BoxRec

if any of u have seen a replay of this fight i'd like your opinions.

i just watched the replay and i am even more surprised that he quit. he was still going reasonably ok although he may have lost the couple of rounds before he quit and with so much at stake he surrendered with only one round to go. the fight was very close on the scorecards. i'm also surprised that hatton got away with as much as he did, he could easily had a couple of points taken off but i don't know whether he even got a warning. if that was the case then kostya could nearly have won it by just lasting the final round.

now i do understand that kostya was tougher and braver than i'll ever be but i wonder how much he struggles to come to terms with that being the last chapter of his boxing career. it may not bother him one bit that he quit like he did but it is one of the saddest memories i have from watching the sport.

for the record kostya was and still is my favourite fighter.

all three judges had hatton ahead...

107-102
106-103
105-104

lewis obviously knew this and had a lot of influence on the stoppage...but tszyu had a LOT of experience and he would have known the same...it was the same sort of scenario as the hatton-malignaggi fight...basically, why risk your health just to say you lasted the distance.

kostya was also blowing like a motherfucker after the 11th

and in hindsight, even if (like u say) hatton had had 2 points deucted during the course of the fight he would have still won a majority decision (had hatton also won the last round which looked pretty obviously like he would have)

adamheight wrote:all three judges had hatton ahead...

107-102
106-103
105-104

lewis obviously knew this and had a lot of influence on the stoppage...but tszyu had a LOT of experience and he would have known the same...it was the same sort of scenario as the hatton-malignaggi fight...basically, why risk your health just to say you lasted the distance.

kostya was also blowing like a motherfucker after the 11th

and in hindsight, even if (like u say) hatton had had 2 points deucted during the course of the fight he would have still won a majority decision (had hatton also won the last round which looked pretty obviously like he would have)

It was too close to know that Hatton was absolutely winning; 105-104 shows that. I knew he was behind but I must I was disappointed it stopped. He was the champ. Even though it was in Manchester the challenger has to take the title (which he was doing) i would have liked him to see it out. He is known as being one of the greatest warriors of our time.


Incidently, i watched this with breakfast at a pub. There would have been around 150 people doing the same. After the fight was one of the bigger pub brawls I have seen, involving about 20 people.

i read kostya tszyu limited himself to one black coffee in the morning and one glass of water with dinner to prepare for this fight maybe thats why he was so tired or the fact he had been very inactive in his last few years with out really being tested

Before the Hatton fight it was mid 2002 the last time he had gone 12 rounds and at 36 which regardless of what fighters are doing currently,i think are past thier best, the fight was very close IMO, i recently watched the fight on UTube, he was exausted not hurt, but hats of to Ricky for the win.

I would have liked to see the final round though.

Funny this thread popped up as I too recently watched this fight.
I had the same feelings with KT choosing to throw in the towel. I would have liked to have seen him go the distance. It was VERY close at that stage too which as we've said, made his decision that much more disappointing.

I try to not think about that being his last fight.

It was not Kostya's choice to quit. Johnny Lewis called it off on the referee's advice. Kostya was in no state to say whether he wanted to continue or not.

toppity wrote:

adamheight wrote:all three judges had hatton ahead...

107-102
106-103
105-104

lewis obviously knew this and had a lot of influence on the stoppage...but tszyu had a LOT of experience and he would have known the same...it was the same sort of scenario as the hatton-malignaggi fight...basically, why risk your health just to say you lasted the distance.

kostya was also blowing like a motherfucker after the 11th

and in hindsight, even if (like u say) hatton had had 2 points deucted during the course of the fight he would have still won a majority decision (had hatton also won the last round which looked pretty obviously like he would have)

It was too close to know that Hatton was absolutely winning; 105-104 shows that. I knew he was behind but I must I was disappointed it stopped. He was the champ. Even though it was in Manchester the challenger has to take the title (which he was doing) i would have liked him to see it out. He is known as being one of the greatest warriors of our time.


Incidently, i watched this with breakfast at a pub. There would have been around 150 people doing the same. After the fight was one of the bigger pub brawls I have seen, involving about 20 people.

were u just an observer or were u in the thick of things swinging bar stools n shit?

adamheight wrote:

toppity wrote:

adamheight wrote:all three judges had hatton ahead...

107-102
106-103
105-104

lewis obviously knew this and had a lot of influence on the stoppage...but tszyu had a LOT of experience and he would have known the same...it was the same sort of scenario as the hatton-malignaggi fight...basically, why risk your health just to say you lasted the distance.

kostya was also blowing like a motherfucker after the 11th

and in hindsight, even if (like u say) hatton had had 2 points deucted during the course of the fight he would have still won a majority decision (had hatton also won the last round which looked pretty obviously like he would have)

It was too close to know that Hatton was absolutely winning; 105-104 shows that. I knew he was behind but I must I was disappointed it stopped. He was the champ. Even though it was in Manchester the challenger has to take the title (which he was doing) i would have liked him to see it out. He is known as being one of the greatest warriors of our time.


