Ricky Hatton has kept his dream of a bout with the kingpin of the 140 pound class Kostya Tszyu by becoming the first man in fourteen years to stop Ray Oliveira. Hatton dropped Oliveira with a right hook to the jaw  and dominated the bout with his usual aggressive busy style, ending matters in the 10th round with another right hand to the head that sent Oliveira down for the 2nd time. Oliveira signaled to his corner that he would not be able to continue. Say what you like about Ricky Hatton but there is no doubt he is as ready as he ever will be to fight for a world title now.

Frank Warren has stated that he has a verbal agreement with Tszyu’s people for the fight to be made, the date and venue still have to be determined. Just who Frank Warren has an agreement with is not clear, as Kostya Tszyu and his manager Matt Watt have not been involved in any discussions with Frank Warren. An educated guess would be to assume that it's Tszyu promoter Vlad Warton (Millennium Events) who has been talking with Warren and making plans.

Tszyu has apparently told his paymasters at Showtime that he would be ready to fight again by April and a bout with Ricky Hatton makes a lot of sense for Kostya Tszyu as the three opponents he really wants to fight Arturo Gatti, Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Cory Spinks are out of the question in the near future as each of these men are committed to other bouts in the near future.  Ricky Hatton is the most logical opponent for the undisputed champion to face next as the persistent pale puncher probably represents the most money for the least amount of risk for Kostya at this point in time. Add in the bonus Hatton is the IBF’s No.1 contender and if Tszyu makes a successful defense that settles his IBF mandatory for 12 months or so and will free him up to make potentially bigger fights later in the year.

Diego Corrales, Vivian Harris, Miguel Cotto, Jose Luis Castillo and Lovemore Ndou definitely would have been exciting and more difficult opponents for Tszyu but probably would not have brought anything to the table. Diego Corrales could pose problems due to his height and power, Cotto probably wants a few more optional defenses of his WBO title before stepping up to the big time and Harris whilst very deserving represents too much risk for the least reward and whilst he officially has the WBA 140 pound title, Kostya Tszyu never lost this title in the ring.

I do hope Vivian gets a break soon, I’m sure Harris could get a bout with Lovemore Ndou as Floyd Mayweather Jnr chose to side step both of these guys for his January bout to fight someone most of us have never heard of. Harris probably views Ndou as being too much risk for little reward in a similar fashion as he himself is viewed by the division’s top names. Boxing can create some vicious circles.

Due to his fierce walk up mauling, brawling, body punching all action value for money boxing style, Ricky Hatton is the UK’s most popular boxer and rightly so when you consider the way he conducts himself out of the ring. A respectful attitude towards his opponents and peers in the division will appeal to Tszyu as he responds well to this behavior outside the ring. I envisage Tszyu and Hatton getting along very well in the build up to this fight with both showing the other tremendous respect and courtesy. It will all change once the bell rings; Kostya Tszyu liked Jake Rodriguez and he belted “The Snake” from pillar to post for 6 rounds in 1995 and I’m sure Hatton has never shown any of his opponents any mercy, certainly not the bouts I have seen him involved in. This is the way boxing should be, less noise and action outside the ring before the fight and plenty of action inside the ring. I hope Zab Judah is reading this piece.

I would like to say publicly that I admire Ricky Hatton’s style and persona in and outside the ring and I think he provides the boxing fans value for money. He likes to work his opponent’s body more viciously than any fighter I can remember, he has good head movement, a reasonable defense and he has proven he can sustain a high work rate against quality opponents such as Ben Tackie, Vince Phillips, Eamon Magee and Carlos Vilches. Hatton has also proved he can maintain his power in the later rounds by stopping Kripiliov in 9 rounds and Ray Oliveira in 10. This is excellent preparation for a world title shot and would probably be adequate to put up a world title winning effort if Hatton were to be facing someone like Arturo Gatti or Vivian Harris.

Unfortunately for Hatton if he chooses to pursue the IBF 140 pound title, he will be facing a monster in Kostya Tszyu, probably one of the top three 140 pounders ever, perhaps the best. Tszyu possesses deceptive speed that is a combination of efficient boxing technique and pure speed, the best boxing skills in the 140 division and he is not given credit for this because he does not run away from his opponents and does not employ the slick & flashy moves that are associated with a master boxer (like Pernell Whitaker or Roy Jones Jnr) and everyone knows of his awesome power. Even with all of Ricky Hatton’s good qualities I can’t for the life of me see him beating Tszyu if Kostya comes into their bout as well prepared and motivated as he did for Sharmba Mitchell. Hatton is slower, less powerful and not as skilled.

I see Hatton with his questionable chin getting dropped or hurt badly in the first round or early in the fight throwing off his game plan and perhaps sustaining cuts from being consistently hit with powerful punches. Don’t be surprised if Hatton gets hurt to the body as Tszyu is a VERY good body puncher, for some reason he chooses not to use body punching very often. No doubt Ricky Hatton will put a brave but futile display of toughness but won’t do him any good as Tszyu can sustain accurate and powerful punches right through to the late rounds, just ask Miguel Angel Gonzalez or Hugo Pineda (TKO’ed in the 10th & 11th rounds respectively in their bouts with Kostya Tszyu).

As I have stated in previous articles, this bout makes good financial sense and no doubt Frank Warren will want Hatton to have hometown advantage; he thinks Hatton will be able to attract 22,000 fans to an outdoor stadium in Manchester. Warren has said Tszyu can’t attract a crowd (flies was his words if I remember correctly) and I would like to remind any other people that think Tszyu can’t draw a crowd that he attracted 28,000 people to his last fight in Australia with Jesse James Leija in Melbourne, so it's anyone’s guess where this fight will end up if Tszyu goes with Hatton as his next defense. If it is held anywhere other than England, Australia or Russia I will be very surprised.

I am hoping the reason why a Tszyu-Spinks bout was not made next is that the respective fighter’s promoters Vlad Warton & Don King would like to build up a potential super fight. Don King was hell bent staging Spinks-Judah II and he has finally offered enough money for Spinks to risk his titles in February 2005 against a dangerous opponent who hurt him badly in the 12th round of their first encounter. I’m really hoping the winners of Tszyu-Hatton and Spinks-Judah II are matched for a super fight in June or July. If Spinks wins again, a bout with Tszyu would be a super fight. A victorious Zab Judah could make Tszyu-Judah II an even bigger super fight than Tszyu-Spinks. If Judah wins the undisputed Welterweight title he avenges one of his two defeats and you would think he would want to seek revenge against Tszyu, a fighter who he believes scored a lucky punch and was then given a gift by the referee by stopping the bout when Judah felt he would have recovered and gone on to beat Tszyu. If Judah does beat Spinks I will be very interested if he pursues a rematch with Tszyu as enthusiastically as has done over the last three years. Interesting times ahead for the 140 and 147 pound weight classes.