24.05.05 – By Neil Goodman: Tszyu vs. Hatton – I will attempt to keep this short and sweet, because as the fight gets closer the build up to this fight will become huge, whilst every aspect of the fight and the combatants will be dissected time and again. The respective strengths of both fighters are apparent; on the one hand you have Tszyu, the long term world champion. Tszyu is a great box-fighter with a right hand which can and has reaped havoc on the 10 stoners for a number of years.
But hang on second lets take a moment to examine the facts; 5 fights in 4 years, of which 2 went the distance. This is world class level though so the stoppage ratio still looks good. If we drill down another level the stoppage victims have been, Judah, Leija and Mitchell.
The stoppage of Judah was a shock, not simply the fact that Tszyu beat Judah, but in the brevity of the contest. It was the Tszyu right hand which did the damage that night and as soon as the punch landed the fight was over. Whilst Judah has shown a recent return to form, he does get shaken up and he does go down.
Tszyu most recent victory over Mitchell, having stopped him in seven rounds previously, marked him out as the ‘Man’. The fight was expected to be a tough one, Mitchell entering the ring injury free and Tsyzu coming back after a long lay off. After three rounds, the dust settled and it was Tsyzu left standing. The performance was one of domination and Mitchell simply could not withstand the power shots.
So a tough fight made to look easy and another top level opponent taken out in style. If you dig a little below the surface though and really scrutinise the Tsyzu V Mitchell fight was it so surprising that Tsyzu won so big?
It would be fair to say Mitchell was coming to the end of a long career and the fight against Tsyzu certainly made financial sense. In terms of an opponent Mitchell was a mover, not a massive threat purely in terms of his own punch power and had previously been stopped, albeit earlier in his career. I offer the thesis that Mitchell was simply the right opponent, at the right time and Tszyu psychologically went into the fight hold an advantage over Mitchell.
So is Kostya Tsyzu a truly great fighter? Or, just well matched between his periods of inactivity?
Personally I think Tszyu is somewhere in the middle, but the most amazing thing about him is his ability to comeback from career threatening injuries, make the 10st limit and still command such attention. His right hand, if given the opportunity, can cause Hatton big problems, but I do not believe Ricky is without a pray in this fight.
To be a fighter you have to be in fights. No matter who Hatton fights the opponent is never considered world class or quite good enough, checking his resume though several names do standout; Phillips, Tackie, Olivera, Pendleton and to a lesser extent Magee.
Hatton will enter the ring on 4th June will several strings to his bow; he has been a consistently active fighter, also demonstrating the ability to raise his game up to and beyond the level of his opposition. Hatton’s own fitness has rarely been questioned come fight night and his own arsenal seems to have developed overtime. Ricky is no longer just a left hook, body shot merchant; his more considered attacks now includes a potent straight right hand of his own (just ask Mike Stewart).
This fight has all the making of a classic and I do not believe it falls into the same category as the Chavez V Holligan rout. I sense one of the camps involved has picked their timing just right in making this fight, each of the combatants is blissfully aware their respective strengths and weaknesses, it could all comedown to which fighter is able to execute their game plan on the night.
I head says Tsyzu, but the heart and the ‘X’ factor is saying Hatton.
Gatti vs. Mayweather
If there is one fight which could outshine Tszyu V Hatton then its ‘Thunder’ Gatti versus the ‘Pretty Boy’ Mayweather. This fight should and I hope will be massive, but unfortunately due to the marginalisation of boxing neither of these fighters is a household name in the UK.
The contrast between each fighter’s style and their respective personalities is a marked one. Gatti is the do or die battler; he has consistently placed his body in the line of fire and waged war in some of the fiercest and most exciting bouts over the last ten years. Granted Gatti has not always left the ring with his hand raised in victory, but he has always been able to hold his head high.
Thus far Mayweather’s path to greatness has not been such a roller coaster ride, but often the performances have been the no less awe inspiring. In the ring Mayweather is a completely different animal, he does not wear his heart of his sleeve and he leaves the blood and thunder in the locker room.
