Tweet
I was a Tszyu fan going into this fight and even bet on him. However, Hatton soundly and intelligently beat Tszyu.
Reasons why Hatton won:
1. The Hitman was able to get inside almost at will. Hatton was able to use the old Tyson slip and jump inside move very effectively and Kostya had no answer. Kostya's jab just doesn't consistently have the power to make the Hitman pay when he comes inside.
2. Hatton tired Tszyu out very early in the fight by forcing him to carry his weight around the ring. As a result Tszyu could not carry his power late into the fight. Tszyu was probably very well conditioned to throw punches but carrying someone else around the ring requires a different kind of stamina.
3. Hatton is a much better infighter than Tszyu in fact he is on a completely different level than Kostya in this area. He scored more punches inside and they were much cleaner than Tszyu's. The Hitman was even able to tag Tszyu on the way out of the clinches.
4. Hatton improved on his weaknesses in training. Hatton made light-years worth of improvement in his ability to avoid punches. It paid off very well. In Hatton's earlier fights he was an easy target but his defense was much better in this fight. I'm not saying that he has an awesome defense but it was almost absent in some of his previous fights.
5. Hatton showed that he had no fear of Tszyu. At the beginning of several rounds Hatton traded either a right hand or a left hook with Tszyu. This showed Tszyu that the Hitman wasn't scared of him which is incredibly important against a fighter that is almost perceived to be invincible.
REASONS TSZYU LOST
1.Tszyu did not keep the fight outside. I expected Tszyu to at least try to circle away from Hatton and strafe him on the way in. Tszyu's wide stance makes it almost impossible for him to move quickly. Hatton mentioned Tszyu's wide stance in pre-fight interviews and it was one of the key openings he took advantage of. If Tszyu had tried to circle away earlier like he did for brief moments late in the fight he probably could have won.
2. Tszyu did not improve on his weaknesses before the fight He could have worked on his movement and on his infighting but he just didn't show anything more than he showed in previous fights.
3. [B]Tszyu was not stronger than Hatton[B/] Hatton bullied Tszyu all across the ring and it got him tired early. Hatton fought a dirty trench warfare kind of fight and Tszyu would be a complete hypocrite if he made one negative comment about Hatton's dirty style because Tszyu roughouses a lot of his opponents.
4. Tszyu was not smart enough to find a way to counter Hatton's techniques. I thought Tszyu would find a way to capitalize off of Hatton's strategy but he couldn't. I was banking on Tszyu getting his head down low so Hatton couldn't put his forhead into Tszyu's chest but it just didn't happen.
5. [B]Tszyu didn't have the heart to finish[B/] Whether it was Tszyu or his corner that stopped the fight it doesn't matter.If his corner stopped the fight then they saw that Tszyu didn't have the will to continue. Tszyu wasn't taking a bad enough beating to justify them stopping the contest on that alone. They had to think he wanted the fight stopped.
[B][I][U]THE FUTURE[B/][I/][U/]
Although I am still not a Hitman fan yet I would rather see him fight Gatti or Mayweather than see Tszyu fight them. They will both make exciting fights but Mayweather will probably break Hatton down eventually. Hatton still showed in glimpses that he is very weak outside and a guy like Mayweather that can keep the fight there has an awesome chance of winning. Gatti's only real chance is to try to box sometimes and then sit on his punches every now and then to go for the knockout.
It is now time to begin considering Hatton for P4P consideration BUT he doesn't belong in the top 10 P4P yet. Hatton's achievments compared to the rest of the P4P fighters is incredibly small. The most important consideration in p4p rankings is how much the fighter has accomplished. All Hatton has done is beat one very good fighter in his division. In fact he has only fought one very good fighter in ONE division. This is what keeps him out of the P4P. Hatton's needs to be tested more to be in the top 10 P4P. One win doesn't make you a top P4P.
RAMBLING
The thing I hate most about boxing is how relaxed its rules are enforced. Especially in a sport where so much damage can be done by one infraction. If you intentionally hit someone behind the head you should be penalized, if you hit below the belt you should be penalized. If you purposely clench you should be penalized. There should be no such thing as a warning unless extreme circumstances warrant it. Almost anytime a boxer breaks the rules they get an unfair advantage. In other sports this is recognized and the cheater is punished instantly. If you are offsides in football or futbol you are penalized for it. If you hold someone in a football game you are penalized if the ref sees it. It should be the same way in boxing where lives are at stake. We could get rid of the Ruiz's of the boxing world and the fights would be more exciting and cleaner if officials were instructed to take a point away for any of the major infractions.
