Zodiac sign:Virgo/Rooster (Oriental calendar)
Family:wife - Natalya Tszyu, runs the family business; children - Timofey (14 years old), Nikita (11 years old), Anastasia (6 years old)
Career:He fought 282 fights in the amateur ring, scoring 270 victories. Since 1992, he switched to professional boxing, and then, having won the world championship in Sydney, he moved to Australia. He had 34 professional fights, but since 2006, after losing a fight with Ricky Hatton, he has not entered the ring.
Ranks:two-time winner of youth boxing championships, European amateur champion, absolute world champion according to WBC, WBA, IBF
Flavors:food - pilaf; drink - red wine; film - “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath” by Eldar Ryazanov; book - “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov, perfume - from Chanel, car - Bentley Arnage, place on the planet - house in Australia
Hobby:collects watches and cognac
Tszyu Konstantin(Konstantin Tszyu) was born
September 19, 1969 in Russia in the Urals in the city of Serov.
As a child Kostya Tszyu was a kind and sympathetic boy. Kostya Tszyu helped his parents with housework and looked after his younger sister.
Kostya Tszyu was an inquisitive and nimble boy, he loved animals very much and constantly brought home some animals. His energy was overflowing, and in order to channel it in the right direction, the father decided to enroll his son in the boxing section.
Kostya Tszyu turned out to be a very gifted boy and soon he defeated his much older opponents. Kostya Tszyu caught the eye of the coaches and from then on he began his journey to big boxing. Kostya Tszyu spent 250 days a year in the camp and by the age of 21 he had already visited 30 different countries.
In 1978, Kostya Tszyu first entered the ring within the walls of the Serov Youth Sports School.
Kostya Tszyu’s first mentor, who laid the foundations for the future champion’s skill, was V.Ts. Cherny. After months of hard training, the first victories appeared - first at the level of the city, district, region, and after 5-7 years - at republican and then union competitions.
Kostya Tszyu became the winner of the first All-Russian youth games 1985, winner of the USSR Junior Championship in 1986 and 1987, finalist of the 1988 USSR Championship and, finally, was the USSR champion in 1989-1991.
From the age of 15, Kostya Tszyu began to participate in international competitions.
After a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in Cuba in 1987 and a junior gold medal at the European Championships in Denmark in 1986, Kostya Tszyu, 16 years old, began to be invited to the training camp of the adult USSR national team.
At the age of 16, as a member of the RSFSR men's team, Kostya Tszyu participated in his first international tournament among adults, which took place in Czechoslovakia, and became a prize-winner there.
Kostya Tszyu had to fight many more fights at international competitions that took place around the world as part of the USSR national team.
In 1988, the XXIV Olympic Games follow in Seoul. At the Olympic championship, Kostya Tszyu loses to a boxer who subsequently wins Olympic gold. As if by fate, Kostya Tszyu meets with this boxer again in Moscow, but again suffers defeat.
Kostya Tszyu won the title of champion and best boxer in Europe at the European Championships in Greece in 1989 and Sweden in 1991, and became a medalist at the World Championships in Moscow in 1989.
Kostya Tszyu was the winner of the Goodwill Games in Seattle in 1990. It was the most interesting and productive period in sports life Kostya Tszyu in the amateur ring, which ended with a convincing victory at the World Championships in Sydney in 1991. A year earlier, in 1990, Kostya Tszyu was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.
In the amateur ring, Kostya Tszyu had 259 fights, scoring 248 victories.
In 1992, Konstantin Tszyu signed a contract in Australia and moved to professional boxing.
“I liked Australia and the standard of living in this country so much that I immediately accepted an offer from promoter Bill Mordy to stay here and prepare for a new level of boxing - professional.”
Since then, he has had 31 fights, in which he scored 29 victories, 23 of them by knockout, with one draw and one defeat.
March 1, 1992. Kostya Tszyu has his first fight in the professional ring against Darrell Hiles. The coach told the boxer not to give too much effort in the first round, but Kostya Tszyu, who was not yet very good at English, thought they were asking him to knock out Hiles in the first round. Which is what Kostya Tszyu did.
January 30, 1993. Kostya Tszyu is having his tenth fight in the professional ring. The opponent is former world champion Livingston Bramble. Kostya Tszyu wins on points in a 10-round fight.
January 28, 1995. In the 14th fight in the professional ring, Konstantin defeats the IBF world junior welterweight champion Jake Rodriguez and takes the title from him.
Kostya Tszyu defended his champion title 6 times, until May 31, 1997.
On May 31, 1997, after an unsuccessful experiment in preparing for a fight, Kostya Tszyu lost his first professional fight American Vince Phillips by technical knockout in the 10th round. Kostya Tszyu lost his IBF world title.
Kostya Tszyu changes his mood for fights, diet, training program and many other aspects. “Before that, I was a professional boxer, but not a professional athlete,” says Kostya Tszyu, “now I’m more serious and know exactly what to do and how to achieve my goal.” Kostya Tszyu proved this phrase in practice.
