Editing Kostya Tszyu (section)

==Professional career==
Tszyu started raising his quality of opposition almost immediately. In his fourth professional bout, he met the former [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] [[Featherweight]] Champion [[Juan Laporte]], decisioning him over ten rounds. In his sixth bout, he beat contender [[Sammy Fuentes]] by a knockout in the first. Fuentes would go on to win a world title years after being handily beaten by Tszyu in 1993, [[Steve Larrimore]], Larry La Crousiere and Robert Rivera, went to Australia to fight Tszyu, and none lasted more than two rounds. The only man to last more than two rounds with Tszyu in 1993 was [[Livingstone Bramble]], a former World [[Lightweight]] Champion, who lost by decision to Tszyu at [[Newcastle, New South Wales]].

In 1994, [[Héctor López (boxer)|Héctor López]], [[Angel Hernandez (boxer)|Angel Hernandez]] (who had just come off of a loss after challenging [[Julio César Chávez]] for the WBC belt), and Pedro Chinito Sanchez from the [[Dominican Republic]] tried to beat Tszyu, but Tszyu beat Lopez by a decision in ten, Hernandez by a knockout in seven, and Sanchez by a knockout in four. After the win against Sanchez, Tszyu was ranked number one in the [[light welterweight]] division.

===WBC light-welterweight champion===
In 1995, he received his first world title shot when he fought [[International Boxing Federation|IBF]] Light Welterweight Champion [[Jake Rodríguez]] at [[Las Vegas, Nevada]]. Tszyu became world champion by knocking Rodriguez out in the sixth round. He then defended the world title, beating former [[Super Featherweight]] and Light Welterweight World Champion [[Roger Mayweather]] by a decision in 12, Hugo Pineda by a knockout in 11, Cory Johnson by a knockout in four and Jan Bergman by a knockout in six. After this string of defences, Tszyu became a highly touted world Champion by many boxing magazines, and many articles about him appeared on ''[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]]'', ''[[KO Magazine]]'' and other [[United States|American]] boxing publications.

====Title defences====
{{main|Kostya Tszyu vs. Julio César Chávez}}
Tsyzu began 1997 with a title defense against Leonardo Moro Mas. Tsyzu knocked Mas down three times in the first round. Including a blow shortly before the bell. In a controversial decision, referee Joe Cortez judged that it was an "unintentional illegal blow", believing it to be shortly after the bell. As Mas was either unable or unwilling to continue, Cortez called the bout a technical draw. The IBF and the [[Nevada Athletic Commission]] later declared it a no-contest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boxingnewsonline.net/on-this-day-oscar-de-la-hoya-tops-star-studded-bill-with-support-from-kostya-tszyu-and-floyd-mayweather/ |title=On This Day: Oscar De La Hoya tops star-studded bill with support from Kostya Tszyu and Floyd Mayweather |work=Boxing News Online |date=18 January 2019 |accessdate=23 Jan 2024}}</ref> In his next fight he would suffer his first loss, a 10th round knockout to [[Vince Phillips]], who would claim the world title.

After beating former world champions [[Calvin Grove]] (KO 1) and [[Rafael Ruelas]] (KO 9), Tszyu was given another world title try, when the WBC's belt became vacant in 1998 following [[Oscar De La Hoya]]'s move to the [[welterweight]] division. Tszyu found himself twice on the canvas in round one of his fight for the interim belt against [[Diosbelys Hurtado]], but recuperated to beat Hurtado by a knockout in five. He became world champion once again in 1999 by knocking out former world champion [[Miguel Ángel González (boxer)|Miguel Ángel González]] in ten, and twice retained it in 2000, beating [[Arizona]]'s fringe contender [[Ahmed Santos (newspaper columnist)|Ahmed Santos]] in eight, and a 38-year-old Mexican legend [[Julio César Chávez]], the former world champion, in six at [[Phoenix, Arizona]]. Kostya was interviewed by Ray Wheatley on YouTube in 2011 and stated he regards his win over Miguel Angel Gonzalez as his best ever performance.

