In a bout that was a lot less spectacular than I expected but nonetheless still very entertaining, the result was also unexpected. Ricky Hatton, who looked extremely nervous before the bout, still pulled off the upset of the year by forcing Kostya Tszyu to quit in his corner in the 11th round, surrendering his IBF 140 pound title in the process. Tszyu, on the other hand, looked supremely focused and confident of victory as he walked to the ring.

Ricky Hatton is now THE MAN to beat at 140 pounds, regardless of the outcome of the Gatti-Mayweather bout scheduled for June 25th. Ricky Hatton went out and did exactly what he said he would do; I thought he had an excellent strategy to beat Tszyu; I just didn’t believe he would be able to pull it off. Thanks Ricky, dinner for me will be the sour taste of humble pie tonight!

I had said earlier that if Kostya Tszyu was not at 100%, he would be beaten by Ricky Hatton. I also said if Tszyu showed up in the same form as in his bouts with Leija & Mitchell (1st bout), he would lose. It was apparent to me in the first round that Tszyu was not as sharp as he was in his last bout with Sharmba Mitchell. He missed badly with a couple of slow right hands and appeared to be sluggish on his feet. This may sound like sour grapes or that I’m a bad sport, but when I listened to Kostya Tszyu’s comments after the official weigh in I was not worried that he was slightly over the limit, and I don’t believe this had anything to do with his loss.  I heard a change in Tszyu’s voice, he sounded hoarse and I was concerned he had a cold or a virus.

Since Kostya Tszyu is not one to make excuses to tarnish Ricky Hatton’s superb victory, we may never know if he was 100% on the night. What I can say is that Tszyu was certainly not the sharpest, and whether Kostya grew old overnight or wasn’t 100% doesn’t really matter, Ricky Hatton could only fight the man in front of him, whatever condition he was in.

Hatton’s tactics were superb, especially the clinching, as it prevented counterpunches from Tszyu. I thought Ricky Hatton’s chin would be the most important factor in this fight, to his credit it wasn’t. Tszyu never found out how good Hatton’s chin is, it really wasn’t tested; most of Tszyu’s punches landed high on Hatton’s head and he was able to take the punches Tszyu landed well. I believe a combination of Hatton’s defense being the best I have ever seen and Tszyu’s speed, power and accuracy not being at its peek, were the reasons why Hatton’s chin was not really tested. Please note well that this is not a criticism of Ricky Hatton, just an observation.

Ricky Hatton’s relentless ability to move forward, tying Kostya up completely in the clinches nullified Tszyu’s power and prevented him from lining up his big power shots with the right hand. This wasn’t a typical Ricky Hatton victory where he totally dominated his foe, as he needed to clinch with Tszyu to prevent being counter punched. Ricky Hatton combined the clinching tactics of the boxer-mover with his trademark high work rate with forward momentum and found the perfect strategy to beat Kostya Tszyu. I had this bout even after 8 rounds and surprisingly English commentator Jim Watt had Tszyu ahead 4 rounds to 2 after the completion of the sixth??  

The only right hands Tszyu landed were rushed, relatively light, and really didn’t do much damage other than some minor abrasions around Hatton’s eyes. The flush right hands Tszyu landed on Sharmba Mitchell last time out never found their mark on Ricky Hatton, much to my disappointment. It seemed that Tszyu landed the left hook more than the right hand, and when he did catch Hatton on the jaw with decent power, Hatton’s chin stood up to the test, even if his legs wobbled just a little.

The only fault I could find in this bout was Ricky Hatton’s low blow, which was BLATANTLY deliberate retaliation to Tszyu landing a couple of punches on Hatton’s beltline. The borderline low blow that dropped Hatton was on the left, because of Hatton moving in towards Tszyu and making the shot hit him where it was not aimed. Hatton went down more from a scare than being hurt. I felt Hatton’s deliberate low blow warranted a point deduction, (fat chance of that happening in Manchester with an English referee!). Not that a point deduction would have helped Tszyu’s cause; however, I feel this blow prevented any chance Tszyu may have had of mustering the energy for a rally in the late rounds. Ricky Hatton certainly took advantage of Tszyu’s misfortune and picked up the pace. It was by far the most important punch landed in the fight; I had the fight scored at four rounds each at the end of the 8th.

