almostaugust

Yes, he deserves his very own thread.

Australian boxer Kostya Tszyu has retained his International Boxing Federation super lightweight title after stopping American Sharmba Mitchell in the third round of their bout in Phoenix Arizona this afternoon

He is truly one of the greats. Pound for pound one of the hardest hitters in the world. And what an bloody good ambasador for Australia. He has gotta be the most polite boxers around. Mitchell called him some hurtful names through the press but Kostya still has the good nature to praise Mitchell for his efforts. What an inspirational athlete.
Did i mention that the man hasnt fought in two years, before todays fight.
Im going back down the pub.

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'And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass'

bond007

Kostya Tszyu is indeed a great fighter... but he's a native of Serov, Russia.

almostaugust

Yep, but he imigrated to Australia about 10 years ago and got citizenship. He more than many others makes me a proud australian. He is a top bloke aswell as a talented sportsmen, two things which go a long way down here. You wont here him trashtalking, you wont see him on the red carpet and you wont see him raping women. He is a true professional, and his right cross does most of his talking for him.

__________________
'And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass'

spindles

Lots of people change countries. I Australia booted out all those people not born here, it would be slim pickings indeed.

In any case - where he is from does not detract from what he is.

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who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

docbungle

Caught the replay of this, as I missed it originally. Kostya clearly dominated from the opening bell. Sharmba seemed to be throwing hard punches, but Kostya's chin just seemed to be much stronger. What an exciting fight. 100% action for 3 rounds.

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Bad Luck City

almostaugust

Yeah, Mitchell looked energetic, especially early on. Kostya's right hand is so powerful though. Mitchell said he had never been hit like that in his life.

I was reading how Kostya's wife was in labour having thier child. He didnt think it was right her being in pain alone so he vowed to do 300 pushups between every contraction. He said it got pretty tough when the contractions got down to 2 minutes apart.

__________________
'And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass'