Would Hatton have beaten Tszyu on neutral ground?
June 19th, 2010
By Scott Gilfoid: I recently watched the June 2005 bout between Ricky Hatton and then IBF light welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, and I came away from the fight firmly believing that Tszyu would have beaten Hatton had this fight taken place on neutral territory rather than at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England. Hatton was 26 at the time, and in the prime of his career, well before his one-sided losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
However, Tszyu wasn’t a wrestler and didn’t know how to pry Hatton off his body to keep him from hitting and holding, and dealing with his rough house tactics. I personally thought Hatton should have been penalized and disqualified by the 6th round for the constant holding, wrestling and holding hitting. By the 10th, I would have disqualified Hatton multiple times for all the fouls, yet he was still able to continue to wrestle like a champion.
I’ve seen this fight many times and I still can’t fathom how Hatton was able to get away with all the holding and wrestling without being disqualified. It’s really too bad that this fight didn’t take place on neutral ground because I think Tszyu would have easily beaten Hatton on that night. Actually, it probably would have been too easy because Hatton would have likely been disqualified early in the fight for his holding and grappling had the fight taken place in another country which enforces rules against holding and wrestling in fights.
I would have loved to have seen Hatton fight Tszyu in a rematch in Australia or Russia. That would have been nice. The referee would have liked kept Hatton on the outside or at least prevented him from holding. At that point, the fight would come down to whoever the best puncher was between the two. I think Tszyu would have carved Hatton up. But can you imagine what that 35-year-old version of Tszyu would have done to the now 31-year-old Hatton? I’d put my money on Tszyu for an early knockout win, even if Hatton was able to wrestle and hold nonstop.
Tags: 37 Responses to “Would Hatton have beaten Tszyu on neutral ground?”
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hinduw, Juan Manuel Marquez is rated NO.3 P4P but he is past his prime. Kostya Tszyu was past it at 35. A prime Tszyu would have KTFO of Hatton. Hatton got away with dirty tactics. Hit and holding and wrestling, Low blows ( dont mention Tszyu’s low blow because it was on the belt line ). Ricky is the most ovverated fighter ever.
British people…
Hatton won’t ever be recognised on the same level as Tszyu. Tzsyu was the only ever undisputed light Welterweighht champion ever in Boxing. He held the WBA, WBC, IBF title all at the same time. No one ever didi that.
scott your an absolute idiot mate tell me why you have to dig up fights from 5 years ago i think you need to get laid mate
wth is this? Kostya too old? He was still ranked in the P4P rankings at like #2…and he hadn’t lost a fight in donkey’s years..also hatton was the underdog. As for Kostya, he got away with a lot of low blows and illegal tactics, so ricky had to do some of his own to make it a fair field. Ricky is a genious at boxing.
What is this guy on??
Just because there is no british fighter fighting in the next couple of weeks this kid goes back into the past to slag off a british fighter
This guy surely got bullied by a british kid when he was younger and has never got over it
vlad you need to watch the fight again. kostya hit hatton witha low blow also. and was it the wrestling that made kostya retire on his stool before the 12th or was it the fact that hatton was killing him with body shots?? get your facts right muppet
I agree with Scott 100% on what he’s saying. Hatton held , and wrestled Tszyu all night and the ref didn’t do anything. We all saw that. Tszyu was such a champion that he didn’t let that be a excuse for losing. If they would have fought anywhere else in the world, Hatton would not have gotten away with those dirty tactics. Does anybody remember the low blow on Tszyu ? Tzsyu was getting the upper hand in the fight & Hatton hit him in the nuts.
IM SORRY ANDRE HONEY…..ILL PM YOU.XXX
Any fighter that cant fight away from home cant fight at all and shouldnt be labelled world class.
scott tszyu retiored in his corner…he didnt complain about theway Hatton fought and saw it that he lost fair and square…as he was in the ring what majkes you think you know more?
its cos you dont
Hatton beat Tszyu in a ring. Any ring anywhere in the world that was just simply, Ricky’s night. He was on form the best he ever has been (maybe bar mallinagii fight boxing wise) but he won. If it was a dubious points decision, you had a point- but it wasn’t.
Leave the legacy alone!!
As fan of Tszyu is was really painful to see him go out like that. The HBO team acted as if they were blind too. And the crowd would boo whenever the ref separated the fighter. It was MMA type grappling that Hatton used to beat Tszyu. To me the fight was still pretty close when Tszyu elected not to continue. My guess is that Tszyu new he couldn’t win that night. It was a legit and clear win for Hatton.
In the USA Hatton was ordinary as the ref here don’t allow wresting or MMA moves. This is boxing. Cortez was right in not allowing Hatton to do that.
You are allow to fight dirty in the USA, but it must be dirty boxing..e.g Hopkins, Floyd, Corrales RIP Cotto’s low blows, but what happened in Manchester was plain robbery and corruption.
if there is anyone who knows what scott looks like or were he lives there is a 5 grand reward so everyone can go rd and thank him and tell him what a great writer he his
No British fighters fighting at the moment Scott so you have to go back 5 years. Who next? Henry Cooper?
Regardless of whether Tzsyu retired on his stool or was retired by his trainer, he was retired as he was taking a beating. Would have been retired anywhere else in the world. Would have beaten Hatton in his heydey though without a doubt.
Look forward to reading this article again next month.
