63,5 kg), Manila, Philippines, November 1989: King's Cup (63,5 kg), Bangkok, Thailand, February 1990: USA–USSR Duals (63,5 kg), Moscow, Soviet Union, April 1990: Soviet National Championships (63,5 kg), Lutsk, Ukrainian SSR, April 1990: Goodwill Games (63,5 kg), Seattle, Washington, July 1990: Swedish International Tournament (67 kg), Göteborg, Sweden, December 1990: Soviet National Championships (63,5 kg), Kazan, Tatar SSR, February 1991: USA–USSR Duals (63,5 kg), Spokane, Washington, March 1991: European Championships (63,5 kg), Göteborg, Sweden, May 1991: World Championships (63,5 kg), Sydney, Australia, November 1991:
 * 1/8: Defeated Mark Ramsey (England) on points, 22–3
 * 1/4: Defeated Bo Espensen (Denmark) RSCH 2
 * 1/2: Lost to Andreas Zülow (East Germany) on points, 14–17
 * Defeated Emil Chuprenski (Bulgaria) RET 2
 * 1/4: Defeated Nelson Factoranan (Philippines) KO 1
 * 1/2: Defeated Andreas Otto (East Germany) by decision
 * Finals: Defeated Shannan Taylor (Australia) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * Finals: Defeated Andreas Zülow (East Germany) on points, 17–7
 * Defeated Terron Millett (United States) by unanimous decision, 3–0
 * 1/2: Defeated Vasily Kirilov (RSFSR)
 * Finals: Defeated Aleksandr Banin (Belarus SSR) by decision
 * 1/4: Defeated Vukašin Dobrašinović (Yugoslavia) by walkover
 * 1/2: Defeated Terron Millett (United States) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * Finals: Defeated Aleksandr Banin (Soviet Union) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * Finals: Defeated Sergey Pogosov (Soviet Union) RSC 3
 * 1/2: Defeated Vasily Kirilov (RSFSR)
 * Finals: Defeated Oleg Nikolayev (RSFSR) by unanimous decision, 5–0
 * Lost to Vernon Forrest (United States) by split decision, 2–3
 * 1/16: Defeated James Pender (Scotland) on points, 21–0
 * 1/8: Defeated Darren McCarrick (England) RSC 1
 * 1/4: Defeated Attila Arslan (Turkey) RSC 2
 * 1/2: Defeated Vukašin Dobrašinović (Yugoslavia) on points, 26–6
 * Finals: Defeated Andreas Zülow (Germany) on points, 33–11
 * 1/8: Defeated Albertano Caballero (Mexico) RSC 2
 * 1/4: Defeated Aníbal Acevedo (Puerto Rico) on points, 29–10
 * 1/2: Defeated Moses James (Nigeria) on points, 25–4
 * Finals: Defeated Vernon Forrest (United States) on points, 32–9

1992 Olympics
He was the only Soviet boxer to win a gold medal at the 1991 World Championships in Sydney. Immediately at the Championships he was approached by local boxing promoters, deciding to pass up the 1992 Summer Olympics in favor of a professional career. A week later he signed with Australian promoter Bill Mordey as his manager and Johnny Lewis as his trainer in Sydney. Tszyu finished his amateur career with 270 fights, 259 wins, 11 losses, no stoppages and no draws. His professional debut was scheduled to take place in January 1992. Mordey described Tszyu as the best boxer he had seen in the past decade.

Professional career
Tszyu started raising his quality of opposition almost immediately. In his fourth professional bout, he met the former WBC Featherweight Champion Juan Laporte, decisioning him over ten rounds. In his sixth bout, he beat contender Sammy Fuentes by a knockout in the first. Fuentes would go on to win a world title years after being handily beaten by Tszyu in 1993, Steve Larrimore, Larry La Crousiere and Robert Rivera, went to Australia to fight Tszyu, and none lasted more than two rounds. The only man to last more than two rounds with Tszyu in 1993 was Livingstone Bramble, a former World Lightweight Champion, who lost by decision to Tszyu at Newcastle, New South Wales.

In 1994, Héctor López, Angel Hernandez (who had just come off of a loss after challenging Julio César Chávez for the WBC belt), and Pedro Chinito Sanchez from the Dominican Republic tried to beat Tszyu, but Tszyu beat Lopez by a decision in ten, Hernandez by a knockout in seven, and Sanchez by a knockout in four. After the win against Sanchez, Tszyu was ranked number one in the light welterweight division.

WBC light-welterweight champion
In 1995, he received his first world title shot when he fought IBF Light Welterweight Champion Jake Rodríguez at Las Vegas, Nevada. Tszyu became world champion by knocking Rodriguez out in the sixth round. He then defended the world title, beating former Super Featherweight and Light Welterweight World Champion Roger Mayweather by a decision in 12, Hugo Pineda by a knockout in 11, Cory Johnson by a knockout in four and Jan Bergman by a knockout in six. After this string of defences, Tszyu became a highly touted world Champion by many boxing magazines, and many articles about him appeared on The Ring, KO Magazine and other American boxing publications.

