Just watched Hatton - Tszyu

I agree, although Tszyu certainly wasn't prime either, or at least on the decline. IMO, a prime Tszyu beats Hatton.

 

Big time win for Hatton, either way.

 

very good win for hatton, though the ref helped a bit, kosta may have been past his best but still very good

 

It annoys me when people say "he was a shot fighter", you can only beat whats put in front of you, and thats what Hatton and PBF have both done.

 

If anyone was unprepared, it was Hatton.

Some say Tszyu was not in his Prime. What is to stop others saying Hatton was not in his Prime either? Perhaps it was pre-prime for Hatton?

People just make this **** up as they go along,

 

hate people talking about hatton's dirty tactics in that fight,what about tszyus nut shot to hatton,it was a *******!

 

I do not think Kostya was shot in that fight at all... Hatton beat a good version of Tszyu .. maybe not prime but still very good.
But i do feel that Kostya would have won if it was on neutral grounds ... Hatton got away with way too much.

All in all still a good win for Hatton and i give him a lot of credit for it, he did what he had to do to win.

 

Correct. All this neutral ground shite, well lewis would have won the first fight against holyfield if that was on a neutral venue.:huh

 

Umm....Yeh Tszyu had not fought in awhile. And his pevious bouts had not gone on for for but-so-many rounds. He was def not ready for Hatton that night. Let's be honest, Ricky beat a shell of Tszyu.

 

If the fight was held in Autralia, maybe Tszyu would have been more reluctant to quit.

Tszyu is not shot at all. I consider him still at his prime, maybe not at his very peak but still well within his prime. He was a fresh 35 yrs old, with only 32 fights, ranked by most at P4P#3 at that time and koed a good version of Mitchell 6 months prior to that fight. Tszyu repeatedly said that he was at his very best at that time and that the 35 yrs old Tszyu would KO the 25 yr old Tszyu.

 

that was an impressive performance by hatton

 

I actually got the opposite sense from the fight. I think you could have fought the fight on the moon and Hatton would still have kicked his arse. It was a competitive fight definitely, but Hatton exerted dominance over time and I think the fight would have played out that way much more often than not if they did it all again. I don't see any scope for Tszyu to significantly change the outcome.

 

It was a great win for Ricky.

 

I also can't understand how anyone can say the ref didn't help Ricky.

In any fight have you seen a fighter nod to the ref in clinches to indicate when to break it up?
Have you ever heard a ref asked someone after being knocked down 'Was it low Ricky?'
Is there another fight with as clear a low-blow without a point deduction?
Have you ever seen one fighter pull on another fighter's arm so deliberately for several rounds. Hatton yanked like hell on the right arm, held and hit and led with his head. The best 'punch' of the fight was Hatton smashing his head into Tszyu's face which knocked him back into the ropes.
Tszyu did a few rabbit punches in return and hit low, but apologised.

So in my opinion it was poor, bias reffing. Absolutely.

That's my issue with the ref, but that is not what lost Tszyu the fight. It just made things a damn lot harder for him.

I think Tszyu beat Tszyu that night, if that makes sense.

He was happy to fight Hatton's fight and tried to fight on the inside, got tired, realised he had to change his gameplan, three rounds in three years suddenly caught up with him and he completely ran out of gas.

Could he change his gameplan? Well, the middle rounds that he won he made space, kept Ricky off him with a jab and looked to be setting up for the right...I thought Tszyu was taking over the fight. But he simply couldn't maintain any momentum or keep Ricky off him.

That was the way he trained and his corner told him to stop ****ing around on the inside with Ricky from the first round. Tszyu didn't listen, his ego made him think he could keep up a pace he hadn't fought at in years, and fight a style he didn't normally fight. Arrogance and age got him.

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A 25 year old Tszyu wasn't as smart but watch his fights at that age. He was a wrecking ball. Of course Tszyu is going to say he's better at 35 than 25. What do you expect him to say?

- 'Tszyu, do you feel you're a better fighter now at 35 than you were at 25'
- 'Tis not true. This shoulder, it aches with the pain from doctor's knife. The rain comes, the achilles that is torn it makes me think of cold russia.'
- 'So do you feel this will be your last fight?'
- 'My trainer, he gives me walking stick, tells me I not with the hunger like before. I beat him with stick to prove I have some fight. I look at cheque Hatton give my people, it makes my manager hungry enough for both of us.'


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If I looked at the fight as if reffed in America ... Tszyu with more space to time his shots, an extra point from the knock-down, an extra point for the deliberate low-blow ... it would have been a very interesting fight.

And despite Hatton promising a rematch in Australia, there's a reason Graham said straight after the fight 'There will be no rematch. We got Tsyzu at the right time.'

I think Tszyu beats Hatton a few years earlier. In fact I would have even given Tszyu a good chance in an immediate rematch on neutral grounds.

But so what. It's in the past and Tszyu agreed to all the conditions including the ref and location. Money does strange things.