The State of British Boxing: A Date with Destiny.

With less than two-months to go before his personal date with destiny, light welterweight contender Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton is by all accounts already in phenomenal shape and preparing more rigorously than ever before. After eight topsy-turvy years as a professional

prizefighter, there now remains only one obstacle standing between him and the international respect and glory that he so craves. The stage is set, and presumably, every fiber of his being is becoming rapidly consumed by a solitary objective; to defeat and dethrone division kingpin and living legend, Kostya Tszyu. As the fight draws ever closer, the buzz of excitement and anticipation is well on its way to reaching a fever-pitched level; if you are looking forward to this showdown even half as much as I am, the coming weeks are going to feel like a lifetime. But not to worry, that just means that we have ample time to do the thing we love most – speculate.

It is no secret that upon entering the ring on June the 5th, the Mancunian will be a sizeable underdog, but Hatton has made it clear that he is relishing the opportunity to test himself against a man universally regarded as one of the greats of this generation, and is exuding a quiet confidence. In an exclusive message sent to SaddoBoxing.com earlier this week, Ricky assured our readers that the rumors regarding his weight were nothing more than media created rubbish, and went on to state that, “Ricky Hatton will be the best Ricky Hatton anyone has seen.” He also offered some chilling words to his opponent, proclaiming, “Kostya and the whole world will be shocked to their boots after the fight and I will get the respect that I and my loyal fans deserve.” Bold men make bold statements; it is now a waiting game to see if he can back them up.

The general consensus among those in the know is that Tszyu will win via stoppage in a bit of a barn-burner, it will be exciting for as long as it lasts but when the smoke clears, the Australian-based Russian champion will still be holding his belts. I would even go as far as to say that outside of the perimeter of Manchester, very few are giving Hatton a hope in hell. I suppose that if one looks at this match-up objectively, it is extremely easy to see why. His opponent Tszyu is a murderous puncher and pound-for-pound one of the best in the sport, and has been now for the better part of a decade. Ask any knowledgeable boxing fan and they will agree, “Tszyuperman” (as he is otherwise known) is a first ballot hall of fame fighter. Also, fresh in everyone’s mind is the image of him demolishing number-one contender Sharmba Mitchell in November of last year – after a lengthy lay-off no less, which served as a timely reminder of just how lethal he can be when adequately provoked.

Hatton on the other hand remains by and large untested, or should I say, more so than he should be after nearly forty fights. Lately we have seen him notch up some pretty decent wins over solid top-ten types, but he has yet to mix with the upper-crust of the division; for most, that is reason enough to chuckle uncontrollably at the very thought of him pulling off the upset in June. Forget that Tszyu has only been in the ring twice since 2002, forget that he is fast approaching his thirty-sixth birthday, forget that Ricky Hatton is an undefeated punching machine nine years his junior. All I am hearing is that there is no way Tszyu can lose and that is that. I actually sometimes wonder how many of you residing across the pond has even seen the Briton fight. If you have seen him in action, I find it very hard to believe that you do not regard him at the very least as being a live underdog capable of pushing the long-reigning champion all the way.

It does not matter how good he looked last time out, Tszyu is no longer at the peak of his powers. I accept that it is going to be a very tall order for Hatton to win, but I am not ready to add my voice to those predicting his impending doom. Anything can happen on a given night between two world-class competitors, especially when one of them is ageing. When was the last time Tszyu was in a truly grueling fight? Hatton is a volume puncher who operates at an almost energizer bunny like pace; if the action goes beyond six rounds, it will be very interesting to see if youth prevails. The overshadowing question though is one that we will not know the answer to until after the opening bell sounds, will Hatton be able to stand up to Tszyu’s right hand? Skin the fight down to its bones and that is what it comes down to in my opinion, if he can deal with his power then I really believe this one could go either way. Tszyu is the favorite, but he better not be sleeping on “The Hitman.”

Next week, I will be taking a look at what the future holds for British heavyweights Danny Williams, Matt Skelton and Michael Sprott. Have a great weekend and please stay tuned.

Don Caputo can be reached at don_caputo@hotmail.com