Thomas Gerbasi

The New Cinderella Man – Hatton Batters Tszyu, Wins 140-Pound Title

By Thomas Gerbasi (June 4, 2005) Photo Layout © Mr.Will/ HoganPhotos.com

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It takes a tough man to walk into an opponent’s backyard, fight before thousands of booing fans, and do so at two in the morning.

Kostya Tszyu is a tough, tough man.

Tonight, Ricky Hatton was a little bit tougher.

Before a sellout crowd of 22,000 at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, hometown hero Hatton shocked the boxing world with an 11th round stoppage of Tszyu, forcing the longtime junior welterweight champion to retire in his corner before the 12th and final round.

“I’m a very, very proud man, and I’m not saying that this is the end of my career, but today I lost to the better fighter,” said an emotional and gracious Tszyu in addressing the crowd after his defeat. “And there’s no shame for me to say this. Today Ricky was better than me everywhere.”

“I knew I was ready for this level for a long time,” said Hatton.

Much of the opening minute was spent with both fighters grappling at close range. Hatton (39-0, 29 KOs) showed no fear of his more experienced opponent though, as he got inside behind a quick jab and eagerly tried to rough up Tszyu (31-2, 25 KOs, 1 ND) at every opportunity, bringing roars from the crowd at every positive turn.

Tszyu opened up the second with a stiff jab of his own, but after another warning to both fighters from referee Dave Parris for roughhousing, Hatton aggressively bulled the champion into the ropes and smothered any return fire with his two-fisted attack. Midway through the round, a calm Tszyu made Hatton miss as he looked to counter the rushes of the Mancunian, but the forward progress of the ‘Hitman’ remained unimpeded.

Meeting each other in center ring with a grapple, the fighters continued to set a fast pace in the third, with Hatton headhunting and Tszyu doing some good work to the body and finally starting to get the range on his younger opponent.

Hatton dug to the body with his trademark hooks in the early stages of the fourth as Tszyu tried to time him with his debilitating straight right hand. Surprisingly though, whenever Tszyu would land cleanly, Hatton took each shot with no effect and came back winging while aggressively crowding his foe.

This pattern continued in the fifth round in what was rapidly turning into a very physical, draining bout.

Swinging wildly with both firsts, Hatton sent Tszyu briefly into the ropes in the opening minute of round six, but Tszyu, unhurt, quickly gained his bearings. But Hatton kept the pressure on, jarring Tszyu to the head with his solid hooks as the champion continued to look for an opening for his stiff counters, which finally found a home during a strong late round sequence.

The seventh saw some of the best sustained punching action of the fight so far, with Tszyu’s counterpunching not hurting Hatton but definitely scoring points. In the final 30 seconds, Tszyu landed a shot directly on the belt line that sent Hatton down to the canvas, but Parris did not call it a knockdown, and the challenger appeared to be unhurt.

Tszyu, now sporting a mouse under his left eye, showed little urgency in his strategy in the eighth, and Hatton capitalized, landing his best left uppercut of the night as he continued to press the action and maul the champion at every turn.

Tszyu tried to time Hatton’s rush to begin the ninth with a straight right hand, but Hatton easily got by it and parked himself back in the Australia-based Russian’s chest. With little under a minute left to go, Parris warned Tszyu for low blows, only to have Hatton come right back with a blatant payback hook below the belt that sent Tszyu to the canvas for a brief respite.

Hatton’s pressure and rough tactics were visibly frustrating Tszyu in the 10th, and while the champion was continuing to land pinpoint counters, Hatton was unmoved by any of them as the supremely conditioned 26-year-old knew only one direction – forward. Late in the round Hatton pinned Tszyu in the corner and appeared to stun him briefly with an uppercut and the crowd erupted for the hometown hero.

Starting the 11th with a clinch broken by a Hatton uppercut, both fighters continued to battle, and Tszyu landed some hard shots when the challenger briefly gave him room to punch. But that wasn’t long as Hatton charged, throwing punches at any part of Tszyu’s anatomy, buoyed by the crowd, the moment, and the opportunity to silence any doubters.

That opportunity came seconds later as a bruised and battered Tszyu opted not to come out for the 12th round, sending the MEN Arena into a frenzy and a new star into the stratosphere.

“I know the last five or six rounds I was really coming on and as I was making Kostya work in the opening rounds I was conserving a little bit more,” said Hatton. “I really wanted to come on in the straightaway.”

“In the 11th round I knew it was nearly impossible for me to win,” said Tszyu, 35. “I haven’t been that exhausted in many, many years. I was in the best shape of my career, but something was wrong.”

Hatton led on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage – 107-102, 106-103, and 105-104.