Ricky Hatton (39-0, 29 KOs) wins the IBF junior welterweight championship with an 11th round TKO upset victory over the 4/1 odds favorite Kostya Tszyu (31-2, 25 KOs).
Ricky Hatton has silenced all doubt with this sensational stoppage of one of the sports pound-per-pound best fighters … and to the delight of his fans he did it in Manchester England in front of a sold out arena of 22,000.
From the opening bell, Hatton was able to manhandle and smother Tszyu by slipping his jab and getting inside Tszyu’s defense. With intensity reminiscent of Roberto Duran’s victory over Sugar Ray Leonard 25 years ago, Hatton was able to take control of the fight with relentless pressure, keeping the champion Tszyu pinned on the ropes.
Hatton’s speed in slipping Tszyu punches and the smothering strategy prevented Tszyu from getting a full extension on his punches. This was the perfect fight strategy for the 26 year old, younger, more energetic Hatton. When Tszyu did manage to land punches of his own, they were mostly glancing blows. Also, the few punches that did find their target didn’t land with authority because Tszyu was moving backwards as he was punching, nullifying his own power.
The pace and intensity of the fight was too much for the 35 year old champion and Hatton was able to wear Tszyu down with his wrestling and brawling. There was a lot of roughhouse tactics by both fighters: holding and hitting, punching behind the head, elbows, and knockdowns from low-blows for both fighters.
In the end, Kostya Tszyu wouldn’t come out for the final round. This was surprising since Hatton never buckled Tszyu’s knees, or appeared to have hurt him at any particular moment. It was just an accumulation of punches, being behind in the fight, and fatigue that convinced Tszyu to admit he had had enough.
Tszyu said he wasn’t sure if he would retire after this bout, and wouldn’t say if he would be interested in a rematch. Hatton, on the other hand, said he would grant Tszyu a rematch.
Make no mistake about it … Ricky Hatton took the title away from Kostya Tszyu. There is a new lion at 140 pounds.
--The Mighty Moe
2 comments:
You forgot to mention that Ricky did alot of fouling that helped him turn the tide; itwas a dirty and unfar contest. Fouls he wouldn't have gotten away with anywhere else.
That's why Joe is the man at the moment, because unlike some Brits his win over Lacy is not marred by bullshit refereeing.
You are right, Hatton did foul Kostya quite a bit ... but the Mighty-Moe has got a different take on rough tactics. Let's face it, it's a fight ... not a chess match. I don't want to see low blows, head butts or rabbit punches, but if a fighter gets rough with his opponents, I'm good with that.
If a fighter punches on the belt, and doesn't throw an upcut to the cup, then I'm OK with it. That's why they wear a cup. The cup offers a lot of protection, provided the shot doesn't come under the cup.
If a fighter uses his forearm to peel another agressive fighter away from his body in order to get better leverage with his punches, I'm cool with that too. As long as he isn't using his forearm to choke, bludgeon his opponent, or throw an elbow, then I'm OK with it too.
Hatton should have fought a better fight. He made the mistake of allowing Hatton to get in close, and he was rough-housed. The tougher man won that night. That's why I said Hatton was the new lion, not the new matador.
One of my favorite referees was Carlos Padilla. He allowed fighters to fight. Nowadays, rough fighters like Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran would have points deducted in every fight if he were still fighting. Because of that, we end up with these technically boring boxing matches, and not fights.
If you saw the piss-poor fights this weekend on ESPN Friday Night Fights this weekend, you would have to agree. It's hard to call that "a fight."
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