Hatton Stopped Tszyu After Eleven Rounds in Manchester
Ricky Hatton defeated Kostya Tszyu by corner retirement after the eleventh round on June 4, 2005, at the MEN Arena in Manchester. Hatton took Tszyu’s IBF and The Ring light welterweight titles in one of the defining wins of his career.
The fight changed late
Tszyu entered as the longtime champion, while Hatton had home-crowd support and a high work rate. The British challenger pressed the action and landed enough to make the bout increasingly demanding for the champion.
After eleven rounds, Tszyu did not come out for the final round. The official result was a retirement at 3:00 of round eleven, commonly recorded as RTD or corner retirement.
The result was not a knockout punch in the twelfth round. The stoppage came between rounds when Tszyu’s corner decided he could not continue.
A title-changing victory
Hatton won the IBF light welterweight championship and The Ring championship with the victory. It was a major breakthrough against an established champion and strengthened Hatton’s standing at 140 pounds.
The bout took place in Manchester before a large crowd at the MEN Arena. Tszyu had held a version of the world title for years, making the upset and the manner of his retirement especially notable.
Contemporary coverage and fight records agree on the date, venue and eleventh-round retirement. This is the 2005 professional title fight, not an exhibition.
