Ricky Hatton has offered his thoughts on Tyson Fury's upcoming rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, revealing exactly what he believes the Brit needs to do to turn the tables on the Ukrainian in December.
Hatton, a former world champion himself, also weighed in on Anthony Joshua’s recent knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois, suggesting why he doesn’t think AJ should be granted a rematch with DDD.
Hitman Hatton finished his exclusive interview with Mail Sport in the build-up to Jack Catterall’s clash with Regis Prograi live on DAZN this weekend by stating when he’d like to see both Fury and Joshua call time on their illustrious careers.
Looking back on the first fight between Fury and Usyk, Hatton acknowledged just how rare of a talent the Ukrainian is, particularly highlighting his mental strength in the face of Fury’s notorious mind games.
‘He’s not bothered by the mind games one bit, is he Usyk? It just goes in one ear and out the other, doesn’t it?’ Hatton said, underlining the fact that Usyk is immune to the psychological tactics that Fury has previously used to destabilise his opponents.
‘Fighters like Usyk only come along once in a while, don’t they? I mean, Olympic gold medalist, undisputed cruiserweight champion, and now undisputed heavyweight champion. He’s an unbelievable talent that can’t be taken for granted. It just seems to me that whatever Tyson does isn’t going to affect him. It’s not going to get through to him.’
In the first encounter, Usyk appeared to defy the physical disadvantages, pushing the much larger Fury around the ring with surprising ease. Despite Fury’s height, reach, and weight advantage, Usyk managed to control the tempo and dictate much of the action.
Hatton, though, believes that Fury can win the rematch - scheduled to take place at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia on December 21- if he makes the right adjustments.
‘I do think Tyson has a good chance if he makes the changes that are needed. He’s got a four, five-inch reach advantage, and he’s got the weight and height advantage, but you didn’t see that in the first fight. Usyk managed to push him all around the ring despite being the smaller man.’
Hatton went on to explain how Fury’s best path to victory lies in being more stationary at times and using his size to his advantage.
‘I think Tyson needs to hold his feet a little bit more. Of course, you can still give ground but hold your feet a little bit more and use the attributes you have to your advantage—height, reach, weight. I don’t think he did that enough. If he makes those choices and has one voice in the corner, he could be more successful.’
The mention of having ‘one voice in the corner’ is a key point for Hatton, who believes that too many instructions from multiple sources could have hampered Fury in the first fight. In a high-stakes battle like this, Hatton says communication between fighter and trainer needs to be crystal clear.
‘It doesn’t need me to tell anyone in that corner that there should always be one voice. You can speak to any trainer, and they will tell you that the boxer isn’t going to take the information in if it’s coming from here, there, and everywhere.
‘I mean, they can speak to each other during the three-minute rounds, but when that one minute comes around, you have to be quick and concise. You’ve got to get the message around effectively, so you need one voice delivering it.’
While Hatton believes Fury can make the necessary adjustments, he still sees the fight as incredibly close, with no guarantees of victory for either man.
‘If he does things like that, I think he will have much more success. But, I still think it’s going to be a toss of the coin in which way the fight goes and who will win. But, I think he’s got a better chance if he uses his attributes more and his team helps him by giving him just one voice.’
Turning his attention to Anthony Joshua, who was recently knocked out by Daniel Dubois, Hatton voiced his opinion on whether Joshua should pursue a rematch or step back from the sport for good.
‘You know, big Eddie Hearn said the other day about AJ rematching Daniel Dubois. I think that would be harsh on Daniel as I think he deserves to fight the winner of Fury vs Usyk or get the rematch with Usyk outright.
‘If he gets to fight Usyk, he gets to reverse what happened last time, and if he gets to fight Tyson, he gets a big British bout. I think that’s what should be happening next, really. I mean, you’re not telling me people won’t pay for Tyson vs. AJ. We’ve wanted that for 10 years. So, I think if they’re going to do that, it would be great and a credit to them, but I don’t see that next.’
Hatton holds both Fury and Joshua in high regard and thinks that the boxing world should honour them both by allowing them a final showdown against each other before they call it a day.
‘That being said, I like to think it’s a family in boxing, and I like to think I can call them both friends. I think we should let them have their last fights against each other. Personally, I’d like to see Tyson on the couch now with his feet up in the air.
‘I’d like to see AJ doing the same and tell him enough is enough. But, if I am being selfish, I wouldn’t want to tell them that until they have fought each other. Then they can put their feet up, and fair play to them both for brilliant careers.’
Watch Jack Catterall vs Regis Prograis at Co-Op Arena on Saturday night live on DAZN.
