News - Ricky Hatton

"Everybody's picking Kostya Tszyu to beat me and rightfully so," says unbeaten Ricky Hatton (38-0 28 KOs), who faces off with highly regarded IBF jr welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu (31-1, 25 KOs) on Saturday night in Manchester, England. Hatton is a 2.5 to 1 underdog in the fight, which can be seen in the United States on SHOWTIME at 9PM ET/PT. "I should be the underdog with that kind of color of the man I'm facing, but I still don't think that most people have seen half of what I got," Hatton told Fightnews.com... read more ...

Ricky Hatton: "He is all about punching power and my game is about pressure and lots of punches, so I'll be swarming and subtle, staying cautious and using good defence. Tszyu is 35 and lots of boxers get better with age, but he doesn't like to fight at a high tempo and prefers to be precise. Age could be a factor - he has gone very few rounds in the last four years and that could tell. I'll wait for him to slow before I go through the gears..." read more ...

Tszyu has been training at 11am each day to ensure his body clock is tuned to the correct timings given the fight will occur at 2am in the UK. This is to suit the watching US TV audience who will see the fight live from Manchester via Showtime. Meanwhile in Australia Tszyu's long-time trainer Johnny Lewis feels his fighter is reaching a new level of fitness. He stated, "I have worked with Kostya for 13 years and he has never looked better." read more ...

Undisputed junior welterweight world champion Kostya Tszyu is planning to accurately target Ricky Hatton like a sniper when they clash on June 5 at the MEN Arena in Manchester. "I have studied lots of things about Ricky already. I am going to test wherever it is open," Tszyu told the Tszyu Crew during a live chat at his website www.KostyaTszyu.com on Friday night Sydney time. "I am going to be like a sniper..." read more ...

On Friday his sparring partner was the No.1 contender for the IBF world middleweight title, Sam "The King" Soliman. Normally the 12kg heavier Soliman would be told to pick on someone his own size, but Tszyu showed he could handle himself against someone three divisions above his weight. Still seven weeks shy of full fighting trim, Tszyu nevertheless cut an awesome figure as he skipped, shadow-boxed, thumped punching bags and waved greetings to his blonde wife Natasha... read more ...

IBF welterweight king Kostya Tszyu, who will meet the enormously popular Ricky Hatton on June 4 in the most hostile of environments – the challenger’s backyard before 18,000 fans at MEN Arena in Manchester, England, says the fight presents exactly the kind of challenge he needs. "This fight has motivated me to train harder than I ever have before," said Tszyu, who has won 13 consecutive bouts... read more ...