By Mark Vester
Kostya Tszyu, former undisputed junior welterweight champion, gave his thoughts on the upcoming Floyd Mayweather Jr-Ricky Hatton scrap on Saturday in Las Vegas. Tszyu says Hatton needs to follow the same strategy he used on him in 2005, which became Hatton's career defining fight when Tszyu was unable to come out for the twelfth and final round. To beat Hatton, Tszyu said Mayweather must keep the fight at a distance.
"For Ricky Hatton to win, he has to do what he did against me in our fight in Manchester. That is, putting on effective pressure. Huge, huge pressure, something that Floyd will not be able to sustain his defence against, pressure that Floyd will not be able to control," Tszyu said.
"For Floyd Mayweather Jr to win, he will be controlling his emotions and not allow Hatton to fight Ricky's fight. If Floyd controls the fight, something I was able to do against Ricky in the middle rounds of our match, keep his distance and fight away from Ricky's pace, he has a very good chance of victory. Even in close, Mayweather can still control the action. Floyd has very good movements on the inside as well and he doesn't have to fight on the outside all of the time to win. He can make Hatton miss and then counter him with his fast hands."
Tszyu says Hatton is not the biggest puncher he ever fought. It was Hatton's high volume of punches being thrown in every round, that wore Tszyu down in their fight.
"Ricky Hatton is not the hardest puncher I ever fought. I don't think he ever hurt me with one punch. It was the sheer volume of punches he throws over many rounds that does the damage. Ricky is very persistent in one direction - straight ahead, and he does this very, very well."
Tszyu says the role of referee Joe Cortez is of high importance because Cortez will dictate the style and flow of the fight.
"Joe Cortez will play an important role in the style of fight. If the referee allows Hatton to sustain this pressure in close by not breaking the boxers quickly, this will allow Ricky to work in close all of the time which is very much to his advantage. If this is the style of fight that is allowed, I think Ricky has a chance of wearing Floyd down completely."
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