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Avtandil Khurtsidze-Georgian Tyson


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The Caucasian nation of Georgia didn’t produce as many notable boxers as its neighbor Armenia, but still it gave us Avtandil Khurtsidze, who managed to win the interim WBO middleweight title before his career was interrupted after problems with the law and he ended his championship reign with disgrace. Known as Mini Mike Tyson, Khurtsidze (pronounced “Koort-see-dzeh”) is of diminutive stature at 5’4, but very sturdily built and possessed punching power, a good chin and aggressive style coming forward, a typical swarmer.

 He was born 2 May 1979 in Kutaisi, third largest and oldest city in Georgia. He has an unusually big reach for his height, 73 inches, which enabled him to catch much taller opponents and land effectively with his punches. He became a pro in 2002 and after winning 7 and drawing 2 fights, in March 2005 he lost to Tony Marshall by TKO7 in Georgetown, Guyana, his opponent’s hometown. He then relocated to Ukraine and embarked on an unbeaten run of 16 fights, mostly winning by ko. He beat some solid boxers such as Kuvanych Toygonbayev, Mihaly Kotai and Sergei Khomitsky. He was then given a chance to win the interim WBA middleweight title against Hassan N’dam N’Jikam, a Cameroonian-French boxer. On 30 October 2010 in Paris, Khurtsidze would experience his second and final loss, losing on points in a fight where many thought he should have won. 
 

In his very next fight, he won the IBO belt by UD against Mariusz Cendrowski in Tbilisi, Georgian capital and then defended it with a KO1 against Dionisio Miranda. In December 2011 he beat the tough and seasoned Ossie Duran by MD to win the vacant WBC Silver belt. He then had a layoff of over 2 years where he relocated to New York and then came back in July 2014 and impressively beat Allen Conyers by TKO1. He went on a knockout streak and on 5 March 2016 he scored an important victory by stopping the promising Antoine Douglas by TKO10 and winning the WBO International belt, which cleared the way for a WBO title fight. He got to fight for the interim WBO title against the 18-0 Tommy Langford of England and he came to Leicester to fight him on 22 April 2017. He produced his most important victory by catching Langford with a hard right and knocking him out in round 5. He thus became the first Georgian to win a professional world title. 
 

He was then supposed to fight the main WBO title holder, the arrogant Billy Joe Saunders, but before that could happen, the boxing world was shocked when on 8 June 2017 Khurtsidze got accused of racketeering by prosecutors of the US District Court and in September 2018, he was sentenced to ten years for racketeering and wire fraud conspiracy. Just before that, on 30 August, he got stabbed in the face in a gang fight between members of his crime syndicate and a Latin American gang. He however served only half of that sentence and got out in 2023. Now aged 45, Georgian Mini Tyson made a return to the ring as a light heavyweight on 31 May 2024 and won against a 11-5-2 fighter called Victor Hugo Exner by TKO1. That might have been his last fight, as he is in advanced age. His record is now 34 wins with 23 knockouts, 2 losses and 2 draws. 
 

Avtandil Khurtsidze was and is a capable and powerful boxer, but his involvement in organized crime has darkened his image and unfortunately derailed his career just as he was on the threshold of his biggest success and about to fight maybe his biggest fight ever. Despite already being 38 at the time the Saunders fight was to take place, he showed no signs of slowing down and would have no doubt given Saunders a hard fight, if nothing else. He was also unfortunate to fight his first big fight away against a popular fighter and get nothing for his efforts. He however remains Georgia’s greatest boxer ever and maybe the most successful athlete in general. That nobody can take away from him. 
 

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I first met Avtandil at the Wilder vs Spilka fight. I didn't remember his name, but i recognized him from his fight on ShoBox. From that point on, i followed and rooted for him. Was upset he never got the Billy Joe Saunders fight. Then last year i met him again at his fight in Queens. He again was very friendly. Signed a pic for me. He actually fought with an ankle monitor. 

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