Whilst Mayweather fights might not such of an occasions and the levels of excitement do not quite reach the highs of Gatti bouts; he is still 33 fights unbeaten (with 22 victims falling inside the scheduled distance). He has thus far fought top level opposition across three weight divisions and done so with comparative ease. As the opponents have got bigger the flashy offence has been toned down a touch, but the defence is very much in working order.
Put all Mayweather’s ingredients together and you have a decent argument for calling him the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Certainly Hernadez, Corley, Manfreddy and Corrales would begrudgingly not disagree.
In the build up to this fight Mayweather has already made a catalogue of disparaging comments about Gatti, creating further resentment towards the brash young fighter (in terms of public perception Mayweather is not aiming to become one of boxings favourite sons). Is he getting under Gatti’s skin? Well that remains to be seen, but one would hope Gatti is assured enough in himself and his achievements to just let his boxing do the talking come fight night.
So, when the bell rings how will this fight pan out?
Gatti, upon entering the ring should be the bigger man and bigger punch; and one would assume will want to make these advantages pay dividends. To do this he will need to get on the front foot, be aggressive and push Mayweather back to the ropes. Gatti may gamble on being able to absorb Mayweathers power and win enough of the early rounds to make it tight on the scorecards. I think Gatti has to be realistic and this means his chances of forcing a stoppage are slim.
Mayweathers game plan is tried and tested; box and move, make Gatti miss and then make him pay. The Pretty Boy is a master boxer and excels at implementing carefully laid fight tactics; there is no better example of this than the dominant performance in overwhelming Diego Corrales.
Its all on the line for Floyd Mayweather, his star is rising and he is the firm favourite to win this fight. He will be determined to ensure his plans for light welterweight domination are not derailed by a fighter who has had his technical deficiency highlighted by De La Hoya, Manfreddy and Mickey Ward.
I am positive Gatti’s own desire still burns strongly and he would love nothing more than shoving Floyds trash talk back down his throat. But if Gatti does lose this fight then it will certainly not be the end of the world (or necessarily the end of his career); his induction into the boxing hall of fame must surely now be a formality and his fan base is massive.
Of late Buddy McGirt, Gatti’s trainer, has his charge boxing more than we have seen in the past. At the same time Mayweather has cast aside the tag of purely being a defensive fighter, with some impressive displays of offence. It could be the case that we see a role reversal in this fight, Mayweather hunting down Gatti, as Gatti gets on his bike. Whilst this scenario is possible; it is more likely that Gatti will try to exert some educated aggression in the early rounds, whilst trying to avoid getting marked up and cut. Then in the later rounds Gatti will need to turn up heat and try to prevent Mayweather stealing rounds with flashy bursts and eye catching counters.
To conclude, you sometimes see a proposed match-up, and for love nor money can not workout why one fighter has agreed to take the fight on. There are numerous examples of this; Moorer Vs Tua, De La Hoya Vs Hopkins and most recent Trinidad Vs Wright. Gatti is the man of the moment and boxing fans crave to see his fights, so why pick arguably one of the toughest assignments out there?
Style wise Mayweather is all wrong for Gatti and there is a clear form guide against a common opponent. Manfreddy stopped Gatti and Mayweather went on to stopped Manfreddy (in two rounds).
Whilst the comparison of performances against a common opponent is not an equate science, in this instance I do not think it displays an accurate assessment as to which fighter holds the best hand going into this fight. This time out Gatti is not fighting a short stocky boxer i.e. Leija or Dorin; Mayweather is a wholly different proposition!
So I ask the question again; why did Gatti sign to fight Mayweather? Fights against Tyszu, Cotto or Hatton would have probably attracted more attention and style wise either of these three would have presented Gatti with a better chance of victory.
But hey, isn’t that why we love Gatti? He might not win every time, but he will sure as hell give it a damn good shot!
Two great fights, two clear favourites and one winner, ‘Boxing’.