Reasons why Hatton won:
1. The Hitman was able to get inside almost at will. Hatton was able to use the old Tyson slip and jump inside move very effectively and Kostya had no answer. Kostya's jab just doesn't consistently have the power to make the Hitman pay when he comes inside.
2. Hatton tired Tszyu out very early in the fight by forcing him to carry his weight around the ring. As a result Tszyu could not carry his power late into the fight. Tszyu was probably very well conditioned to throw punches but carrying someone else around the ring requires a different kind of stamina.
3. Hatton is a much better infighter than Tszyu in fact he is on a completely different level than Kostya in this area. He scored more punches inside and they were much cleaner than Tszyu's. The Hitman was even able to tag Tszyu on the way out of the clinches.
4. Hatton improved on his weaknesses in training. Hatton made light-years worth of improvement in his ability to avoid punches. It paid off very well. In Hatton's earlier fights he was an easy target but his defense was much better in this fight. I'm not saying that he has an awesome defense but it was almost absent in some of his previous fights.
5. Hatton showed that he had no fear of Tszyu. At the beginning of several rounds Hatton traded either a right hand or a left hook with Tszyu. This showed Tszyu that the Hitman wasn't scared of him which is incredibly important against a fighter that is almost perceived to be invincible.
REASONS TSZYU LOST
1.Tszyu did not keep the fight outside. I expected Tszyu to at least try to circle away from Hatton and strafe him on the way in. Tszyu's wide stance makes it almost impossible for him to move quickly. Hatton mentioned Tszyu's wide stance in pre-fight interviews and it was one of the key openings he took advantage of. If Tszyu had tried to circle away earlier like he did for brief moments late in the fight he probably could have won.
2. Tszyu did not improve on his weaknesses before the fight He could have worked on his movement and on his infighting but he just didn't show anything more than he showed in previous fights.
3. [B]Tszyu was not stronger than Hatton[B/] Hatton bullied Tszyu all across the ring and it got him tired early. Hatton fought a dirty trench warfare kind of fight and Tszyu would be a complete hypocrite if he made one negative comment about Hatton's dirty style because Tszyu roughouses a lot of his opponents.
4. Tszyu was not smart enough to find a way to counter Hatton's techniques. I thought Tszyu would find a way to capitalize off of Hatton's strategy but he couldn't. I was banking on Tszyu getting his head down low so Hatton couldn't put his forhead into Tszyu's chest but it just didn't happen.
5. [B]Tszyu didn't have the heart to finish[B/] Whether it was Tszyu or his corner that stopped the fight it doesn't matter.If his corner stopped the fight then they saw that Tszyu didn't have the will to continue. Tszyu wasn't taking a bad enough beating to justify them stopping the contest on that alone. They had to think he wanted the fight stopped.
[B][I][U]THE FUTURE[B/][I/][U/]
Although I am still not a Hitman fan yet I would rather see him fight Gatti or Mayweather than see Tszyu fight them. They will both make exciting fights but Mayweather will probably break Hatton down eventually. Hatton still showed in glimpses that he is very weak outside and a guy like Mayweather that can keep the fight there has an awesome chance of winning. Gatti's only real chance is to try to box sometimes and then sit on his punches every now and then to go for the knockout.
It is now time to begin considering Hatton for P4P consideration BUT he doesn't belong in the top 10 P4P yet. Hatton's achievments compared to the rest of the P4P fighters is incredibly small. The most important consideration in p4p rankings is how much the fighter has accomplished. All Hatton has done is beat one very good fighter in his division. In fact he has only fought one very good fighter in ONE division. This is what keeps him out of the P4P. Hatton's needs to be tested more to be in the top 10 P4P. One win doesn't make you a top P4P.
RAMBLING
The thing I hate most about boxing is how relaxed its rules are enforced. Especially in a sport where so much damage can be done by one infraction. If you intentionally hit someone behind the head you should be penalized, if you hit below the belt you should be penalized. If you purposely clench you should be penalized. There should be no such thing as a warning unless extreme circumstances warrant it. Almost anytime a boxer breaks the rules they get an unfair advantage. In other sports this is recognized and the cheater is punished instantly. If you are offsides in football or futbol you are penalized for it. If you hold someone in a football game you are penalized if the ref sees it. It should be the same way in boxing where lives are at stake. We could get rid of the Ruiz's of the boxing world and the fights would be more exciting and cleaner if officials were instructed to take a point away for any of the major infractions.
Comment