Scott sweetheart,why are you not writing anymore articles about me?
You know I get all jealous when you write about other guys.
See you tonight.
XXX
For the Record, Tszyu didn’t retire on his stool. His trainer Johnny Lewis stopped the fight and told Tszyu to quit and end the fight. Lewis was the one who called the fight off. That’s the truth and everyone should know that. Tszyu was real dirty on Lewis after that and was gonna fire Lewis as his trainer. Tszyu and Lewis have patched things up. Johnny Lewis came out after the fight & said he was protecting his fighter. Tzsyu hasn’t officially retired, but we wont ever see him fight again. Tzsyu is a wealthy man with a beautiful family who still live in Sydney. Tzsyu has business interests in Russia openinh up Tszyu Boxing Schools. Thanks for the memories Kostya Tzsyu. A respecter fighter all over the world and possibly the greatest Junior Welter Weight that ever fought.
100 % Spot on with the Author. Hatton got away with murder that night in 2005 against Tszyu. Its shame as Tzsyu was a better boxer and the referee let Hatton get away with anything.
scott, first time i’ve responded to one of your many articles i’ve read. it does seem you really do have a fascination with slagging british fighters. or is it just english fighters? i think half the time you do it just to get peeps biting! anyway for a population of approx 50 million to the usa’s 360 million we don’t do too bad producing w/champions,more than any other euro country or the likes of big countrys like australia! if you want to tarnish any british fighter how about the over rated(good but never EVER great) calzaghe, that i could forgive. start posting decent articles rather than just trying to get reactions of people! you spoil the site a lot of the time mate. just a bit of constructive critism which you should learn to use?
That Hatton that beat Paulie Malignaggi was nothing less than skill and power. At the time Paulie had only been defeated over twelve rounds by Cotto and was considered to be in the elite level. In my humble opinion the writers on this fine site or correct and Hatton, like Cotto, was defeated by people who feard them so much that they had to go the unethical route to win.
I agree with many of the writers in this fine forum. Ricky Hatton had two opponents to deal with in the ring on the night that he fought Mayweather, as he had to deal with referee Cortez who was obviously interfering to Floyd Mayweathers benefit. Had this fight been in a neutral location Hatton my well have done much better or even won the fight.
I don’t recall Tszyu speaking of any of this when reflecting on his loss. He did mention that the desire had diminished if I remember correctly, and that is evident on his ‘retirement’ straight after that fight.
I also recall Tszyu saying – of another fighter – that when you come to fight, you fight – no excuses. He was a gentleman in defeat and Hatton deserved his win.
It’s a pity the fire seemed to have gone from Tszyu as a rematch would have been very interesting.
They are both champions of their time. Let’s leave their records testify to that and not let spectulation tarnish two great careers.
Thank God somebody had the guts to publish what they think. Even though its popular to slate Hatton. Anyone who diasgrees i promise you watch the fight. This article is spot on. Mayweathers lot had a word with Cortez joe before the fight.
Like Hatton said “I thought something was dodgey when the ref counted, “2,4,6,8,10″
You’re a poor mans Wil MacKay.
this fight was years ago
tszyu quit on his stool
hatton beat the fight out of him, he didnt have the will to continue
get over it
5 years later? who cares?
Come on dude, he quit on his stool so WTF are you talking about. If he was the better fighter that night he would have won, he didn’t, end of a true story.
yet another anti british post by gilfoid, how original!
I am British but Tszyu was a far better boxer than Hatton….he had fearsome power for a junior welterweight and was just a little too old and inactive. If he had fought Hatton in his prime he would have won easily.
scott get out of my basement and get a job, your 55 years old, no job, no wife..eak you have never has a girlfriend, no kids, you stink with your sweat and you weigh 300 stone please stop writing for mummy as i no you have never watched a boxing fighting in your life or been to one cause the basement has no tv
Gilfoid – YOU ARE WORTHLESS – HATTON WOULD SMASH TSZYU ANY DAY OF THE WEEK – THIS ARTICLE IS JUST BLATENT LIES !
That was an ugly dissapointing fight.
Kosta Tszyu lost his fan base that night, it look as though he didn’t even try.
It’s a shame that the biggest win of hattons career came in such an ugly fight, because i think hatton could have beaten him anywhere at that point in Tszyu career.
THAT WAS A MMA MATCH…WAY TOO MUCH HOLDING, LEANING WITH THE HEAD AND DIRTY MAULING FIGHTING! I LIKE TO SEE ACTUAL PUCHES LANDED…THAT FIGHT WAS ON THE SAME LEVEL AS GSP(MMA) TAKING A GUY DOWN AND WRESTLING HIM ALL NIGHT. GET THE WIN BUT I WAS NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE FIGHT AT ALL!
No scott once again your wrong. And what about mayweathers constant use of the elbow in the hatton fight. I suppose that’s ok for you because he is american
I agree conor! Tszyu retired on his stool..it wasnt Hatton’s wrestling skills that caused him to do that!
hatton hammerd him
hatton complained about cortez but micky vann used to help him out in a big way he was home town ref just as much as joe cortez
GET A LIFE YOU MUG. THE FIGHT HAPPENED 5 YEARS AGO AND HATTON BASHED HIM GET OVER IT YOU SOPPY YANK AND WRITE AN ARTICLE WORTH READING.PLONKER!