November 28, 1998. WBC number 2 contender Kostya Tszyu will face number 1 contender Mexican Miguel Angel Gonzalez for the vacant welterweight title.
Since the previous holder of this title, Oscar de la Hoya, moved to the next weight category, The World Boxing Council WBC did not have its own champion in this weight. However, the Mexican, according to the official version, was injured in training, and the match was postponed to April. Meanwhile, Kostya Tszyu found another opponent - a strong Cuban Diobelis Hurtado, living in the USA. Kostya Tszyu knocked him out in the 5th round and, since the fight with Gonzalez fell through through no fault of his own, received the title of interim champion, as is done in such cases.
Kostya Tszyu should have been recognized as a full-fledged champion after defeating the recovered Mexican.
The fight took place on August 21, 1999. Kostya Tszyu won the fight against the Mexican by technical knockout in the 10th round and became the only Russian boxer who holds the WBC gold belt, the most prestigious organization professional boxing.
On July 29, 2000, Kostya Tszyu defended the title of world champion in super lightweight - 63.5 kg according to the WBC in a fight with Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez. Kostya Tszyu knocked him out in the 6th round.
Then came the conquest of another height - a fight for the title of world champion among professionals in the same weight category, but according to the World Boxing Association WBA. The fight between Kostya Tszyu and the world champion according to this version, Sharmba Mitchell, took place on February 3, 2001 in Las Vegas and ended with Kostya Tszyu’s victory in the 7th round, when the judges recorded a technical knockout of his opponent.
In mid-2001, Kostya Tszyu defended his WBC and WBA professional world title, winning on points in a 12-round fight that took place at the Moigan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, against Turkish Oktay Urkal, who lives in Germany.
On November 4, 2001, in a difficult fight, Kostya Tszyu reached the peak of his career, defeating Zeb Judah in the IBF unification fight.
Over the years of living in Australia, Kostya Tszyu married his fellow countrywoman, and they had two sons.
Now it is difficult to find a more popular athlete in Australia than Kostya Tszyu. Kostya Tszyu is idolized by hundreds of thousands of people. And Kostya Tszyu deserved this with his attitude towards life and people.
Kostya Tszyu maintains friendly ties with former colleagues on the national team Soviet Union.
IN free time Kostya Tszyu loves to travel, read, listen to classical music, and play tennis.
Kostya Tszyu is a fan of the group Pink Floyd.Ko
Personal website: www.kostyadszyu.ru
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Kostya Tszyu is a famous Russian-Australian boxer in the first welterweight category, who achieved good results in the ring and today his name is known to many who are interested in sports and wrestling.
A serious and determined boxer, Konstantin, despite his brutal appearance, has been appearing in various media for many years as “Kostya”, so he wants to be closer to his fans, and in general he prefers simplicity in his personal life. In 2011, the athlete was included in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Height, weight, age. How old is Kostya Tszyu
During my sports career Konstantin was able to achieve noticeable heights, took many prizes, and has awards and prizes not only in Russia, but also overseas. He became the champion of the USSR three times, and twice the champion of Europe, so it is not surprising that among boxing fans today there is not a person who does not know this man by sight.
Tszyu’s popularity especially increased during the period of anticipation of the Povetkin-Klitschko fight, since Kostya trained the Russian boxer. At this time, more and more requests began to appear on the Internet about his achievements, and even height, weight, age. It’s not difficult to find out how old Kostya Tszyu is. The 48-year-old boxer today actively trains athletes.
Biography and personal life of Kostya Tszyu
The boxer was born on September 19, 1969 in the Sverdlovsk region. Since childhood, the boy was very active and energetic, like a top, so in order to use the child’s energy somewhere, already at the age of 10, his parents sent him to the boxing section. Kostya liked it there right away. After studying for only six months, Kostya began to enter the ring, where he defeated older guys in sparring. Several years of such fights and the guy was already invited to the union youth team, where he participated in various regional and international competitions. At the same time, Tszyu entered the Engineering Pedagogical Institute, but after a year he realized that he did not want to study there further. Victories and defeats helped him gain experience and move forward, so Kostya realized that real sport would become his profession.
In 1988, Konstantin went to serious competitions for the first time - he participated in Olympic Games ah in Seoul, where she reached the quarterfinals in her category. However, the real professional career Tszyu's career as a boxer began in 1991, when he won the championship in Sydney. He also wins two gold medals in Seattle and becomes world champion.
During his career, he competed many times against the most titled athletes in the world, and now he is one himself. He fought more than 250 fights, received worldwide recognition, and won many victories, and today he is an honored coach.
The biography and personal life of Kostya Tszyu throughout his life, thanks to the dedication and hard work of the boxer, developed very successfully. He was married twice, and still lives with his second wife today.
Family and children of Kostya Tszyu
This guy achieved stunning success in sports himself. He was not helped by eminent parents or big finances. Kostya's parents were ordinary Soviet citizens. His father, Boris Timofeevich, was a worker in the metallurgical industry and worked at a factory, and his mother, Valentina Vladimirovna, worked as a nurse in a clinic. The Korean surname Tszyu and pronounced Asian facial features were inherited by the man from his grandfather.
