BoxRec

....sorry it's taken me so long. I'm off out in a minute and I think this topic will be a big hitter so lots of posts to read when I get home hopefully. Here goes:

right, firstly ......Ricky Hatton 26.......Kostya Tyszu 35...........in the previous 18 month Kostya had boxed a total of 9 rounds I believe (one fight) or it may have been even less rounds. Ricky on the other hand had boxed 60 odd rounds so at least 5 fights there. What I am saying is that if both men were 26, 27 , 28, 29 etc.......Kostya Tyszu would have blasted Ricky Hatton right out of there in my opinion without too much fuss at all! In this fight Kostya was blowing from as early as round 4!! quite clearly

2ndly......if anybody knows the commentator Gary Barfoot (who commentated on the fight on Ricky Hatton's DVD where I saw this, which I got for just a fiver, great bargain)....please pass on my thanks to that man for the utter fcking butchery job he made of the commentary which damn near rendered the thing unwatchable. Thanks Gary

3rdly.......I just would like to point out, I don't know where Ricky would rank in the all time British 10 stoners (obv. near the top) but just my observations I was very impressed with his style. Ricky was a very hard working little bundle of energy. I thought he had good in-out footwork but what I liked the most about this fighter was that Ricky seemed to me to be a thinking boxer. A historian of the fight game and its styles, you could see the concentration etched on his face whenever he fought. I think some fighters get in there and use their athleticism and don't improve as much as maybe they ought to, but for me, I think Hatton's determination to get the best out of himself is one of the main reasons he did so well.

Having seen a few lads up close try to get the British title and fail, despite what a lot of people say about Hatton for having a string of questionable WBU defences, I always had a lot of respect for Hatton for coming through battles with the like of Eammon Mcgee and Thaxton for example. I just wanted to wrap up this post by saying how enjoyable I found the Hatton vs. Mcgee highlights (for some reason the Thaxton fight was left completely off it?? ) but that Eammon Mcgee was a live opponent a real tough fcker (no offence), before his assault injuries he was much more mobile and I think that was a real good win for Hatton.

That's it, feel free to chip in

Hadn't you followed any of hattons career?
The reason hatton was so popular among the fans was because he acted like one of the lads and gave all in the ring. His fights were usually entertaining for boxing fans aswell as neutrals who just like to see a good tear up.
I still rate hatton as being a great fighter.
There is no shame in losing your only two fights to fighters ranked as pound for pound number 1s as they entered the ring against him.
Hatton is criticised regularly for failing in his two biggest fights yet others are criticised for avoiding the biggest fights.
The joys of boxing eh!!

Couldn't agree more about the commentator on the Hatton DVD, bloody horrific! Nearly had to turn the volume down but I wanted to hear the crowd.

Disagree slightly about Tszyu's age/inactivity being a factor though. 6 months prior to Hatton he beat the crap out of Sharmba Mitchell, who was top-5 rated at the time, and everyone said he was better than ever.

Hatton was relentless that night, I think he would have beaten a 25 year-old Tszyu in the same manner as he did the 35 year-old version.

greenyox3 wrote:Couldn't agree more about the commentator on the Hatton DVD, bloody horrific! Nearly had to turn the volume down but I wanted to hear the crowd.

Disagree slightly about Tszyu's age/inactivity being a factor though. 6 months prior to Hatton he beat the crap out of Sharmba Mitchell, who was top-5 rated at the time, and everyone said he was better than ever.

Hatton was relentless that night, I think he would have beaten a 25 year-old Tszyu in the same manner as he did the 35 year-old version.

I know Sharmba Mitchell was on a winning run when he met Tszyu the second time, but IMO in hindsight the Mitchell win flattered him. Mitchell was never the same since his knee injury. Before that he used to use the ring a lot but afterwards because of the injury, he was forced to stand in front of his opponents more - and you know what happens if you stand in front of Tszyu at mid-range.

I was chuffed to bits for Hatton when he beat Tszyu but:

1. As a fight it was was messy and far from a good fight
2. I have to agree that Tszyu was past his best.

That said, you can only beat what's in front of you and Hatton done it well. Also most people thought he was made for Tszyu and would get hammered - so fair play I say.

at the time,not many of so called experts thought hatton would win.I was privleged to be there with my lad.great night,atmosphere was unbelieveable.

I haven't watched it for a long time but I remember the beast of Ricky was in the ring that fight, sheer will and desire to win.

A fecking inspiring performance based on determination and sheer grit.

great fight, kosta was on his way out anyway, warren hand picked his oppenents perfectly, and once warren had gone hatton struggled because he finally fought live opponents, however ricky himself wouldent duck anyone, but if ricky was in his prime and kosta was too, he would of got smashed, just like jones and calzage and eubank calzage too, but its no ones fought. just because you have beaten a legend it doesnt make you one.

greenyox3 wrote:Couldn't agree more about the commentator on the Hatton DVD, bloody horrific! Nearly had to turn the volume down but I wanted to hear the crowd.

Disagree slightly about Tszyu's age/inactivity being a factor though. 6 months prior to Hatton he beat the crap out of Sharmba Mitchell, who was top-5 rated at the time, and everyone said he was better than ever.

