What if Hatton had met a prime Kostya Tszyu? Would the result have been any different? Was it age or style's?
intresting match up there im presuming a prime hatton you mean i think kostya tsyu would probably win a points desicion
I think its still close and pans out similarly but firstly Tyszu doesn't fade as badly down the stretch and he gets his shots off quicker, moves better, counters better. I see Tyszu edging a a tough bruising affair. If Tyszu also gets Cortez as a referee who doesnt allow hitting and holding and wrestling he definately wins IMO Hatton's prime would be against Tyszu or Tackie and he was back in peak form against Mayweather
Hatton was not athis peak against PBF but lets not get into that I think Ricky wins a split decision against kosta but i could be wrong depending on the ref etc
he was in his peak against maussa and urango (which i think was after collazo but he was in his peak at LW)
The question is how bad was Tszyu, he entered the fight saying he may retire after it or maybe have one more big fight in other words he had the wrong attitude you have to enter a fight with the attitude of winning not to retire afterwards, Lewis had the same attitude when he fought VK. Anyway I think this fight goes the distance but Hatton still wins in an absolute war.
I think people thought Kostya was still in his prime because of the way he handled Mitchell the second time..but the truth is he had slowly been fading for a few years prior and he had just come back from 2 pretty serious injuries that had him out for a while. Mitchell just wasnt very good to start with and he was fading himself. Hatton is always a tough style for Kostya to contend with and I expect Prime Tszyu still has trouble with him. But like Power said Prime Kostya doesnt fade nearly as bad, his extra quickness allows him to catch Ricky more often and get himself into a better punching position. I think Kostya could stop him but I will say he outpoints him about 9-3...but a slightly messy and grueling 9-3.
Tzsyu had been very inactive prior to meeting Hatton but this was masked by his early blowout of Mitchell which led some to believe he was still at his peak.I remember Kostya looked decidedly average in his previous fight with an old James Leija and I didn't think beating Mitchell erased my concerns that he was past his prime going into a fight with a young bull like Hatton. I do think a prime Tszyu would be a bit too much for Hatton.Kostya at his peak was a master at timing and setting up that big straight right hand and would be able to dominate a large portion of the early to middle rounds to gain the ascendency over a fast finishing Hatton to take a tough UD.