Despite the fact that the boxer devoted his entire life to sports, he was also fulfilled as a father. The athlete has a large family, and Kostya Tszyu’s children from his first marriage, despite their parents’ divorce, often see their father.
Sons of Kostya Tszyu - Tim, Nikita and Vladimir
Boxer children have quite a big age difference. The eldest son Tim and the middle one Nikita are the same age; they were born in 1994 and 1995 in the athlete’s first marriage to Natalya Anikina. The guys are very similar to their father and are already involved in boxing. Perhaps someday we will hear their names among the champions. Tim Tszyu recently made his debut in the professional ring, and has already earned the attention and respect of fans. Kostya Tszyu and his son Nikita often appear together in public.
In 2015, there were posts in the media that Kostya became a father for the fourth time, his new wife gave birth to his first child. Kostya’s youngest son, Vladimir, was born in February, today he is 2.5 years old.
The athlete hopes that Kostya Tszyu’s sons, Tim, Nikita and Vladimir, will become worthy successors to their lineage of boxers.
Kostya Tszyu’s daughters – Anastasia and Victoria
The boxer has five children. The eldest daughter Nastya was born in the athlete’s first marriage with Natalya Anikina in 2002. After the divorce, she stayed with her mother, and today she is a real helper for Natalya. Nastya is 15 years old, she studies at private school and plays sports.
Konstantin’s second daughter, Victoria, was born in the boxer’s real marriage with Tatyana Averina, in November 2016. Today the girl is one year old, and the parents are raising the child together. Famous boxer feels guilty that he did not take much part in raising his children from his first marriage, so he helps his wife in every possible way and enjoys walking with the baby. Kostya Tszyu’s daughters, Anastasia and Victoria, have a 14-year age difference, but their father still hopes that they will be friends in the future.
Kostya Tszyu's ex-wife - Natalya Anikina
Konstantin and Natalya met when the athlete was 24 years old. The girl was 3 years younger and the boxer immediately liked her. After Kostya’s beautiful courtship, after a while Natalya realized that she wanted to connect her future life with him and the couple signed. Three children were born in this marriage, but only the first years were happy. Konstantin devoted all his time to sports, competitions and travel, while the woman raised children and ran the household alone.
So the couple began to grow apart, the relationship deteriorated, and at the end of 2013 it became known that they divorced after many years living together. ex-wife Kostya Tszyu - Natalya Anikina lives in Australia today, and blames the boxer for what he found new woman, and did not try to save the marriage, but perhaps this was for the best, because they had not had a family in the usual sense of the word for a long time.
Kostya Tszyu's wife - Tatyana Averina
Tatyana and Kostya met when the athlete was still in the barge with his first wife. The couple's relationship was not going well, and when Tszyu was walking in a restaurant in the company of mutual friends, he noticed a pretty woman who he really liked. That's how they met. Tatyana dated the boxer for 5 years until he left the family, and today they live together and raise two children.
Tszyu Kostya
Sports achievements:
World Champion 1991
Holder bronze medal 1989 World Cup
Two-time champion Europe (1989 and 1991)
Three-time champion USSR (1989-1991)
Finalist of the USSR Championship 1988
Winner of the Games Goodwill in Seattle 1990
At the 1991 European Championships he received a prize best boxer tournament
Absolute world champion in junior welterweight
Konstantin Borisovich “The Thunder From Down Under” Tszyu was born on September 19, 1969 in Russia in the Urals in the city of Serov - an industrial city with a population of 100,000 people. Kostya was a very active child and instilled some fears. Kostya's father was worried that his son might grow into a hooligan and sent Kostya to the boxing gym in order to release his energy more peacefully. Kostya turned out to be a very gifted boy and soon he defeated his much older opponents - this is how he came to the eyes of the trainers and from then on he began his journey into big boxing. Kostya spent 250 days a year in the camp and by the age of 21 he had already visited 30 different countries.
Russian boxer, now lives and trains in Australia, is married and has 2 sons. In the amateur ring he had 259 fights, scoring 248 victories. Translated from Korean, the surname Kostya, which is not quite common for a Russian, is translated as Krasnov. True, in his family only his great-grandfather Innocent, who came to Russia from China, was a purebred Korean. His grandfather no longer knew a single word of Korean and was a student at the Higher Artillery School in Sevastopol.
His extraordinary natural talent allowed him to join the USSR national team at a young age. True, at the early stage of his amateur career there were such failures as a defeat by Orzubek Nazarov in the final of the 1988 USSR Championship and two losses to the representative of the GDR Andreas Zulow at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and the 1989 World Championships in Moscow. But Tszyu subsequently managed to take revenge from both of his offenders. He achieved success thanks to his unconventional fighting style, an innate sense of distance, a rich arsenal of technical and tactical techniques, and a well-placed right hand.
Kostya I started boxing early and always showed some promise. They were destined to come true: for several years Konstantin was a member of the USSR national team and in 1991 in Brisbane he became the world amateur champion. He received a very tempting offer to turn professional, and he readily agreed. Already quite experienced in boxing, he had no doubt that he would be able to prove himself in the professional ring. Although at that time, membership in the USSR national team meant excellent gyms, scientific teams, excellent coaches, and good food.
