| Date | June 4, 2005 | |
| Title(s) on the line | IBF Championship | |
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| Ricky Hatton vs. Kostya Tszyu | ||
| The Hitman | Thunder From Down Under | |
| Tale of the tape | ||
|---|---|---|
| Manchester, England | From | Sydney, Australia |
| 38-0 | Pre-fight record | 31-1 |
| WBU Junior Welterweight champion |
Recognition | IBF Junior Welterweight champion |
Ricky Hatton vs. Kostya Tszyu was a boxing Light Welterweight fight on June 4, 2005 between Ricky Hatton and Kostya Tszyu at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England. 22,000 crammed into the arena to watch one of the biggest upsets in British Boxing History.[1]
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Ricky Hatton was at the time, the WBU light welterweight champion having knocked out Tony Pep and was coming into the fight off stoppage wins against Michael Stewart and Ray Oliveira.[2] He was the underdog [3] for the fight known mostly in Britain as a young crowd favourite.
Kostya Tszyu was however an established force amongst the top pound for pound fighter in the world and had been the first man to unify the light welterweight division in 30 years. At 35 years old he had been the champion for more than a decade and was considered a national hero in Australia. His only other defeat was in 1997 to Vince Phillips and was named the Ring Magazine upset of the year.[4]
The fight was staged at 2:00 am local time to accommodate the American TV company Showtime and that it would on prime time in America. The referee was Dave Parris.
Tszyu was a notoriously slow starter and Hatton won the first two rounds in an aggressive start to the fight, however the champion qualities of Tszyu shone through in rounds 3–5. At one point Tszyu intentionally hit Hatton below the belt and immediately followed the shot with another to the head, scoring an underhanded knockdown. Nevertherless, Hatton's aggression won him some of the rounds that followed and going into the twelfth he had a slight lead on all three judges scorecard (105-104, 106-103 and 107-102). After a back and forth battle in which both fighters took great punishment, Tszyu failed to emerge from his corner for the final round as his trainer Johnny Lewis threw in the towel.[5]
An emotional Hatton was stunned and all the fans cheered as Dave Parris waved off the fight, both boxers embraced after a classic fight. The fight is generally regarded as the peak in Hatton's career; the stamina and heart he displayed in the fight is now legendary, although recently his body has shown signs of slowing after years of ballooning up in weight between fights.[6]
Kostya Tszyu retired after an illustrious career and is still loved in Sydney to this day. This fight formed one of two fights, the other being against Carlos Maussa that brought Hatton the award of 2005 Ring Magazine fighter of the year.[7] Hatton went on to beat such names Juan Urango, José Luis Castillo and Paulie Malignaggi but has since lost twice to pound-for-pound kings Floyd Mayweather Jr in December 2007 and against Manny Pacquiao in May 2009 via a 2nd round KO.