Comments Thread For: The Awakening: Twenty years ago, Ricky Hatton beat Kostya Tszyu and woke everybody up

[BoxingUpdates]

Twenty years ago in Manchester, Ricky Hatton and Kostya Tszyu made 20,000 sleepy fans wait before delivering something memorable in the early hours of Sunday morning, writes Elliot Worsell.
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[Pulmonary Embolii]

TL;DR. Please tell me when the movie comes out.

[cace]

hatton got away with blue murder in that fight the holding and clinching and low blows he got away with were shocking
the ref had reffed hatton in so many fights it should have been a neutral ref

[SteveM]

I fell asleep reading the article. Far too wordy. I had Worsell pegged as much older, that's the impression his writing leaves on me.

[lilacp]

I was never happy with what the referee let Hatton do in that fight. But it was also evident that Hatton was simply too much for Kostya that night.

Btw, Worrell needs an editor ASAP. I like skimming his articles but they don't lend themselves to a dedicated reading.

[STREET CLEANER]

Hatton wrestled Tszyu and the ref did nothing.

[MalevolentBite]

Ricky only lost to ATGs in his prime. Its always fun to watch an over achieving limited fighter with a great engine against an all time great fighter on the DECLINE. It always makes for a good fight.

these type of match ups really show when a fighter wants to retire or dig deep one more time for a challenging win when they know they already have fortune, fame and mentally tired. This happen to Josh Taylor a few weeks ago. This also happen to Manny against Horn.

[brankobugarski]

The article suggested that Kostya was half way out the door before that fight and then retracted in. I was a Kostya Tszyu fan and I watched all his fights. By the time he fought Ricky Hatton, he was a part time fighter - in the last four years of his career he fought only once a year. He was in the gym only 8 to 10 weeks a year, just before the fight. I know that seems to be the norm these days for big stars, but in those days that was an exception.He made his money and started enjoying the good life. When that happens the end is near.

[Brittney1229]

Kostya cashed himself out. He was already on the way out, and because of the money offered, he agreed to fight Hatton in his own backyard with his uncle Max refereeing the fight. Not once did he warn Hatton for the headbutts, elbows and wrestling. Prime Tszyu sleeps Hatton.

[brankobugarski]

Kostya cashed himself out. He was already on the way out, and because of the money offered, he agreed to fight Hatton in his own backyard with his uncle Max refereeing the fight. Not once did he warn Hatton for the headbutts, elbows and wrestling. Prime Tszyu sleeps Hatton.

You are right. I did not want to say, what you just said, but it is all true. He was paid $5.5M for this fight which 20 years ago was an absolute fortune - in reality a retirement paycheck to sell the belts.