In the amateur ring, Tszyu had 209 fights and won 198 victories.
When Kostya first entered the boxing gym at the Newtown Club, the comparison was far from being in his favor. Although, of course, there were some advantages. And, above all, it concerned equipment. It’s hard to imagine, but nevertheless it is so, and Kostya spent all his fights in amateur boxing with the same bandages, which had a very negative impact on the boxer’s health. And although God had mercy on him, he saw many times how the joints of his fellow craftsmen “flyed” every now and then. In Australia, everything was different, and the bandages and pads were excellent, and hand training was carried out according to special programs taken from kung fu. And yet that was not the main thing. The whole problem, according to Kostya, was that in the USSR, with its equalization in everything, the team method dominated in the training of any boxer and boxers of completely different directions and styles trained in the same way. True, even then Kostya himself did only what he considered useful for himself, thanks to which he managed to become the only one in Soviet team world champion in 1991.
Of course, life abroad left its mark, and in the absence of driving coaches, there was a real danger of underperforming. But Kostya was not in danger of this, and he continued to work as he always worked, and in the morning he ran the already rather boring cross-country courses. Only now he ran not in the snow, but in the rain. Moreover, he forced his wife Natasha to run with him, who almost lost consciousness after the first run. But Kostya took her out the next morning, and now she runs ten kilometers with him and does push-ups.
He was very homesick for Russia and at first he often visited the Russian club. But as soon as his parents and sister and family came to him, it became much easier. And, of course, his four children, in whom he dotes, give Kostya great joy. But he never made any new friends and prefers to communicate with his massage therapist and second manager. His relationship with the first one did not work out. After all, it was this same Bill Mourdy, who took Kostya to Australia, who completely shamelessly took advantage of Kostya’s gullibility and ignorance of the language and slipped him papers that, as it soon became clear, reflected primarily his own interests. Of course, Kostya, who was beginning to understand the laws that reigned in the boxing business and speak English, was indignant. But although the conditions he signed actually turned out to be extortionate, getting out of this situation turned out to be not so easy: no matter what Kostya himself said, his signature was on the agreement!
Kostya had only one chance to throw off this yoke: to become the world champion and dictate his own terms. He fought his first fight in the professional ring on March 1, 1992 against Darell Hiles. And there is a downright anecdotal story connected with this battle. Before the start of the first round, the coach asked Kostya not to give his all right away. But Kostya, who did not understand English well, understood everything the other way around and knocked out his opponent a minute later. This was followed by a very intense ten-round fight with former world champion Livingston Bramel. Kostya had to work hard, and he won only on points. Of course, he really wanted to get the gold belt of the world champion in his weight, at least according to one of the world versions, and on January twenty-eighth, 1995, such an opportunity presented itself to him. That day he entered the ring against IBF junior welterweight world champion Jake Rodriguez. This was a serious test for Kostya, more than once or twice he literally hung by a thread after the champion’s fierce attacks, and, nevertheless, he managed not only to survive, but also to win in a very intense fourteen-round battle.
This wonderful victory immediately turned Kostya’s head, and the first thing he did was send Mourdi, who was fed up with him, to hell and look for fools there. But... Australia is not Russia, and the laws apply there! Mourdi sued, and he took his side. He, of course, broke up with Bill, but the matter is far from over, Mourdy is not going to back down, and Kostya can be slapped with a penalty of four million dollars, and no one can say now how this whole epic will end. Frankly speaking, Kostya with all his heart hates the business and much more dirty side of professional boxing, where the people running it are ready to do anything just to earn their millions. And therefore, he looks into it only when necessary.
After defeating Rodriguez, Kostya for the first time in his life truly understood what it meant to be a world champion. He continued to win, his fame grew, and his fees grew along with it. By this time, Kostya’s affairs had begun to be managed by the former Odessa resident Vorobeinikov, or, as he was now called, Vlad Wharton, who had lived in Australia for many years. For two whole years Kostya enjoyed the laurels of a champion until he lost his title in May 1997 to American Vince Phillips, receiving a knockout from a former drug addict in the tenth round. But we must give him his due: he did not look for those to blame on the side and saw the reasons for the defeat only in himself. He had problems with weight because he made mistakes with his diet and took contraindicated drugs for weight loss. Moreover, he treated the matter extremely unprofessionally and was punished for this in the most cruel way that can only be punished professional boxer such a level!
And it wasn’t just the knockout, the loss to a very average boxer pretty much spoiled his image, and a black streak immediately set in for him. The public’s love immediately disappeared somewhere, lucrative offers stopped coming in, and along with them, the bank account stopped growing. But Kostya was not going to give up, he quickly got into shape and repeatedly invited Phillips to meet with him again, but each time his team put forward unacceptable financial conditions and shied away from revenge. Well, for now, the point is that in November 1998, Kostya met in the junior middleweight with the Cuban Diobelis Hurtado and won the title of the so-called interim champion according to the WBC. True, there was a whole detective story here. Considered the number two contender for the vacant world title, Kostya had to fight the favorite welterweight, Mexican Gonzalez, because after Oscar De La Hoya moved up to the next weight category, the WBC did not have its own champion in this weight. However, Gonzalez said he was ill, and Costa found this same Cuban.