Before the British boxing fans take me to pieces here, just remember back when Roberto Duran hit Ken Buchanan low and the effect that punch had on Buchanan. Hatton’s low blow certainly didn’t stop the fight but it finished Tszyu off because it was from that point on that Ricky Hatton dominated the action. I know Hatton and the British fans will totally dismiss my comments as sour grapes but it would have been different had circumstances been reversed.

I am very disappointed with the many writers who praised Hatton’s actions here. Pretend this foul didn’t have a major impact on the bout if you have tunnel vision.  And don’t cry if Hatton is disadvantaged by similar action in the future because he has shown he will over react to minor fouls; and I’m sure future opponents will be very aware of this and he may well be on the receiving end next time.

I was very surprised that Tszyu’s corner stopped the bout when they did. I do not know whether they wanted to stop the punishment or whether he was injured. I certainly didn’t think a stoppage was on the cards but then again I wasn’t taking the punches. At first it was rumored Tszyu had a broken jaw, but that was not the case. However, he has been passing blood from the impact of the low blow and body shots. Tszyu will need a long time to recover from this bout.

As a huge Kostya Tszyu fan, I must say that I am pleased to see him beaten by a decent, hard working and respectful boxer such as Ricky Hatton. If Tszyu had lost to a Floyd Mayweather Jr., Zab Judah or Sharmba Mitchell we would have endured endless ranting for goodness only knows how long. Instead, we were graced with a very respectful speech from a deserving and worthy new champion who acknowledged Kostya Tszyu’s achievements in the ring. The respect they showed each other, before and after the bout, was a pleasant change to the endless array of trash talking we have become accustomed to in recent times.

I have not changed my opinion of Ricky Hatton, even though he has just beaten my favorite fighter. I still genuinely like Ricky Hatton the boxer and the style he uses in the ring. He is very brave and he gives the fans their money’s worth whenever he fights. His sheer belief in his own ability and the will to apply his tactics were just fantastic (apart from the low blow).

Have all the questions been answered about Ricky Hatton? Most of them yes, Ricky’s chin seems to be pretty good, but I have to wait until I see a real hard puncher land several shots, because the Kostya Tszyu I was expecting to test Ricky Hatton’s ability to take a punch did not show up in the ring at Manchester. Perhaps that Kostya Tszyu will never be seen in the ring again. I can’t see him fighting on, he doesn’t need the money. Maybe he might fight a Vince Phillips for a farewell bout in Australia or Russia; I hope not , I do not want to see him fade away like so many other aging boxers.

As for the new champion, take a well-earned rest and enjoy the best victory of your career and then come back and fight the best the division has to offer. If Ricky Hatton can maintain his defense as well as he did against Tszyu, he should have no problems beating the likes of Vivian Harris, Miguel Cotto, Arturo Gatti and even Zab Judah, considering the constant pressure he applies. Floyd Mayweather Jnr. may be the only one in the division who has the combination of skill, speed, and power to beat Hatton based on this performance. Ricky Hatton has kindly offered Tszyu a rematch, even offering to come to Australia to do so. I wonder what Frank Warren thinks about that?  An immediate rematch is out of the question, Tszyu is probably going to need 3 to 6 months to recover, but I believe he will announce his retirement within the next couple of weeks.

A lot of credit needs to go to promoter Frank Warren who took a gamble and paid out a lot of money to get Tszyu to come to the United Kingdom and you just have to wonder if the result would have been the same had the bout been fought in Sydney or Melbourne. Now Frank can watch the money roll in, his fighter is the king of the most competitive division in the sport. Hopefully Frank will keep Hatton fighting the best in the division; he really doesn’t need any easy defenses.

I made some bold predictions before this bout and I feel pretty silly now. I have been reluctantly eating large slices of humble pie since the bout, supper courtesy of The Pale Puncher from Manchester.

It has been a very ordinary year internationally for Australian boxing apart from Vic Darchinian and Robbie Peden’s successes. I guess I really need Anthony Mundine to pull off an upset against Mikkel Kessler on Wednesday night to win the WBA Super Middleweight title for me to salvage some Aussie pride. Again, we will need to see a monumental upset for Anthony Mundine to win his old title back.

6-5-2005