It has been an extremely long 22 months for Kostya Tszyu fans such as
myself. Not just because one of the world's most skilled and entertaining
fighters has been out of action for so long, but also because of whining
Sharmba Mitchell who made all kinds of ridiculous statement about why Tszyu
had pulled out of their scheduled bout. But now it is here and in just over
a week we will see whether Kostya Tszyu is still a force in boxing or on his
way out or whether Sharmba Mitchell can win a BIG fight against a top
opponent or whether he will prove himself to be an empty vessel making a lot
of noise.
The popular opinion seems to be that Sharmba Mitchell will be too
sharp due to the amount of fights he has had during the time Tszyu has been
inactive, a fair point of view. People also point to Tszyu's age and that he
will probably grow old overnight in this bout. But opinions count for
little (mine included) because just like a certain part of human anatomy,
everyone has an opinion! With that said I am going to express my views on
how I see this bout eventuating and highlight a few factors from the past
that I see as being very relevant.
The first Tszyu-Mitchell bout back in 2001 disappointed me on so
many levels. Firstly, Kostya Tszyu was not sharp at all that day and his
timing was pretty ordinary so we did not see him landing his usual big
punches. Secondly, Mitchell was so scared of Tszyu's power that he ran so
much (even with the allegedly hurt knee) and held for dear life every time
the two fighters became close. Thirdly, referee Joe Cortez favored
Mitchell's style by penalizing Tszyu one point for throwing Sharmba when he clinched
and Mitchell was not warned for holding. Last of all Mitchell QUIT in his
corner. His corner did not stop the fight, I have reviewed the video footage at least one hundred times and it is clear that Mitchell did not wish
to continue.
My belief is that Mitchell wanted to save face by not being knocked out and
thus ensure his future would be brighter while being able to claim a rematch as it was his knee that stopped him from continuing.
Many people seemed to think that the more Tszyu hit Mitchell, the more his
knee hurt. Zab Judah, a noted trash talker in regards to Kostya Tszyu, was of
this opinion.
By quitting in their first fight Sharmba Mitchell denied
Kostya Tszyu a legitimate KO and that left me feeling ripped off as a
pay per view customer. Tszyu knows Mitchell quit the first time around and
deep down Mitchell knows he quit regardless of his many ranting & ravings
since.
I believe this fight will have some similarities to the first but
also some differences. I do believe Mitchell will come out and use his speed
and movement early and probably look good in the process. It would not
surprise me to see Mitchell win the first two rounds while Tszyu
analyzes and assesses his opponent, looking for opportunities and
weaknesses. A fighter like Mitchell may look good and may fight well in the
early rounds, but this is only good if you score an early stoppage, if a
fighter fades as the bout progresses, it is a bad thing. Mitchell starts
fast and fades during a bout, Tszyu starts slow and just gets stronger.
I have noticed in his bouts with Ben Tackie & Lovemore N'dou that
Mitchell is not moving as much as he used to and he is getting hit more
also. For an ALLEGEDLY good defensive fighter, Sharmba Mitchell gets hit a
lot. Why? He keeps his hands down a lot. Even though Mitchell dominated
Tackie I was very surprised that a fighter with limited skills (but good
power) such as Tackie who frequently telegraphs most of his punches could
hit Mitchell with such regularity with the right hand. Lovemore N'dou is a
much more skilled fighter than Tackie and hit Mitchell with much more
regularity. Sharmba Mitchell was very lucky to win this bout as N'dou only
had two weeks to prepare for his shot at the title and only missed out by a
whisker in my opinion (yes, I had Mitchell winning by a point). If Mitchell
is hit as often by Tszyu as he was by Tackie & N'dou and cleanly, there will
be a big difference in the result as Tszyu's speed, accuracy and technique is
better than these fighters.
As far as age is concerned, I believe this factor will work against
Mitchell as it might hinder his ability to run and slip punches. Mitchell
does make use of a good defense with his gloves so I'm expecting him to hold
a lot in this bout. If this happens, Tszyu will throw him off again.
Hopefully we will have a fair referee this time. I have said many times
before that fighters are paid to throw punches, not run and hold. Tszyu is
the ultimate professional when it comes to preparation, he knows his body
and what he is capable of doing in the ring. He is like Bernard Hopkins in
the matter that age will more than likely not affect him.