The forces turned out to be unequal; Kostya knocked out his opponent in the first round and became the interim champion. Well, he could become a full-fledged champion only after his victory over the recovered champion. And Kostya’s whole problem was that, unfortunately, he himself was his own promoter, not a single major television company stood behind him, and not a single shark of the promotion business lifted a finger to promote him to the top. While the same Gonzalez had powerful patronage in the person of WBC President Jose Suleiman, who understood perfectly well that his compatriot had no chance of winning the fight with Kostya. Of course, the lack of an experienced promoter along with the positive side(nobody robs you on the most legal grounds) had its downsides. After all, a reputable promoter means very strong support at all levels and protection from interference from unwanted elements.
And yet, such a situation could not last forever; in August 1999, Kostya met with Gonzalez and... with great pleasure, he took out on him the indignation that had accumulated in him over these two years of failures. He beat the Mexican pretty well, but couldn’t knock him out.
The victory brought him the WBC championship belt, but it has not yet returned his former glory, since too many still remembered the knockout from Phillips. And although he didn’t really want to meet with the already thoroughly faded star, Kostya nevertheless really hoped that the victory over the professional boxing legend Chavez would play a role in his rehabilitation. In his opinion, Chavez should have hung up his gloves long ago, since he achieved everything in the ring, and his time was irrevocably gone. True, thirty-eight-year-old Chavez himself was very seriously preparing for the fight with Kostya and promised to “deal with” him somewhere in the 7-8 round. And certainly by knockout. The fourteen thousand-strong audience greeted their favorite with an ovation and reacted very dissatisfied to Kostya’s appearance. But then the gong sounded and the battle began. The first two rounds were a completely equal fight, and looking at Chavez, who was holding his own well, one could believe that he was actually experiencing a second youth. But already in the third round, the age difference began to take its toll and Kostya’s advantage became more and more noticeable. The turning point was the fifth round, in which Tszyu got down to business seriously and began chasing Chavez, who was breathing heavily, around the ring. In the sixth, one of his brutal punches landed and Chavez found himself on the floor. He stood up and smiled forcefully, showing the referee that everything was fine. The referee continued the fight, but after twenty seconds he stopped it. Kostya’s attacks were too powerful, and if he had not intervened in the fight, the matter would certainly have ended in a knockout. And the legend had to be saved from shame!
And yet it was not only a matter of age, something, but technical skill and Chavez would have had enough experience for three more, it’s just that Kostya very carefully studied his manner of action and structured his fight in accordance with this. Although several strong blows he still missed it. Of course, Kostya perfectly understood the conditionality of his victory and, nevertheless, said: “When I was an amateur, my opponent had already become a world champion, and it is a great honor for me to meet in the ring with a professional boxing legend who has fought more than a hundred fights in the ring. .."
This victory did not bring any special dividends to Kostya: too many considered his opponent to be too old. But it was difficult to achieve former respect by beating the elderly. And Kostya again had to work hard in a very serious fight for the IBF world title with the American Sharmba Mitchell, and then defend the title he had already won in a difficult fight with the Turkish Oktay Urkal. Only after this the cart moved from a dead point, and they began to look at Kostya again the way they looked at him several years ago. However, it couldn’t be otherwise! Kostya did what no one had ever managed before: he won everything possible and became the main contender for the title of absolute champion in all three versions.
On October 4, 2001, Konstantin Tszyu became the first Russian boxer absolute champion world among professional boxers in the weight of 63.5 kg, becoming the owner of three belts of the most prestigious organizations - the World Boxing Council /WBO/, the World Boxing Association /WBA/ and the International Boxing Federation /IBF/. Quite unexpectedly, Tszyu ended the fight with American Zab Judah in the second round by knockout.
This fight decided a lot, if not everything, for him, and if successful, he became the third absolute world champion after the Americans Roy Jones Jr. in the light heavyweight and Bernard Hopkins in the middleweight. Was he worried? Yes, of course I was worried! The hall of the famous MGM Grand center, filled to capacity, was eager to see the victory of its favorite and greeted Kostya with hostility. And when Zab Judah appeared in the aisle, accompanied by Mike Tyson himself, the hall split with applause.