===Undisputed light-welterweight champion===
{{Main|Kostya Tszyu vs. Zab Judah}}
Tszyu then began pursuing his wish to unify all the belts. In 2001, he began by facing [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] Champion [[Sharmba Mitchell]], taking the belt by a TKO after seven rounds (Mitchell suffered a knee injury in training, and during the bout). His next fight was against the [[Germans|German]] Turk, [[Oktay Urkal]]. Tszyu finished 2001 by recovering his IBF belt in a unification bout with the current champion [[Zab Judah]], by a knockout in the second round. A small melee inside the ring followed that fight when Judah attacked referee Jay Nady for what he felt was a premature stoppage, reacting by throwing his corner's seat at the referee and even trying to choke Nady with his glove at one point. However, replays clearly show Judah walking on wobbly legs. As a result, Tszyu became the first man in 30 years to unify the belts in the light welterweight division.

Tszyu in 2002 had only one bout, beating the top-ranked contender of all three of his belts, [[Ben Tackie]] of [[Ghana]] by a decision in twelve rounds. Tszyu lost only one round on only one of the judges scorecards in a masterful display of boxing.

On 19 January 2003, Tszyu began the year by retaining his title against former world champion [[Jesse James Leija]] by a knockout in six. After the fight, held in [[Melbourne, Australia|Melbourne]], Tszyu announced that fight could be his last in [[Australia]], due to pressure from promoters to fight in the [[United States]] (The win against Leija came on the birthday of Tszyu's son.).

===Tszyu vs. Mitchell II===
{{Main|Kostya Tszyu vs. Sharmba Mitchell II}}
His first fight in 2004 was supposed to have been held on 7 February in a rematch against Sharmba Mitchell. It would have been Tszyu's first fight as a professional in Moscow, but Tszyu injured his shoulder during training. He had successful surgery to correct the problem, but the injury further extended his absence from the ring. The WBA stripped Tszyu of his title for choosing to fight Mitchell instead of their regular champion, [[Vivian Harris]], while the WBC stripped Tszyu for refusing to fight their mandatory, [[Gianluca Branco]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Tszyu stripped of WBA title |url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tszyu-stripped-of-wba-title-20040616-gdj4vo.html |access-date=23 December 2021 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=16 June 2004 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tszyu doesn't care for Mitchell's tactics |url=https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tszyu-doesnt-care-for-mitchells-tactics-20041106-gdyxyf.html |access-date=23 December 2021 |work=The Age |date=6 November 2004 |language=en}}</ref>

On 6 November, he and Mitchell finally had their [[Kostya Tszyu vs. Sharmba Mitchell II|rematch]], with Tszyu knocking Mitchell out once again, this time in three rounds. Tszyu was voted comeback fighter of the year by [[Ring magazine]].

===Dethroned by Hatton===
{{Main|Kostya Tszyu vs. Ricky Hatton}}
He next fought on 5 June 2005, against British boxer [[Ricky Hatton]], Tszyu lost this fight and his world title by RTD ([[Referee technical decision]]) after retiring on his stool at the end of the 11th round. He was also behind on all three cards (by 1, 3 and 5 points).

===Potential comeback===
On 30 January 2007 rumours spread of a Tszyu comeback. However, there was no confirmation. In April 2010, rumours about a possible comeback of Tszyu spread again.<ref>{{cite web |author =Vester, Mark |title =Kostya Tszyu Talks Ring Return, Darchinyan, More |publisher =BoxingScene.com |date =20 April 2010 |url =http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27068}}</ref> He continued to train and stayed in shape since his 2005 loss to Ricky Hatton. On 19 April 2010, Tszyu appeared on Long Lunch Today, an Australian TV program. During the show, he denied his retirement and said he would return if a fight with [[Shane Mosley]], [[Manny Pacquiao]] or [[Floyd Mayweather Jr.]] could be made.<ref>{{cite web |author =Vester, Mark |title =Tszyu Delusional, Would Return For Pacquiao, Mayweather |publisher =BoxingScene.com |date =21 April 2010 |url =http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27098}}</ref>