Incidently, i watched this with breakfast at a pub. There would have been around 150 people doing the same. After the fight was one of the bigger pub brawls I have seen, involving about 20 people.

were u just an observer or were u in the thick of things swinging bar stools n shit?

nah, i was a fair way away, 30m or so. Had to stand on my bar stool to see it. Fortunately for me i was in good company, i was with a couple of mates, one a pro' fighter and the other a karate black belt. it was a wild one though.

We all wanted Kostya to win that morning but he was being knocked around big time in the last few rounds of that fight and Hatton was getting stronger.

Johnny Lewis did the right thing to stop a worn out Kostya from the final round where he was facing an terrible pummelling.

We like to remember our champions as champions who do not suffer the ignominity of being carried from the ring.

ive tried to listen to what kostya was saying in the corner just before it ended but it is hard to hear properly. i know in the previous couple of breaks between rounds johnny lewis was asking kostya to talk to him but didn't respond so he must have been in lala land. he was obviously just fighting on instinct.

see if u can understand what he was saying. i heard him say either stop the fight or was saying to lewis don't stop the fight.

This fight leaves a bad taste in my mouth, The Referee was useless to say the least. Hatton held conitinually from the first round and should have been penalised. The Knockdown in the 3rd was not low and i think the fight would have been over if the count was applied..

ben k wrote:This fight leaves a bad taste in my mouth, The Referee was useless to say the least. Hatton held conitinually from the first round and should have been penalised. The Knockdown in the 3rd was not low and i think the fight would have been over if the count was applied..

Good call ben

Marlin wrote:

ben k wrote:This fight leaves a bad taste in my mouth, The Referee was useless to say the least. Hatton held conitinually from the first round and should have been penalised. The Knockdown in the 3rd was not low and i think the fight would have been over if the count was applied..

Good call ben

Thats how i feel about the fight , i still give respect to Hatton though as he took some big shots in the fight and mauled his way to victory.

Not the best way for for Kostya to end his career though, on his stool. Hatton beat him down methodically, he was simply too game for the older man.

In his prime Kostya would have been on the right end of a punishing fight, but his prime was a few years before this fight.

Fair play Hatton, he fought well and hung tough. That`s what it takes to beat a true champ.

toppity wrote:nah, i was a fair way away, 30m or so. Had to stand on my bar stool to see it. Fortunately for me i was in good company, i was with a couple of mates, one a pro' fighter and the other a karate black belt. it was a wild one though.

What kicked it off? Were there some Brits in the pub?

oliverfennell wrote:

toppity wrote:nah, i was a fair way away, 30m or so. Had to stand on my bar stool to see it. Fortunately for me i was in good company, i was with a couple of mates, one a pro' fighter and the other a karate black belt. it was a wild one though.

What kicked it off? Were there some Brits in the pub?

bingo bango mate. brits v aussies. Not sure who won tbh. Weird to see it at 10:00am...but there you go.

thhe things that stick in my mind are the worst ref i have seen in ages,the single most blatant lowblow ever(hatton shouulda been disqualified),more holding than an MMA match and Zoo just did not seem with it(yawning as hhe entered).will a t least say Hatton was a gentleman post fight-graciouus in victory.pity he wasnt that gracious when he lost.
wanted zoo to go on just in case he could land the one biggie but chances of that were SLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM to say the least.he looked fucked. right call was made.

sounds like the brawl was a corker. have no doubt soon in SANFL footie we will be seeing the same thing whenever central districts play(they are based in Elizabeth,a satellite city of adelaide where 20-30 years ago loads of gutter scum Brits-being specific about them, not generalising) were imported. it is now and always has been the worst area in adelaide and at the footie uu get the closest thing to "hooliganism"u will see,union jacks flying and all. centrals been on a good ruun last few years.JUst waiting till they lose.reckon there will be carnage.

[quote="JSA"]the things that stick in my mind are the worst ref i have seen in ages,the single most blatant lowblow ever(hatton shouulda been disqualified),

I'm glad someone said it.

JSA wrote:thhe things that stick in my mind are the worst ref i have seen in ages,the single most blatant lowblow ever(hatton shouulda been disqualified),more holding than an MMA match and Zoo just did not seem with it(yawning as hhe entered).will a t least say Hatton was a gentleman post fight-graciouus in victory.pity he wasnt that gracious when he lost.
wanted zoo to go on just in case he could land the one biggie but chances of that were SLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM to say the least.he looked fucked. right call was made.

sounds like the brawl was a corker. have no doubt soon in SANFL footie we will be seeing the same thing whenever central districts play(they are based in Elizabeth,a satellite city of adelaide where 20-30 years ago loads of gutter scum Brits-being specific about them, not generalising) were imported. it is now and always has been the worst area in adelaide and at the footie uu get the closest thing to "hooliganism"u will see,union jacks flying and all. centrals been on a good ruun last few years.JUst waiting till they lose.reckon there will be carnage.

About 35 years ao a guy I knew from Elizabeth (English immigrant he was, but a decent one ) was getting his head smashed against a car bonnet by some thug. His then wife had to walk up and burn the other guy's hand with a cigarette to make him stop