As soon as the gong rang, Judah immediately tried to use his main trump card - speed - and went forward. He managed to drive Kostya into a corner and rewarded him with several rather painful blows. It seemed a little more, and the American, who felt very confident, would keep his word and put Kostya to death. But... that was not the case! Having withstood the first onslaught, he managed to escape from the rain that fell on him as if from a cornucopia of powerful blows and enter the saving clinch. The second round did not change the picture of the battle. Judah ran around the ring and attacked, and Kostya cut corners and counterattacked from time to time. As sad as it is for him, he lost the second round almost completely. And the more unexpected was the outcome. Feeling like a complete master of the ring, Judah threw all caution aside and decided to finish off Kostya. In one of the attacks, he unforgivably opened up and... ended up on the floor. Kostya did not forgive such mistakes, and his right uppercut found his opponent’s jaw in a matter of seconds. Judah managed to get up and, after taking a few wrong steps, fell again. Judge Jay Neidi did not open the scores and declared Kostya's victory by technical knockout a second before the end of the round. Of course, the spectators, deprived of the feast prepared for them, were unhappy, and Judah, who had come to his senses, rushed at the referee with his fists. And when he couldn’t reach Neidi, he threw a chair at the judge. “Idot,” he shouted, “why did you stop the fight? I could still fight!” But it was all in vain, and the audience had no choice but to congratulate the absolute world champion Konstantin Tszyu. “Becoming an absolute world champion,” he said even before the fight, “is destined for me!” And having become one, he declared: “This is my destiny! But I made it myself with my hard training. Now I have become part of history!” And no matter how his future career turned out, he actually became this very part and the first Russian absolute world champion in the professional ring. Why Russian? Yes, only because Kostya to this day considers himself Russian and expresses himself completely unambiguously on this score: “Nationality is the language in which you think. But I think in Russian...”
After his victory over Judah, Kostya has only had two fights so far, confidently defeating the concrete-jawed boxer Ben Taki on points, and the experienced American Jesse James Leiha by technical knockout in the 6th round.
On February 7, 2004, Kostya was supposed to perform in Moscow, entering the ring against Sharmba Mitchell, whom he had already defeated once. All the more distressing was the news from Kostya’s training camp about severe injury, received by our compatriot during preparation for battle. Tszyu underwent surgery and was prescribed a long course of treatment, and the fight with Mitchell was postponed to November 7, 2004.
IN at the moment Only good news is heard from Australia - Kostya has fully recovered from his injury and is more ready than ever for the fight. Well, let’s hope that Tszyu will once again prove his superiority over his opponent and we will continue to follow the new victories of our illustrious master for many years to come.
Now it is difficult to find a more popular athlete in Australia than Kostya Tszyu. Kostya Tszyu is idolized by hundreds of thousands of people. And Kostya Tszyu deserved this with his attitude towards life and people. He maintains friendly ties with former colleagues on the Soviet Union national team. During the Olympic Games in Australia in 2000, Kostya provided members of the Russian national team with his gym for training.
In his free time, Kostya Tszyu likes to travel, read, listen to classical music, and play tennis.
Kostya is a fan of the band Pink Floyd.
Tszyu enjoys watching old Soviet films.
Height - 170 cm.
Attack distance - 172 cm.
Manager - Vlad Wharton
Coach - Johnny Lewis
Father - Tszyu Boris Timofeevich.
Mother - Tszyu Valentina Vladimirovna.
Wife - Natalya Leonidovna Tszyu, born in 1972.
Sons: Timofey, born in 1994, and Nikita, born in 1998.
World amateur champion (1991)
2-time European champion (1983, 1991)
Absolute world champion among professionals
Honored Master of Sports of the USSR
Russian boxer, currently lives and trains in Australia, is married and has 2 sons. In the amateur ring he had 259 fights and won 248 victories. Konstantin Tszyu was born on September 19, 1969 in the city of Serov in the Sverdlovsk region, where, by the will of fate, his parents ended up. Translated from Korean, the surname Kostya, which is not quite common for a Russian, is translated as Krasnov. True, in his family only his great-grandfather Innocent, who came to Russia from China, was a purebred Korean. His grandfather no longer knew a single word of Korean and was a student at the Higher Artillery School in Sevastopol.
Kostya started boxing early and always showed some promise. They were destined to come true: for several years Konstantin was a member of the USSR national team and in 1991 in Brisbane he became the world amateur champion. He received a very tempting offer to turn professional, and he readily agreed. Already quite experienced in boxing, he had no doubt that he would be able to prove himself in the professional ring. Although at that time, membership in the USSR national team meant excellent gyms, scientific teams, excellent coaches, and good food.
And when Kostya first entered the boxing gym at the Newtown Club, the comparison was far from being in his favor. Although, of course, there were some advantages. And above all, this concerned equipment. It’s hard to imagine, but nevertheless it is so, and Kostya spent all his fights in amateur boxing with the same binats, which had a very negative impact on the boxer’s health. And although God had mercy on him, he saw many times how the joints of his fellow craftsmen “flyed” every now and then. In Australia, everything was different, and the bandages and pads were excellent, and hand training was carried out according to special programs taken from kung fu. And yet that was not the main thing. The whole problem, according to Kostya, was that in the USSR, with its equalization in everything, the team method dominated in the training of any boxer and boxers of completely different directions and styles trained in the same way. True, even then Kostya himself did only what he considered useful for himself, thanks to which he managed to become the only world champion in the Soviet team in 1991.
