 |
|
|
DoghouseBoxing's Anthony Cocks catches up with Sam Soliman.
In the aftermath of Kostya Tszyu’s stunning 11th round stoppage loss at the hands of unbeaten Englishman Ricky Hatton last month, boxing pundits are still searching for reasons to explain the longtime junior welterweight kingpin’s capitulation to the Mancunian Hitman.
According to Tszyu’s main sparring partner Sam Soliman, Father Time was the only reason Hatton pulled off one of the bigger upsets of recent years.
Middleweight contender Soliman, 30-7 (12), who has been part of Tszyu last three training camps, says that the 35-year-old Russian-born Australian enjoyed a flawless preparation for the fight.
“It was no different than before,” revealed Soliman of Tszyu’s notoriously grueling training regime. “I sparred with him twice for the Sharmba [Mitchell] fight – before he got injured and then when the fight was rescheduled – and for the Hatton fight and he did everything exactly the same.
“The only thing that made the difference for that fight was that when he was 25 years old Kostya would’ve handled the jetlag a lot better and handled the 2:00am in the morning scenario a lot better.”
Tszyu returned to the ring after an almost two year layoff due to back-to-back Achilles and should injuries to smash consensus number one contender Sharmba Mitchell in three rounds last November. As a result of this explosive performance bookmakers made Tszyu a short priced favourite against the unbeaten but untested Hatton, despite the fight taking place in the Englishman’s backyard at 2:00am to accommodate U.S.-based television network Showtime.
Hatton, 39-0 (29), took the initiative early, backing Tszyu up and roughing him up on the inside. By the third round it was obvious that Tszyu had a real fight on his hands and despite coming on in the middle rounds, Hatton regained control courtesy of a contentious low blow and continued to put a beating on Tszyu down the stretch. At the end of the eleventh round Tszyu’s trainer Johnny Lewis halted the bout with a battered and exhausted Tszyu slumped on his stool.
“Being that he’s 35, that’s what made the difference in the fight,” said Soliman. “But if Ricky fought Kostya here or even in America at a normal time then Kostya, even at 35 years old, would’ve outboxed and out strengthened Ricky. So in saying that, the only difference between Kostya winning and losing was that his age caught up with him.”
The future for Tszyu, now 31-2 (25) with 1 no contest, remains unclear. After returning from a week long holiday in Bali with his wife Natasha and their three children, Tszyu admitted that he still hasn’t made a decision as to whether he will continue fighting.
Meanwhile Soliman continues to prepare for his world title tilt set for October against the winner of next weekend’s middleweight showdown between undisputed champion Bernard Hopkins and highly touted contender Jermain Taylor. Should the winner decide to vacate the IBF title, Soliman will battle for the strap against the next highest ranked available contender.
Soliman will headline a Goossen-Tutor promoted card at the Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore, California on July 21 when he takes on Fernando Zuniga. The card will be telecast on ‘The Best Damn Sports Show Period’ and will also feature former IBF cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov, welterweight prospect Paul ‘The Punisher’ Williams, and IBA women’s lightweight champion Jessica Rakoczy defending her title against the well-credentialed Jane Crouch.
|
|
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2005
|
Interview by Anthony Cocks, Site Editor (July 12, 2005) 
