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Kosta Tszyu Boxer Autograph
A Colour 8x10 Action Autograph from one of
the boxing Legends of the modern era Kosta Tszyu.
Kosta Tszyu
SOLD
Comes with a photo of Tszyu Signing
Kostya Tszyu (born September 19, 1969) is a Russia born
boxer who is an Australian citizen and two time world junior
welterweight champion.
The son of a fitter in a metal factory and a nurse, Tszyu
was born in a town named Serov , near the Ural Mountains.
Tszyu and his family, including sister Olga, used to share
an apartment with another family, and Tszyu used to sleep
on the floor. Tszyu was hyperactive as a child, and his
father decided to take him to a boxing gym, where he would
channel that energy by fighting older boys. Soon, Tszyu
impressed Russia's amateur team coaches and he was sent
to the Soviet Union's amateur boxing travelling training
camps, where he got to visit 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. He also participated
in the Olympic Games. At the Cuban world championship tournament
in 1987, he came in second place, and at the Seoul Olympic
games, he lost in the third round.
Kostya was a member of the Soviet military too, but since
he was selected as an elite athlete, he did not have to
participate in any wars.
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.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1992, Tszyu
escaped from the Russian army and fled to Australia with
his girlfriend, where they married in 1993 and became Australian
citizens. Before marrying her, though, Tszyu had already
turned professional, beating Darrell Hiles by a knockout
in one round on March 1, 1992 at Melbourne.
Tszyu started raising his quality of opposition almost
immediately. In his fourth professional bout, he met the
former WBC Featherweight champion of the world Juan Laporte,
decisioning him over ten rounds. In his sixth bout, he beat
the future WBO junior welterweight champion of the world
Sammy Fuentes by a knockout in the first. In 1993, Steve
Larrimore , Larry La Crousiere and Robert Rivera , all fringe
contenders, 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 '93 was Livingstone Bramble, a former
world Lightweght champion, who lost by decision to Tszyu
at Newcastle, Australia.
In 1994, Hector Lopez , who would later challenge Fuentes
for the world title, Angel Hernandez , who had just come
off challenging Julio Cesar Chavez for the WBC belt and
Pedro Chinito Sanchez , a fringe contender 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 Jr. Welterweights.
And then, in 1995, he received his first world title shot,
when he fought IBF world junior welterweight champion Jake
Rodriguez at Las Vegas, Nevada. Tszyu became world champion
by knocking Rodriguez out in the sixth round, and then defended
the world title beating former world junior lightweight
and junior welterweight 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 that string of defenses, Tszyu became a highly touted
world champion by many boxing magazines, and many articles
about him appeared on Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, and other
American boxing publications.
1997 began for Tszyu when his defense against Leonardo
Moro Mas was declared a no contest because Mas' camp protested
that the blow that finished their fight in the first round
was actually a low blow . Undecided whether it was a low
blow or a legal blow, the IBF and the Nevada State Athletic
commission decided to declare it a no contest instead. For
his next bout, however, Tszyu wasn't as lucky, and he lost
for the first time, losing by a knockout in ten rounds to
Vince Phillips , who also took with that, Tzsyu's world
championship. He regrouped after that defeat, and came back
to beat Ismael Chaves just before year's end.
After beating former world champions Calvin Grove (KO2)
and Rafael Ruelas (KO9), 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, and
Tszyu found himself twice on the canvas in round one of
his fight for the vacant belt against Diobelis Hurtado ,
but recuperated to beat Hurtado by a knockout in five and
become world champion once again. He retained the title
once in 1999, knocking out former world champion Miguel
Angel Gonzalez in ten, and twice in 2000, beating Arizona's
fringe contender Ahmed Santos in eight, and Mexican legend
Chavez, the former world champion, in six at Phoenix, Arizona.
Then, he started talking about his wish to unify all the
belts. In 2001, he began that quest by facing the WBA's
world champion Sharmba Mitchell and taking the WBA belt
from Mitchell by a knockout in seven. After that, he met
the German Turk, Oktay Urkal , whom he beat by a heavily
disputed 12 round decision after 12 rounds. Finally, he
finished 2001 by recovering his IBF belt in an unification
bout with the until then IBF world champion Zab Judah ,
who was knocked out in two. A small melee inside the ring
followed that fight, because Judah thought that the fight
had been stopped early and he got mad at the referee, throwing
his corner's seat at him. By then, however, Tszyu was long
gone and in his dressing room. That win was chosen by Ring
Magazine as their "Knockout of the Year".
Tszyu in 2002 had only one bout, beating fringe contender
Ben Tackie of Ghana by a decision in 12.
On January 19 of 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
because promoters want him to fight more in the United States.
The win against Leija came on the birthday of Tszyu's son.
His plans for 2003 included defending his title various
times. He has been trying to get in the ring again with
Phillips, and he also tried to fight with WBO world champion
Demarcus Corley, but negotiations towards those two fights
to take place in 2003 were not successful. Furthermore,
they became more complicated when Phillips lost to Ricky
Hatton and Corley lost his title to Judah, and Tszyu ended
up being inactive the rest of the year.
His first fight in 2004 was supposed to be held on February
7 in a rematch against former world champion Mitchell. It
would have been Tszyu's first fight as a professional in
Moscow, but Tszyu got his shoulder injured during training.
He had successful surgery to correct the problem, but the
injure further accentuated his long lay off from boxing.
On November 6, he and Mitchell finally had their rematch,
and Tszyu knocked Mitchell out in three rounds, once again,
at Phoenix, Arizona.
His record currently is of 32 professional wins (of which
25 were by knockout), one loss and one no contest.
He is considered by many in Australia to be a national
sports hero.
