Kostya Tszyu

Kostya Tszyu (born September 19, 1969) isRussia born boxer whoan Australian citizentwo time world junior welterweight champion.

The son offitter inmetal factory andnurse, Tszyu was born intown named Serov, nearUral Mountains.

Tszyuhis family, including sister Olga, usedshare an apartmentanother family,Tszyu usedsleep onfloor. Tszyu was hyperactive aschild,his father decidedtake him toboxing gym, where he would channel that energy by fighting older boys. Soon, Tszyu impressed Russia's amateur team coacheshe was sent toSoviet Union's amateur boxing travelling training camps, where he gotvisit more than 30 countries while trainingfightingtournaments. He trainedthat group 250 daysyear,won various tournaments, such as amateur boxing's world championships. He also participated inOlympic Games. AtCuban world championship tournament1987, he camesecond place,atSeoul Olympic games, he lost inthird round.

Kostya wasmember ofSoviet military too, but since he was selected as an elite athlete, he did not haveparticipateany wars.

He fought atworld championships once again,Moscow1989, where he camethird place.

In 1991, he went again toamateur world championships, this time heldSydney. This wastrip that would change his life forever. Not only wasthird time his charm, but he felt enchanted withsightsSydneyits people,decided he wantedliveAustralia.

Aftercollapse ofSoviet Union,1992, Tszyu escaped fromRussian armyfledAustraliahis girlfriend, wheremarried1993became Australian citizens. Before marrying her, though, Tszyu had already turned professional, beating Darrell Hiles byknockoutone round on March 1, 1992 at Melbourne.

Tszyu started raising his qualityopposition almost immediately. In his fourth professional bout, he metformer WBC Featherweight champion ofworld Juan Laporte, decisioning him over ten rounds. In his sixth bout, he beatfuture WBO junior welterweight champion ofworld Sammy Fuentes byknockout infirst. In 1993, Steve Larrimore, Larry La CrousiereRobert Rivera, all fringe contenders, wentAustraliafight Tszyu,none lasted more than two rounds. The only manlast more than two roundsTszyu'93 was Livingstone Bramble,former world Lightweght champion, who lost by decisionTszyu at Newcastle, Australia.

In 1994, Hector Lopez, who would later challenge Fuentes forworld title, Angel Hernandez, who had just come off challenging Julio Cesar Chavez forWBC beltPedro Chinito Sanchez,fringe contender fromDominican Republic triedbeat Tszyu, but Tszyu beat Lopez bydecisionten, Hernandez byknockoutseven,Sanchez byknockoutfour. Afterwin against Sanchez, Tszyu was ranked number one inJr. Welterweights.

And then,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 insixth round,then defendedworld title beating former world junior lightweightjunior welterweight champion Roger Mayweather bydecision12, Hugo Pineda byknockout11, Cory Johnson byknockoutfour,Jan Bergman byknockoutsix. After that stringdefenses, Tszyu becamehighly touted world champion by many boxing magazines,many articles about him appeared on Ring Magazine, KO Magazine,other American boxing publications.

1997 beganTszyu when his defense against Leonardo Moro Mas was declaredno contest because Mas' camp protested thatblow that finished their fight infirst round was actuallylow blow. Undecided whetherwaslow blow orlegal blow,IBF andNevada State Athletic commission decideddeclare itno contest instead. For his next bout, however, Tszyu wasn't as lucky,he lost forfirst time, losing byknockoutten roundsVince Phillips, who also tookthat, Tzsyu's world championship. He regrouped after that defeat,came backbeat Ismael Chaves just before year's end.

After beating former world champions Calvin Grove (KO2)Rafael Ruelas (KO9), Tszyu was given another world title try, whenWBC's belt became vacant1998 following Oscar De La Hoya's move toWelterweight division,Tszyu found himself twice oncanvasround onehis fight forvacant belt against Diobelis Hurtado, but recuperatedbeat Hurtado byknockoutfivebecome world champion once again. He retainedtitle once1999, knocking out former world champion Miguel Angel Gonzalezten,twice2000, beating Arizona's fringe contender Ahmed Santoseight,Mexican legend Chavez,former world champion,six at Phoenix, Arizona.

Then, he started talking about his wishunify allbelts. In 2001, he began that quest by facingWBA's world champion Sharmba MitchelltakingWBA belt from Mitchell byknockoutseven. After that, he met another Russian, Oktay Urkal, whom he beat by12 round decision after 12 rounds. Finally, he finished 2001 by recovering his IBF beltan unification bout withuntil then IBF world champion Zab Judah, who was knocked outtwo. A small melee insidering followed that fight, because Judah thought thatfight had been stopped earlyhe got mad atreferee, throwing his corner's seat at him. By then, however, Tszyu wasgonein his dressing room. That win was chosen by Ring Magazine as their "Knockout ofYear".

Tszyu2002 had only one bout, beating fringe contender Ben TackieGhana bydecision12.

On January 192003, Tszyu beganyear by retaining his title against former world champion Jesse James Leija byknockoutsix. Afterfight, heldMelbourne, Tszyu announced that fight could be his lastAustralia because promoters want himfight more inUnited States. The win against Leija came onbirthdayTszyu's son.

His plans2003 included defending his title various times. He has been tryingget inring againPhillips,he also triedfightWBO world champion Demarcus Corley, but negotiations towards those two fightstake place2003 were not successful. Furthermore,became more complicated when Phillips lostRicky HattonCorley lost his titleJudah,Tszyu ended up being inactiverest ofyear.

His first fight2004 was supposedbe held on February 7 inrematch against former world champion Mitchell. It would have been Tszyu's first fight asprofessionalMoscow, but Tszyu got his shoulder injured during training. He had successful surgerycorrectproblem, butinjure further accentuated hislay off from boxing.

His record currently is30 professional wins (of which 25 were by knockout), one lossone no contest.

Heconsidered by manyAustraliabenational sports hero.