Kostya Tszyu is a Russian-Australian boxer who is described as one of the hardest-hitting lightweights in the history of boxing.
His punches are always accurate, powerful and timely. The outstanding boxer has fought 34 fights, winning 31 with 25 being knock outs. His unique boxing skills has won him loads of accolades including his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010.
Kostya’ victories has put him in the list of legends in the world of boxing. It would be exciting to know the life of Kostya as well as his net worth, this article discusses these facts about the legendary boxer Kostya Tszyu.
Kostya Tszyu Profile
- Net worth : $2.5 million
- Full Name :Kostya Tszyu
- Date of Birth : 19th September, 1969.
- Nationality : Russian
- Occupation : Professional Boxer
- Education :
- Marital Status : Married
- Years Active : 1992-2005
Kostya Tszyu Early Life
Kostya Tszyu was born to a Korean father by name Boris T. Tszyu who was a metal fitter in a metal industry, and his Russian wife by name Valentina Tszyu, who was a nurse, in Serov which was an industrialized city in former Soviet Union 19th September, 1969.
Kostya noticed that his son Kostya was always hyperactive so he decided to enroll him in a boxing gym to help him direct his energy and in defending himself against bullies.
Kostya Tszyu made great progress in his training and this impressed the Soviet Amateur coaches who later sent him to the amateur traveling training camps in the Soviet Union.
Kostya Tszyu later visited more than thirty countries as he was involved in couple of tournaments. He won different tournaments including the Amateur Boxing World Championship. Kostya Tszyu also took second place at the Cuban World Championship in 1987. In the summer Olympics in 1988, he was eliminated in the third round.
Kostya Tszyu later joined the military of the Soviet Union though for a brief period as he was selected as an elite athlete. In the world championship which was held in Moscow in 1989, Kostya was placed third in the tournament.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kostya decided to relocate to Sydney in Australia where he signed a citizenship with the country.
Kostya Tszyu Career
Kostya Tszyu’s professional boxing career started off in good light with a win over Darell Hiles at Melbourne in 1992; where he defeated Hiles by a knock out.
In his fourth boxing contest, Kostya defeated Juan Laporte who was the WBC Featherweight Champion then.
In his sixth contest, Kostya knocked out Sammy Fuentes and in 1993 he defeated Sammy Fuentes the second time. That same year, Kostya defeated Livingstone Bramble, who previously held the LightWeight title.
In 1994, Kostya Tszyu defeated Angel Hernandez by a knock out after seven rounds while he also defeated Hector Lopez by a decision in ten. Kostya Tszyu later ranked number one in the Light welterweight division after knocking out Pedro Chinito Sanchez in the fourth round.
Kostya Tszyu defeated former Welterweight champion Jake Rodriguez by knock out in the sixth, and became the world champion in 1995.
He defended the title by beating former Super Featherweight and Light Welterweight World Champion Roger Mayweather, Cory Johnson, Jan Bergman and Hugo Pineda.
Kostya Tszyu finally bowed in defeat to Vince Phillips in 1997, thereby stepping down as the world champion. In 1999, he became the world champion again after defeating former world champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez in ten. He retain the title twice in 2000 by defeating Julio César Chávez, the former world champion, in six and Ahmed Santos in eight.
Kostya Tszyu faced WBA Champion Sharmba Mitchell, claiming the belt by a TKO after seven rounds in 2001. He also defeated the German Turk, Oktay Urkal that same year.
Kostya Tszyu concluded the year in a grand style by recovering his IBF belt in a unification contest with champion Zab Judah, by a knockout; making Kostya Tszyu the first man in 30 years to unify the belts in the light welterweight division.
Kostya Tszyu defeated Ben Tackie of Ghana, who was a highly ranked contender of all three of his belts, in 2002.He kick-started the year 2003 with a fight against former world champion Jesse James Leija, whom he defeated by a knockout in six, and retained his title.
In 2004, He defeated Sharmba Mitchell, who he first had a fight with as a professional in Moscow, where he knocked him out in three rounds.
The fight proved that he was still one of the finest pound-for-pound boxers in the game. He was voted the ‘comeback fighter of the year’ by Ring magazine.
Kostya Tszyu lost in his last fight on June 5,2005 in the 11th round by TKO to Ricky Hatton at the M. E. N Arena in Manchester. His world title was taken from him by RTD (Referee Technical Decision).
Later that year he unofficially retired from boxing to the surprise of everyone, at age 38. Today the former world champion organizes over thirty private boxing lessons to wealthy Russians who wants to contest with a world champion.
Kostya Tszyu Achievements
Kostya Tszyu won a gold medal in the light-welterweight division at the 1991 World Championships. He also won gold medals at the 1989 and 1991 European Championships.
Kostya Tszyu is a two-time light-welterweight world champion. As an amateur, he represented the Soviet Union at the 1989 World Championships and earned a bronze medal in the lightweight division.
Kostya Tszyu won his first professional world championship in light-welterweight—the IBF title in 1995. He also won the vacant WBC title in 1999 and the WBA (Super) title in 2001.
Kostya Tszyu Personal Life
Kostya Tszyu got married to Natasha Anikina on 24 September , 1993, after they relocated to Australia. The union was blessed with three children—Anastasia, Nikita, and Tim.
Tim and Nikita are both boxers. In 2012, he separated from his wife Natasha and moved back to Moscow. His children are settled in Australia.
Kostya has citizenship for both the countries. He later remarried again to Tatiana Averina, a former model and PR executive in 2015 who bore him two more children Vitoria and Aleksander.
Kostya Tszyu’s Net Worth
Currently Kostya Tszyu who was nicknamed “thunder from under” has a net worth of $2.5 million.