Title defences
Tsyzu began 1997 with a title defense against Leonardo Moro Mas. Tsyzu knocked Mas down three times in the first round. Including a blow shortly before the bell. In a controversial decision, referee Joe Cortez judged that it was an "unintentional illegal blow", believing it to be shortly after the bell. As Mas was either unable or unwilling to continue, Cortez called the bout a technical draw. The IBF and the Nevada Athletic Commission later declared it a no-contest. In his next fight he would suffer his first loss, a 10th round knockout to Vince Phillips, who would claim the world title.

After beating former world champions Calvin Grove (KO 1) and Rafael Ruelas (KO 9), Tszyu was given another world title try, when the WBC's belt became vacant in 1998 following Oscar De La Hoya's move to the welterweight division. Tszyu found himself twice on the canvas in round one of his fight for the interim belt against Diosbelys Hurtado, but recuperated to beat Hurtado by a knockout in five. He became world champion once again in 1999 by knocking out former world champion Miguel Ángel González in ten, and twice retained it in 2000, beating Arizona's fringe contender Ahmed Santos in eight, and a 38-year-old Mexican legend Julio César Chávez, the former world champion, in six at Phoenix, Arizona. Kostya was interviewed by Ray Wheatley on YouTube in 2011 and stated he regards his win over Miguel Angel Gonzalez as his best ever performance.

Undisputed light-welterweight champion
Tszyu then began pursuing his wish to unify all the belts. In 2001, he began by facing WBA Champion Sharmba Mitchell, taking the belt by a TKO after seven rounds (Mitchell suffered a knee injury in training, and during the bout). His next fight was against the German Turk, Oktay Urkal. Tszyu finished 2001 by recovering his IBF belt in a unification bout with the current champion Zab Judah, by a knockout in the second round. A small melee inside the ring followed that fight when Judah attacked referee Jay Nady for what he felt was a premature stoppage, reacting by throwing his corner's seat at the referee and even trying to choke Nady with his glove at one point. However, replays clearly show Judah walking on wobbly legs. As a result, Tszyu became the first man in 30 years to unify the belts in the light welterweight division.

Tszyu in 2002 had only one bout, beating the top-ranked contender of all three of his belts, Ben Tackie of Ghana by a decision in twelve rounds. Tszyu lost only one round on only one of the judges scorecards in a masterful display of boxing.

On 19 January 2003, Tszyu began the year by retaining his title against former world champion Jesse James Leija by a knockout in six. After the fight, held in Melbourne, Tszyu announced that fight could be his last in Australia, due to pressure from promoters to fight in the United States (The win against Leija came on the birthday of Tszyu's son.).

Tszyu vs. Mitchell II
His first fight in 2004 was supposed to have been held on 7 February in a rematch against Sharmba Mitchell. It would have been Tszyu's first fight as a professional in Moscow, but Tszyu injured his shoulder during training. He had successful surgery to correct the problem, but the injury further extended his absence from the ring. The WBA stripped Tszyu of his title for choosing to fight Mitchell instead of their regular champion, Vivian Harris, while the WBC stripped Tszyu for refusing to fight their mandatory, Gianluca Branco.

On 6 November, he and Mitchell finally had their rematch, with Tszyu knocking Mitchell out once again, this time in three rounds. Tszyu was voted comeback fighter of the year by Ring magazine.

Dethroned by Hatton
He next fought on 5 June 2005, against British boxer Ricky Hatton, Tszyu lost this fight and his world title by RTD (Referee technical decision) after retiring on his stool at the end of the 11th round. He was also behind on all three cards (by 1, 3 and 5 points).

Potential comeback
On 30 January 2007 rumours spread of a Tszyu comeback. However, there was no confirmation. In April 2010, rumours about a possible comeback of Tszyu spread again. He continued to train and stayed in shape since his 2005 loss to Ricky Hatton. On 19 April 2010, Tszyu appeared on Long Lunch Today, an Australian TV program. During the show, he denied his retirement and said he would return if a fight with Shane Mosley, Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. could be made.

Personal life
Tszyu married Natasha Anikina on 24 September 1993. He has three children; Anastasia, Nikita and Tim. Nikita and Tim are both boxers. Tszyu initially moved with his family to Moscow in 2008, but they returned to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In September 2012, Tszyu left his family in Australia while he moved full-time to live in Russia. Tszyu is now married to Tatiana Averina, with whom he has two children, and runs a restaurant in Moscow.

Tszyu is an animal lover who owns several pets including Viking, a rottweiler who has been Tszyu's companion since he arrived in Australia; Jake, his pet diamond python; canaries and fish. Tszyu appeared with the animals on the pet show Harry's Practice in 2002.

Legal disputes
Tszyu has been in several court battles with his managers. Most recently, his ex-manager Susie Bennell took him to court, alleging Tszyu owed her money. Tszyu was also ordered to repay $3.5 million to his former manager Bill Mordey in an unrelated civil suit. In journalist Paul Kent's biography of long time trainer Johnny Lewis, allegations were made that Tszyu had underpaid Lewis for his services. The dispute was settled out of court.