Hatton was relentless that night, I think he would have beaten a 25 year-old Tszyu in the same manner as he did the 35 year-old version.

No chance. It was a great win for Hatton, but Tszyu had a lot of injury problems coming into the fight, and was getting on. Tszyu was nailing Hatton hard early on, but then started struggling, a younger Tszyu would have kept on nailing hatton, and stopped him late doors.

I think Hattons style would always have given him problems, but Tszyu was a murderous puncher and finisher in his prime.

markinmidd wrote:at the time,not many of so called experts thought hatton would win.I was privleged to be there with my lad.great night,atmosphere was unbelieveable.

Hatton was a 3/1 underdog, same price as he was for Mayweather. He was 2/1 for Pacman.

Was a great night, glad i was there

Personally i think that hatton was pretty overrated,i know theres the argument that he only lost to the two best pound for pound fighters in the world in mayweather in pacquaio but lets be honest,he struggled badly at the end against collazo who is a b level fighter although a welterweight admittedly.I dont think hatton would of beaten cotto when he was at 140 and maybe not even gatti.

I was there that night/morning and what an atmosphere, I've been to some sporting events in my time and nothing comes close to that.

Emmseegee wrote:Hadn't you followed any of hattons career?
The reason hatton was so popular among the fans was because he acted like one of the lads and gave all in the ring. His fights were usually entertaining for boxing fans aswell as neutrals who just like to see a good tear up.
I still rate hatton as being a great fighter.
There is no shame in losing your only two fights to fighters ranked as pound for pound number 1s as they entered the ring against him.
Hatton is criticised regularly for failing in his two biggest fights yet others are criticised for avoiding the biggest fights.
The joys of boxing eh!!

Hatton was popular with football fans. I would guess that a lot of the people who followed him no longer watch boxing

lefty wrote:Personally i think that hatton was pretty overrated,i know theres the argument that he only lost to the two best pound for pound fighters in the world in mayweather in pacquaio but lets be honest,he struggled badly at the end against collazo who is a b level fighter although a welterweight admittedly.I dont think hatton would of beaten cotto when he was at 140 and maybe not even gatti.

It wasn't the weight or style - it was the fact Collazo is a southpaw. Urango hurt Ricky, Magee floored him and Pacquiao knocked him clean out.

They were always his Achilles heal unfortunately.

With regards Cotto - definitely at 140, definitely not at 147.

He would have murdered what was left of Gatti at that point in both of their careers.

A prime Tzsyu was an absolute beast, but as someone else said, you can only fight what's in front of you.

Still, a younger Tzsyu that night would have made for an awesome tear up.

People moan and groan about Cortez in the Mayweather fight, yet the reffing in this fight was outrageous. Hatton should have been warned more and deducted points. I'm pretty sure had this fight been in America with a neutral ref, Hatton would not have been able to impose that hold and hit style.

Great win, and Hatton's best effort, but it was tarnished by the sheer bias of Parris.

dbf wrote:People moan and groan about Cortez in the Mayweather fight, yet the reffing in this fight was outrageous. Hatton should have been warned more and deducted points. I'm pretty sure had this fight been in America with a neutral ref, Hatton would not have been able to impose that hold and hit style.

Great win, and Hatton's best effort, but it was tarnished by the sheer bias of Parris.

Big difference is this.....

Parris was weak, but he allowed BOTH fighters to rough house like hell, BOTH went low. BOTH broke the rules. And shed no tears for Kostya who was always a rough fighter throughout his career. Tszyu liked to get physical, i recall him throwing Sharmba Mitchell around like a rag doll in their first fight deliberately trying to take full advantage of Mitchell injured knee.

Parris was weak but allowed two rough fighters to get on with it.


Cortez on the other hand allowed ONE fighter to break the rules, whilst coming down on his opponent like a ton of bricks for seemingly imaginary infringments. Perfect example of his sickening bias being Hatton having a point taken for a missed rabbit punch, whilst Mayweather was allowed to get away with a landed one the round after.

Cortez allowed Hatton and Castillo to fight on the inside but ref'd Mayweather/Hatton to suit Floyd. Cortez readily admitted that he handled the two fights differently, and that is frankly pathetic.

I remember it being a mess at the time and at the start of every roung Kostya threw a big right eveytime and Hatton took it.
I think the sad demise of Hatton's puch resistance after that was the real shame. (I know all boxers get it but I'm sure his weight yo-yoing didn't help). He literally walked through one of the divsions premier KO artists best shots, whether he was considered past it or not.

The excitment of Hatton winning the fight made me forget (or put to one side at least) the fact that is was a bit of a wrestling match.

lefty wrote:Personally i think that hatton was pretty overrated,i know theres the argument that he only lost to the two best pound for pound fighters in the world in mayweather in pacquaio but lets be honest,he struggled badly at the end against collazo who is a b level fighter although a welterweight admittedly.I dont think hatton would of beaten cotto when he was at 140 and maybe not even gatti.

Hatton could probably have beaten the version of Cotto who looked like a corpse against Malignaggi, not a given but definitely not unachievable. He'd have had no problem with Gatti IMO.