MANCHESTER, England, 2 June 2005 — Kostya Tszyu has warned opponent Ricky Hatton he will have to go to war if he wants to wrestle the IBF light-welterweight title away from the Australian.
The Russian-born fighter has promised Hatton, and the 22,000 spectators expected at Manchester’s MEN Arena in the early hours of Sunday morning, that he is still as hungry as ever for success.
Ten years as world champion have not withered the 35-year-old’s desire to hold on to his crown, before moving on to establish himself as one of the sport’s all-time greats at an age when many would be considering retirement.
Tszyu said: “We are not here to do the ballet - there is going to be a war. That is what people want to see and that is what they are going to see.
“I will not need to look for Ricky. He will come at me and that is the great thing about this fight and a great thing for me.”
Tszyu believes the fans are in for a boxing treat with Hatton’s all-action style complimenting the Australian’s irresistible urge to entertain, something that has turned him into one of the most world’s most popular fighters.
He knows a number of highly-lucrative options await should he justify his status as favorite and dispose of the unbeaten Hatton in style in front of the prime-time American pay-per-view cameras.
Future meetings with fellow big-name light-welterweights Arturo Gatti and Floyd Mayweather have been mooted, as has an ambitious-looking meeting with the great American Oscar de la Hoya.
While Hatton is viewing this fight as the chance of a boxing lifetime, for Tszyu it is merely a necessary stepping-stone back into the big-time.
