By Tom Donelson

By now, everyone has read that Ricky Hatton is now the new king of the junior welterweight division. Conventional wisdom had Kotsya Tszyu's fierce right hand sending the young Hatton down for the count, but conventional wisdom was wrong and for many reasons. 

Conventional wisdom had Hatton vulnerable to Tszyu's counter punching skills. The problem is that most pundits failed to notice, Hatton style was the perfect style to beat Tszyu. Tszyu is a classic European fighter, honed by years of amateur and professional fighting.  He leads with his left and waits to unleash the right. While Tszyu has a good left hook, it is his right followed by his jab that is his most effective combination. In addition, Tszyu needs to extend his arms to be more effective against his opponent. That is why he easily beat Judah and Mitchell in their last encounters. He was able to extend his punches and hit his target flush. Hatton did not give Tszyu the opportunity to extend his punches as he fought inside Tszyu’s power. 

The second failure of conventional wisdom was to comprehend why the swarming Hatton style was so effective against the stand up European style of Tszyu. Hatton’s style is more reminiscent of American swarmers like Joe Frazier and the old Mike Tyson. He hits the body with effective left hooks and he is effective fighting on the inside whereas Tszyu prefers space to throw his punches.  Just think of Joe Frazier defeating Joe Bugner in their 1973 encounter. The classic European style of Bugner could not stand up against the aggressive Frazier or the quick and unorthodox style of the master boxer, Muhammad Ali. 

The third failure of conventional wisdom was the failure to understand that Tszyu is a measured puncher who does not waste his punches. Hatton, on the other hand, swarms and throws punches in bunches. He wears his opponents out and doesn’t allow his opponents to rest. The 35-year-old Tszyu never had a chance to catch his breath nor could he ever control Hatton. Tszyu's secret has been to stun his opponents with his jab and then strike with his right to finish the job. The jab served as a warning to opponents that if you move forward, you will be hurt. What happens if the jab fails to stop an opponent, who keeps coming?  Then Tszyu can’t dictate the pace. All of which happened last Saturday night.  Tszyu was the more accurate puncher in the fight, but Hatton threw the greater volume of punches and his punches forced Tszyu to fight off the ropes.  For every punch that Tszyu threw, two were nailing him.  Hatton's volume of punches made up for Tszyu's accuracy and Hatton dictated the pace of the fight. 

The big question in the beginning of the fight was if Hatton could take Tszyu's best shots. If he could, then his style would take command of the fight. If not, it would be early evening. Hatton showed that he could take a shot from the best puncher in the division and that is why he won. 

Now comes the interesting part. For months, we in the boxing world have cried for a unified champ and that the championship should be decided in the ring. Hatton is the undisputed junior welterweight champion, period. No debate. He beat the best in the ring and that should make Hatton the recognized champion. What about Floyd Mayweather, Jr.? Great fighter and maybe the best fighter in the division, but until Mayweather beats Hatton in the ring- then he is not the recognized champ. Beating Gatti doesn’t count. It only puts him in a position to challenge the true champ.  Vivian Harris? Good fighter and one that many fighters have avoided. Harris deserves a chance but again, until he beats Hatton in the ring- it does not matter!

Hatton fought a brilliant fight. He showed nuances in his tactics. Showtime announcer Al Bernstein noticed that Hatton threw few left hooks to the body, but aimed quite a few to Tszyu's head. Why? Bernstein observed that having his left hand high made it difficult for Tszyu to counter Hatton's left hook. And Hatton's left hook nailed Tszyu numerous time and forced Tszyu to counter with his own left hook- not Tszyu's best weapon. Hatton's adjustments in this fight was instrumental in his victory. The guy did his homework.  This was a fight in which brawn accompanied brains, the combination has made Hatton the king of the junior welterweights.