How could Hatton absolve Kostya Kzu clean Ponches so well ?

Hey Blaster, where the hell have you been? Welcome back!

 

That's the way I saw it too - people seem to forget that Tszyu was ahead on the cards in that fight up to the 7th or 8th round, if he'd had Mayweathers stamina he'd have closed the job out but at the age he was and inactive as he was he just hadn't got it in him any more. Still a greater fighter than Hatton despite the loss, in my opinion.

 

If he boxed more and picked his shots instead of brawling and mauling with Ricky I think he would have also caught Hatton lunging in on him and knocked him out even at his advanced age and inactivity.

 

Absolutely, but the point pit made was correct, once Tszyus legs were tired there was no way he could set himself to do that. Tszyus best chance in that fight was to get Hatton early and he didn't. Once it was past the mid-way stage it was all bad news for Kostya - that blatant punch to the nuts didn't help matters either, I swear you could see the strength drain from him after that. It came back on Hatton in the end though, Mayweather beautifully off-set Hattons rough-house tactics with some of his own and had him complaining after the fight, which was irony personified :yep

 

It frustrated me watching Tszyu vs Hatton because Tszyu just kept going straight back the whole fight. IMO, if he would have moved more laterally at all, he would have had more success.

 

Tha answer is: David Paris.

 

seriously

 

I think Hatton would beat a prime Kosta to, Pressure fighters were Kostas Nightmare i mean Vince Phillips destroyed him in his prime, Kosta is the nightmare to slicksters like Judah and Mitchell,Mayweather is a more accurate puncher and was getting full bodyweight in to his shots hence why he koed Hatton.

 

I think he didn't see the hook coming!

 

All of what you said above plus that Hatton was very tired in the 10th. For the last few rounds he was getting hit regularly with flush power shot by PBF. In the 8th round he almost went down from a nasty combo PBF put together.

 

Thanks FW.
My wee boy is 7months old now, and I just havent had the time to post here at all.
Good to be back.

 

Rounds one and two Hatton spent the fight trying his best to yank the right arm off Tszyu. Tszyu was happy to try and fight inside and wasn't worried about looking for space to throw the right. Illegal holding and hitting aplenty, but Tszyu makes the mistake of expelling too much energy too early.

Rounds three and four continued a similar pattern with Hatton barging in and Tszyu seemingly content to fight with him on the inside. Tszyu got a little more space and started to hold his right hand up more threateningly but strangely enough didn't throw it. I remember one of the commentators saying that the right hand had for the moment ... 'gone missing'. End of round four Tszyu went back to his corner with his mouth open and looked tired.

Exhausted after four rounds was a worrying sign and a fair representation of the amount of rounds Tszyu had actually fought in the past three years.

Rounds five and six, with his corner now begging him to keep Hatton off him with a stiff jab, find space and throw the right, Tszyu had his best moments of the fight. None however featured the right hand, but some straight lefts and a couple of beautiful hooks of the jab hurt Ricky. What was distinct from Tszyu's previous fights was the absence of a follow-up right or combination after a successful left hook. Hatton kept Tszyu moving back and effectively nullified most attempts but Tszyu looks strangely less than ferocious. Foreman mentioned specifically about the right hand (or absence of it) 'The body wants to throw the right, but the mind doesn't respond the way it used to. That's called getting old.'

Rounds seven and eight, Tszyu is fighting on instinct now and really looks tired. The nice moments he had in the previous two rounds are lacking and Hatton looked stronger and closed the distance easily. The rounds are even but one fighter is clearly fading and the other looks to be getting stronger. The only right hands for the fight are desperate ones Tszyu is now throwing to open up each round.

Round nine and ten are essentially the end of the fight. The low-blow finishes the minimal resistance Tszyu is offering and round ten he takes a battering. He doesn't answer his corner when he returns to the stool but comes out for a one sided round eleven. His trainer Lewis said he later regretted not stopping the fight a round earlier. Stats reveal the obvious fact that Tszyu's right hand output is one of his lowest ever. Add to that he fought backpeddling, fighting stupidly (or arrogantly) on the inside and also had to deal with wrestling and a range of other tactics, he was up against it.

I don't think Hatton ever tasted anything that was representational of a prime Tszyu punch. That is hats off to Hatton's gameplan as well as Tszyu's amazingly odd strategy. A different fact to the Phillips fight was that Tszyu definitely hit Phillips with some absolute bombs, with Phillips remarking later that he'd never been hit so hard by any fighter in his life. Hatton said after the fight that Tszyu had never hit him cleanly with the right, although he strangely stated before the Mayweather fight he'd taken Tszyu's best shots.

In terms of Tszyu saying he was a better fighter than when he was 25 (vs 35) I don't think any fighter has ever said they were worse. What do you expect the guy to say?

X : You're 35 and not many guys last that long, let alone in one weight class. Is a 25 year old Tszyu a superior fighter to a 35 year old Tszyu?
KT : It is correct, I do not like zee training. I have many years of punch to the head. It is not the motivation. I pin cheque to punching bag. The zeroes, they help the pain.
X : So it's about the money?
KT : When the rain comes, my shoulder it aches. I look at cheque, pain it eases.
X : Your trainer said you were lacking motivation before this fight and urged you to retire after the Mitchell rematch. Is he right?
KT : Please do not be rude to me. This may be true, but please, do not be rude to me.