Of course, life abroad left its mark, and in the absence of driving coaches, there was a real danger of underperforming. But Kostya was not in danger of such a thing, and he continued to work as he always worked, and in the morning he ran the already rather boring cross-country courses. Only now he ran not in the snow, but in the rain. Moreover, he forced his wife Natasha to run with him, who almost lost consciousness after the first run. But Kostya took her out the next morning, and now she runs ten kilometers with him and does push-ups.
He was very homesick for Russia and at first he often visited the Russian club. But as soon as his parents and sister and family came to him, it became much easier. And, of course, his four children, in whom he dotes, give Kostya great joy. But he never made any new friends and prefers to communicate with his massage therapist and second manager. His relationship with the first one did not work out. After all, it was this same Bill Mourdy, who took Kostya to Australia, who completely shamelessly took advantage of Kostya’s gullibility and ignorance of the language and slipped him papers that, as it soon became clear, reflected primarily his own interests. Of course, Kostya, who was beginning to understand the laws that reigned in the boxing business and speak English, was indignant. But although the conditions he signed actually turned out to be extortionate, getting out of this situation turned out to be not so easy: no matter what Kostya himself said, his signature was on the agreement!
Kostya had only one chance to throw off this yoke: to become the world champion and dictate his own terms. He fought his first fight in the professional ring on March 1, 1992 against Darell Hiles. And there is a downright anecdotal story connected with this battle. Before the start of the first round, the coach asked Kostya not to give his all right away. But Kostya, who did not understand English well, understood everything the other way around and knocked out his opponent a minute later. This was followed by a very intense ten-round fight with former world champion Livingston Bramel. Kostya had to work hard, and he won only on points. Of course, he really wanted to get the gold belt of the world champion in his weight, at least according to one of the world versions, and on January twenty-eighth, 1995, such an opportunity presented itself to him. That day he entered the ring against IBF junior welterweight world champion Jake Rodriguez. This was a serious test for Kostya; more than once or twice he was literally hanging by a thread after the champion’s fierce attacks, and yet he managed not only to survive, but also to win in a very intense fourteen-round battle.
This wonderful victory immediately turned Kostya’s head, and the first thing he did was send Mourdi, who was fed up with him, to hell and look for fools there. But... Australia is not Russia, and the laws apply there! Mourdi sued, and he took his side. He, of course, broke up with Bill, but the matter is far from over, Mourdy is not going to back down, and Kostya could be charged with a penalty of four million dollars, and no one can say now how this whole epic will end. Frankly speaking, Kostya with all his heart hates the business and much more dirty side of professional boxing, where the people running it are ready to do anything just to earn their millions. And therefore, he looks into it only when necessary.
After defeating Rodriguez, Kostya for the first time in his life truly understood what it meant to be a world champion. He continued to win, his fame grew, and his fees grew along with it. By this time, Kostya’s affairs had begun to be managed by the former Odessa resident Vorobeinikov, or, as he was now called, Vlad Wharton, who had lived in Australia for many years. For two whole years Kostya enjoyed the laurels of a champion until he lost his title in May 1997 to American Vance Phillips, having received a knockout from a former drug addict in the tenth round. But we must give him his due: he did not look for those to blame on the side and saw the reasons for the defeat only in himself. He had problems with weight because he made mistakes with his diet and took contraindicated drugs for weight loss. Moreover, he handled the matter extremely unprofessionally and was punished for this in the most cruel way that a professional boxer of this level can be punished!
And it wasn’t just the knockout, the loss to a very average boxer pretty much spoiled his image, and a black streak immediately set in for him. The public’s love immediately disappeared somewhere, lucrative offers stopped coming in, and along with them, the bank account stopped growing. But Kostya was not going to give up, he quickly got into shape and repeatedly invited Phillips to meet with him again, but each time his team put forward unacceptable financial conditions and shied away from revenge. Well, for now, the point is that in November 1998, Kostya met in the junior middleweight with the Cuban Diobelis Hurtado and won the title of the so-called interim champion according to the WBC. True, there was a whole detective story here. Considered the number two contender for the vacant world title, Kostya had to fight the favorite welterweight, Mexican Gonzalez, because after Oscar De La Hoya moved up to the next weight category, the WBC did not have its own champion in this weight. However, Gonzalez said he was ill, and Costa found this same Cuban.
The forces turned out to be unequal; Kostya knocked out his opponent in the first round and became the interim champion. Well, he could become a full-fledged champion only after his victory over the recovered champion. And Kostya’s whole problem was that, unfortunately, he himself was his own promoter, not a single major television company stood behind him, and not a single shark of the promotion business lifted a finger to promote him to the top. While the same Gonzalez had powerful patronage in the person of WBC President Jose Suleiman, who knew full well that his compatriot had no chance of winning the fight with Kostya. Of course, the lack of an experienced promoter, along with the positive side (no one robs you on the most legal grounds), also had its disadvantages. After all, a reputable promoter means very strong support at all levels and protection from interference from unwanted elements.
