On May 31, 1997, Kostya Tszyu (18-0, 14 KOs), the super-lightweight IBF champion, defends his title against American challenger, Vince Phillips (35-3, 24 KOs).
Kostya Tszyu is coming in to the fight on a 18-fight win streak with a 77% KO rate; his last fight was a technical decision loss to Leonardo Mas, 4 months and 13 days ago. Vince Phillips is on a 1-fight losing streak with a 63% KO rate, with his last fight being a split decision loss to Romallis Ellis, 4 months and 20 days ago.
This should be a confident win for Kostya Tszyu at 99-1 winning odds. Vince Phillips really doesn't have much to present against Tszyu.
Vince Phillips stopped the champion via TKO in the 10th round of the 12-round world-title fight, winning the first world title of his career, and is crowned the new IBF super-lightweight champion. Phillips improves his record to 36-3 (25 KOs), while Tszyu adds a loss to his record at 18-1.