Hatton Forces Tszyu to Quit
Sunday June 5, 2005
In a stunning upset, Ricky Hatton won the IBF junior welterweight title with an eleventh round TKO of Kostya Tszyu in Manchester, England. As expected, Hatton was the aggressor throughout and forced the fight to be fought on the inside with lots of holding and wrestling. What was unexpected was that Tszyu - typically a great counter-puncher - had no answer for Hatton's relentless attack. Whether Hatton was just that much better than expected or Tszyu suddenly turned into an old 35-year-old fighter, Hatton was the better man on this night. Sensing that he was hopelessly behind on the scorecards, Tszyu and his corner elected not to come out for the 12th and final round -- a shocking, but perhaps wise, choice as Tszyu appeared to have nothing left. As it turned out, the scores were 107-102, 106-103, 105-104 at the time of the stoppage so Tszyu was correct in assuming he was on his way to being outpointed. After the fight, Hatton was perfectly willing to offer Tszyu a rematch. Tszyu said he would need some time to decide whether or not this was his final fight.
Comments
Kostya Tszyu under estimated Ricky Hatton’s ability as an accomplished fighter and paid a dear price for it. Little do people understand is that Hatton is truly the new Roberto Duran of the super lightweights and I do not see anyone having their way with him at all! So it is not to blame Tszyu’s age so much as Ricky Hatton beat him to submission from superior attrition and fighting arsenal as did Roberto Duran when beating his opponents. My feeling is that Tszyu should take some time off and regroup as a great ex-champion and properly prepare to take on Hatton as his last career fight. I really do not think Tszyu will win but he at least can make a 100% better showing leaving the game on a lost by decision instead of a no show TKO!
Time will tell whether Hatton is in the same league as Duran, though he is a great fighter. Tszyu has nothing left to prove really, he is past his best but was one of the best super lightweights of the modern era.
well i have read all the comments and watched that fight over and over and i suppose the only answer is what do you call boxing ? all i could see was a mud wrestling match where skill went out the window for holding and leaning all over your opponent so they cant hit you ? like a Fennech fight ?
i dint know ! it certainly wasnt skill >