Concerning recent activity, Mitchell has the edge here obviously
fighting three bouts that went the full twelve rounds against very good
competition and one recent sacrificial lamb since Tszyu last fought. So as
an educated guess we should expect Sharmba to be fit to see out 12 rounds of
boxing. Whether Mitchell's activity makes a difference remains to be seen as
I witnessed Tszyu sparring with DeMarcus Corley in January and he was in
awesome form.
A conversation I had recently with Grantlee Kieza (Chief
Boxing writer for Daily Telegraph in Sydney) concerning Tszyu's sparring
form indicates that Kostya Tszyu is once again in great shape and Sharmba
Mitchell should be worried. Whilst Tszyu hasn't been fighting official bouts,
I'm sure has has done more than enough work with Sam Soliman & DeMarcus
Corley as well as his other sparring partners to be ready. Remember that IBF
Light Heavyweight title fight a few years ago when William Guthrie, a young, big bad
puncher took his first defense against former middleweight title holder
Reggie Johnson? Reggie had not fought in the ring for two years due to
contractual issues and he knocked his man out cold with a single punch. The
message is, don't underestimate TSZYU!
One thing Mitchell has done that I believe will make a difference is
his Trash Talking. What kind of idiot calls Kostya Tszyu a bum and says he
is scared and avoiding a fight? Tszyu, who has been very gracious in both
victory and defeat, is a man who has taken on all comers and has never side
stepped anyone. Really, does anyone other than Sharmba and his team believe
that garbage?
Tszyu is not intimidated by this kind of crap and he has taken
some of Mitchell's past comments personally and he intends to make Sharmba
pay in blood and pain. You can only poke a sleeping bear (Russian Bear in
this instance!) with a stick before he wakes up wanting to tear apart
his tormentor but so many times. Tszyu is no longer asleep, Mitchell has his attention and I
am very confident that Sharmba's cheap insults will come back to haunt him.
A fact a lot of readers don't know, Sharmba Mitchell was signed and
scheduled to fight Kostya Tszyu in Sydney, Australia in May 1996... I probably still have my
ticket with his name on it! For reasons unknown to me Sharmba Mitchell
pulled out of this fight with less than two weeks notice and Tszyu was
forced to find a late replacement (Corey Johnston TKO'ed by body punches in
the 4th round). Sharmba Mitchell has a short and conveniently selective memory indeed!
How will the bout pan out? I think we will see Mitchell try and be
more assertive from the start and that would be a mistake. If Mitchell
stands in front of Tszyu we might see a bout that resembles Tszyu's demolition
of Jake Rodriguez back in 1995. After having some minor success early in the
first round Tszyu will land something heavy and hard and Mitchell will the
revert to running and holding. I foresee Mitchell winning the first two rounds
on the judges scorecards and then Tszyu will pick up the pace in round 3 and
gradually increase the pressure.
Mitchell will make the fight competitive as
he does have a certain degree of heart, but as he takes more punishment the
desire will reduce and he will start looking for a way out. I expect Tszyu
will land much harder punches than he did in the first fight, Mitchell said
that Tszyu didn't hit that hard but his face told the real story as there
was blood coming from his mouth and nose, his face was swollen and he was cut over one eye. With Tszyu punching sharper and
harder this time round, Mitchell who has openly stated he is injury free,
will throw an all out assault around the 7th or 8th round that will be his
last hurrah. By the 9th round I see most of Mitchell's lateral movement gone
or rendered ineffective. Tszyu will then up the tempo even more to score a
9th round TKO having beaten the will to fight out of "The Little Big Mouth."
Some people may laugh at my prediction, especially considering Tszyu's
absence from the ring. Personally, the only way I can see Mitchell winning
this bout is if he establishes an early lead whilst Tszyu is starting slowly
and we have a clash of heads and the referee goes to the scorecards. If this
happens you can be sure that Mitchell won't be offering Tszyu a rematch. He
would come out with garbage like "It would have been a matter time before I
took him out" and "I have proved who the best man is and he doesn't deserve
a rematch." If Mitchell loses, as I expect him too, it remains to be seen
whether Mitchell comes up with excuses or concedes that Tszyu is the better
man. I'm picking that he will make some kind of excuse. I think the bout
will end in the 9th round but unlike the demise of superstars Oscar de la
Hoya and Roy Jones Jnr. in this round, the superstar will emerge victorious.
