A man once said there’s no such thing as upsets in professional boxing, but rather, a simple fact that one was better than the other on a given night - and last nite, or early Sunday morning across the pond, the better man was the local from Manchester, England, Ricky Hatton.

From the opening bell, for better or worse, it was Hatton bringing it to Tszyu round after round in what resulted in a nasty, ugly, street fight with both gladiators asking and giving no favors - both took what was there - hitting on break, holding and hitting, low blows and rabbit punches. Did I leave out hitting after the bell? That too.

The younger Hatton had boundless energy and managed to find the door open each and every stanza, and while it wasn’t pretty, it was a game plan that would get the job done.

Over eleven rounds of replays, surprisingly here, it was Tszyu showing more wear and tear and facial marks of battle - that I had envisioned being reserved for Hatton had it gone to deep water.

Hatton got it done by first smothering the Tszyu offense and then silencing the guns prior to the sound of the final round twelve - the kid from Manchester has now proven himself to all with a spanking new share of the jr. welter title - as in IBF version.

He’s also gotten the attention of others in a 140 pound gold mine rich in talent - alphabetically speaking Cotto, Gatti, Harris, Mayweather to name a few.

Post Scripts : Only unprofessional action came with the tiring Hatton ring walk that is more suitable at circuses or Disneyland. The kid should just let the fighting get it done - and he does come to fight.

Closing Comment: Interesting how referee Dave Parris handled it the old fashioned way, and let the fighters "police" one another instead of jumping in after every perceived rules violation. A gem was Hatton responding to Tszyu low blows with a return hook that made house call to the Tszyu family tree back in Serov, Russia.

GEL    

6-4-2005