It has been a long wait for us loyal Kostya Tszyu fans but soon our hunger to see our hero fight will be satisfied.

The opponent is Ben Tackie, a tough and deserving challenger who has been rewarded as the No.1 IBF contender for taking tough fights against decent opposition. Tackie has been defeated in the last couple of years on points to Goyo Vargas and John John Molina, two tough ex-champs.

To his credit Tackie has decided to fight credible opponents since these defeats, such as Roberto Garcia, Freddy Pendleton, Golden Johnston, (who coincidently is one of Tszyu's current sparring partners), Ray Oliveira and Teddy Reid. I applaud the IBF for rewarding Tackie with this ranking as he has earned his title shot the hard way after suffering two relatively recent losses. I can only hope the WBC follows the IBF's and WBA's (I'll discuss Tszyu fighting the winner of Bailey-Hurtardo in another article) lead and force Gianluca Branco to face the No.2 or No.3 contender for the WBC's mandatory shot at Tszyu.

Remebering Tackie's bout with Molina and Vargas live on pay per view a few years ago (I only saw them once) and reviewing his bouts against Pendleton, Garcia, Reid and highlights of the Oliveira bout last weekend there are some positive things which come to mind about Tackie. He is tough, fit, focused, fearless, relentless and has a very solid chin! These are all qualities that Miguel Angel Gonzalez possessed before his bout with Tszyu. Some not so good qualities that Tackie shares with Gonzalez are he is easy to hit, he has very little head movement, vulnerable to the jab, slow hand speed and he does not hit as hard as he is given credit for.

All of these factors make me believe that the bout will be a disaster for Ben Tackie. Some people remind me that Tszyu struggled with Oktay Urkal. My view was Tszyu only struggled to knock him out (never came close actually). Tszyu in my opinion only lost two rounds in that bout, three at best. Yes Urkal had a big 12th round and Tszyu was surprised with Urkal's final assault, but he was never in trouble. It was a clear cut points victory for Tszyu and the only thing controversial was that the judges gave more rounds than they should have to Urkal. To Urkal's credit he was tough, fit, mobile and very awkward which enabled him see out the full 12 rounds.

Tackie to me is more like Gonzalez and Rafael Ruelas. Just as tough and just as predictable. I always though the ref stopped De La Hoya-Ruelas too early, his chin held well against Tszyu's bigger hits and Gonzalez was never hurt by De la Hoya. But both men were given career changing beatings by Tszyu and were never the same afterwards. I see the same thing happening to Ben Tackie. Yes Ben has a very good chin but was not hit that hard by Molina, Johnston, Garcia, Oliveira or Reid and I don't believe his chin has been tested the way it soon will be. I expect Tackie outlook on the fight will change when Tszyu lands his first big punch (like in the 2nd round against Gonzalez).

Tackie has a reputation as being a big puncher and yes he can bang a bit. However, I feel this reputation is a bit overated and he does not hit as hard as Jan Bergman, Zab Judah or Vince Phillips (it took Vince quite a few big right hands to hurt Tszyu). Tszyu does have a good chin and a very good defense. He is only just starting to get some credit in the U.S.A. for these attributes now. Tackie will have his moments and land some decent punches. Tackie does not have the speed, finess, accuracy or power to win this bout. It is hard for me to see a Vince Phillips style victory emerging for Tackie.

I am expecting Tszyu to outbox Tackie with similar tactics as he employed in his bouts with Ruelas, Gonzalez, Chavez and Santos. These guys had a similar style to Tackie's and they all had good chin at the time and were all stopped. Tszyu will box Tackie setting up everything with a superior and under-appreciated jab (under-appreciated by his critics) and picking his power shots to the head. Tszyu will use some movement to avoid most of Tackie's wild swings without running away and still keep Tackie within his own punching range. Tszyu won't find it hard to hit Tackie as he constanly comes forward and also leans towards his opponent. Tackie seems to hold his hands high and tight and if Tszyu finds it hard to get a clean opening he will probably go to the body.

If Tszyu goes to the body like he did in the Hurtardo bout then the bout could be over by the 6th round. If Tszyu sticks to his usual head attack, I see him stopping Tackie around the 10th round. It would not surprise me if Tackie lasts the distance due to his fitness and good chin but I doubt it as he will take more flush punches than Urkal did and Tackie has not shown much movement in the past. I hope his corner knows when to throw in the towel because I predict Tackie won't be counted out, I'm sure he will be stopped on his feet like Gonzalez and Ruelas. If Joe Goossen is still in Tackie's corner he will know when the time is right. I don't want to see Tackie get seriously hurt and fit brave men with good chins often get hurt in this sport.