And yet, such a situation could not last forever; in August 1999, Kostya met with Gonzalez and... with great pleasure, he took out on him the indignation that had accumulated in him over these two years of failures. He beat the Mexican pretty well, but couldn’t knock him out. The victory brought him the WBC championship belt, but it has not yet returned his former glory, since too many still remembered the knockout from Phillips. And although he didn’t really want to meet with the already thoroughly faded star, Kostya was nevertheless hopeful that the victory over the professional boxing legend Chavez would play a role in his rehabilitation. In his opinion, Chavez should have hung up his gloves long ago, since he achieved everything in the ring, and his time was irrevocably gone. True, thirty-eight-year-old Chavez himself was very seriously preparing for the fight with Kostya and promised to “deal with” him somewhere in the 7-8 round. And certainly by knockout. The fourteen thousand-strong audience greeted their favorite with an ovation and reacted very dissatisfied to Kostya’s appearance. But then the gong sounded and the battle began. The first two rounds were a completely equal fight, and looking at Chavez, who was holding his own well, one could believe that he was actually experiencing a second youth. But already in the third round, the age difference began to take its toll, and Kostya’s advantage became more and more noticeable. The turning point was the fifth round, in which Tszyu got down to business seriously and began chasing Chavez, who was breathing heavily, around the ring. In the sixth, one of his brutal punches landed and Chavez found himself on the floor. He stood up and smiled forcefully, showing the referee that everything was fine. The referee continued the fight, but after twenty seconds he stopped it. Kostya’s attacks were too powerful, and if he had not intervened in the fight, the matter would certainly have ended in a knockout. And the legend had to be saved from shame!
And yet, it was not only a matter of age, something, but Chavez’s technical skill and experience would have been enough for three more, Konstantin simply carefully studied his manner of action and structured his fight in accordance with this. Although he still missed several strong blows. Of course, Kostya perfectly understood the conditionality of his victory and nevertheless said: “When I was an amateur, my opponent had already become a world champion, and it is a great honor for me to meet in the ring with a professional boxing legend who has spent more than a hundred fights in the ring... »
This victory did not bring any special dividends to Kostya: too many considered his opponent to be too old. But it was difficult to achieve former respect by beating the elderly. And Kostya again had to work hard in a very serious fight for the IBF world title with the American Sharmba Mitchell, and then defend the title he had already won in a difficult fight with the Turkish Oktay Urkal. Only after this the cart moved from a dead point, and they began to look at Kostya again the way they looked at him several years ago. However, it couldn’t be otherwise! Kostya did what no one had ever managed before: he won everything possible and became the main contender for the title of absolute champion in all three versions.
The first Russian boxer, on October 4, 2001, Konstantin Tszyu became the absolute world champion among professional boxers in the weight of 63.5 kg, becoming the owner of three belts of the most prestigious organizations - the World Boxing Council /WBC/, the World Boxing Association /WBA/ and the International Boxing Federation /IBF/. Quite unexpectedly, Tszyu ended the fight with American Zab Judah in the second round by knockout.
This fight decided a lot, if not everything, for him, and if successful, he would become the third absolute world champion after the Americans Roy Jones Jr. in the light heavyweight and Bernard Hopkins in the middleweight. Was he worried? Yes, of course I was worried! The hall of the famous MGM Grand center, filled to capacity, was eager to see the victory of its favorite and met Kostya with hostility. And when Zab Judah appeared in the aisle, accompanied by Mike Tyson himself, the hall split with applause.
As soon as the gong rang, Judah immediately tried to use his main trump card - speed - and went forward. He managed to drive Kostya into a corner and rewarded him with several rather painful blows. It seemed a little more, and the American, who felt very confident, would keep his word and put Kostya to death. But... that was not the case! Having withstood the first onslaught, he managed to escape from under the powerful blows that rained down on him as if from a cornucopia and entered into a saving clinch. The second round did not change the picture of the battle. Judah ran around the ring and attacked, and Kostya cut corners and counterattacked from time to time. As sad as it is for him, he lost the second round almost completely. And the more unexpected was the outcome. Feeling like a complete master of the ring, Judah threw all caution aside and decided to finish off Kostya. In one of the attacks, he unforgivably opened up and... ended up on the floor. Kostya did not forgive such mistakes, and his right uppercut found his opponent’s jaw in a matter of seconds. Judah managed to get up and, after taking a few wrong steps, fell again. Judge Jay Neidi did not open the scores and declared Kostya's victory by technical knockout a second before the end of the round. Of course, the spectators, deprived of the feast prepared for them, were unhappy, and Judah, who had come to his senses, rushed at the referee with his fists. And when he couldn’t reach Neidi, he threw a chair at the judge. “Idot,” he shouted, “why did you stop the fight? I could still fight!” But it was all in vain, and the audience had no choice but to congratulate the absolute world champion Konstantin Tszyu. “Becoming an absolute world champion,” he said even before the fight, “is destined for me!” And having become one, he declared: “This is my destiny! But I made it myself with my hard training. Now I have become part of history!” And no matter how his future career turned out, he actually became this very part and the first Russian absolute world champion in the professional ring. Why Russian? Yes, only because Kostya to this day considers himself Russian and expresses himself completely unambiguously on this matter: “Nationality is the language in which you think. And I think in Russian..."
