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Where Does Tszyu Go From Here? And What Will His Fans Do Now? Will "The Thrill” Trillo
When James Leija stopped fighting due to injury
against Mickey Ward, he carried a stigma around with him for a
very long time, even though his injuries were obvious to all who
witnessed the fight.
When the invincible Roberto
Duran turned his back on Ray Leonard and refused to fight on, he
labeled himself a quitter and the term “No Mas” has become as
synonymous with the fighter as his ‘Hands of Stone” moniker.
Now it’s time for Kostya Tszyu
to face the scrutiny of his fans and his peers for failing to
answer the bell for the final round of his fight with New 140
pound champion, Ricky Hatton. In Kostya’s defense, it appeared
as though his cornerman Jimmy Lewis was the one who suggested
that Kostya should not fight on, and to that question Lewis
received no answer from the falling Champ, so as Kostya said, “
Lewis made the decision for me, and I din’t complain!”
But the one statement that
will stay fresh on the minds of many is Kostya’s post fight
comment when asked about quitting on his stool, "It would be
impossible for me to win". As a die hard Tszyu fan that
statement alone made me cringe. We are talking about a fighter
who has been at the top of his game for a long time now, a
fighter who even after a long layoff due to serious injury, came
back to destroy Sharmba Mitchell with the greatest of ease.
With one round left to go, it
was impossible for Kostya to get a decision, but I for one was
hoping that somewhere in those final three minutes Kostya would
muster up the tenacity to land one of those patented right hands
and put Ricky down on the seat of his trousers, but when the
referee waved this one off, all my hopes as well as everyone in
The Tszyu crew were over, there was nothing more we could hope
for in this one.
For Kostya’s true followers,
this one is going to sting for a while, maybe forever. Kostya
gave no indication whether or not he will ask for a rematch, for
that matter Kostya gave no hint that we will ever see him in the
ring again, and at 35 years old the chances of us seeing him and
his ponytail bouncing around the ring again are not certain.
What is certain is this, Kostya was thoroughly dominated by the
4 to 1 underdog Hatton, Tszyu had his moments but he never was
able to take control like most of us have come to expect from
him.
The question now is how many
are going to jump off the proverbial Kostya Tszyu bandwagon? I
for one will not, and I hope his Tszyu Crew can follow suit.
It was high drama in
Manchester and the hometown boy prevailed! My hats off to
Hatton, who after the fight said he would be happy to give Tszyu
a rematch. That is the one glimmer of hope Kostyas fans can
cling on to after this dreadful loss. Maybe just maybe Tszyu
will go home and get some much needed rest and then come to the
realization that this is no way for a fighter to end his career.
No one wants their last memory of Kostya to be him retiring on
his stool in the corner, no one! Not me, not his adoring fans,
and hopefully not Kostya! |
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