{"id":145988,"date":"2025-09-15T22:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T22:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/145988\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T22:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T22:49:09","slug":"kostya-tszyus-tribute-to-ricky-hatton-after-world-champions-death-when-did-they-fight-how-did-he-die-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/145988\/","title":{"rendered":"Kostya Tszyu\u2019s tribute to Ricky Hatton after world champion\u2019s death, when did they fight? How did he die? latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kostya Tszyu has expressed his incredible sadness at the passing of legendary rival Ricky Hatton<\/a> \u2013 with the Australian great reflecting with friends over the past 48 hours about that night their lives changed forever.<\/p>\n

An undeniable icon of Great Britain\u2019s boxing scene, Hatton\u2019s untimely death at age 46 has sent shockwaves through the sport \u2013 with tributes flooding in from an eclectic group of stars including Manny Pacquiao, David Beckham, Liam Gallagher, Piers Morgan, Conor McGregor, Amir Khan, Manchester City, and Jake Paul.<\/p>\n

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While the Englishman is being remembered for a stack of career highlights \u2013 and equally unforgettable moments outside the ropes — his undeniable highlight remains upsetting Tszyu for the IBF super lightweight title.<\/p>\n

Contested in front of 22,000 raucous Manchester fans, the 2005 headliner wouldn\u2019t only see Tszyu retire on his stool after 11 brutal rounds, or later piss blood backstage in a bucket held by Russell Crowe \u2013 but eventually, retire altogether. <\/p>\n

Undeniably, the fight remains one of the most memorable in UK boxing history.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With the greatness of Hatton\u2019s moment due, in no small part, to the greatness of Tszyu himself.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, Kostya\u2019s close friend Glen Jennings confirmed the Hall of Famer \u2013 who now lives in Russia \u2013 was left feeling \u201cvery, very saddened\u201d by the sudden loss of his former rival.<\/p>\n

The Fight Life manager, whose stable now includes Kostya\u2019s fighting sons Tim and Nikita, spoke with the Aussie fight great within hours of news breaking and has revealed some of their stories about \u2018Hitman\u2019 \u2013 who was tragically found inside his Manchester home on Sunday morning. <\/p>\n

\u201cKostya and I have spoken,\u201d Jennings said, \u201cand he\u2019s very, very saddened by Ricky\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cRicky Hatton was such a wonderful character.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd over the years, he and Kostya reconnected several times and remained good friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time of their fight, of course, Kostya had been the division\u2019s king.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that night in Manchester, Ricky was like a God.Kostya Tszyu with Ricky Hatton after their IBF light welterweight world title bout in 2005.Source: AFP<\/p>\n

\u201cI can still remember when he walked to the ring the noise was like nothing I\u2019ve ever experienced.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, at ringside we couldn\u2019t even communicate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then inside the ring too, Ricky proved a terror.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a young Englishman to go do what he did, it was massive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if anyone was going to take Kostya Tszyu\u2019s crown, it\u2019s so good it went to a fella like Ricky Hatton.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked his own memories of fight night and Jennings recounted a crazy English crowd that had been boozing for at least six hours by the time of the main event, when Hatton walked out to his signature soundtrack Blue Moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cA song,\u201d Jennings said, \u201cwhich haunted me for years\u201d.<\/p>\n

Posting to Instagram on Monday, Kostya\u2019s eldest son Tim also uploaded a picture of the Englishman trading with his famous father, writing: \u201cRest Easy Ricky Hatton. LEGEND OF THE SPORT!\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Jennings also revealed a previously untold moment between the two fighters, who would initially reconnect only hours after the fight was finished \u2013 and as they were being wheeled by one another inside a Manchester hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich was wonderfully poignant,\u201d the manager continued of their world title war. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never told this story but Kostya was coming out of a hospital room \u2013 still being wheeled on the trolley they\u2019d done his concussion scans on \u2013 when somewhere down the hall we started to hear this singing and carrying on.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Laughs) And then in comes Ricky Hatton.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom memory, he was also being wheeled along (in a wheelchair).<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so that was the moment, just as the sun was coming up outside, with one fighter being wheeled into hospital and one being wheeled out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey paused as they rolled passed each other in the corridor, and shook hands …\u201d<\/p>\n

Old rivals Kostya Tszyu (left) and Ricky Hatton meet in 2014, the first time since Tszyu was stopped by Hatton in their 2005 bout.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

Better was to come, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were back at the hotel later that morning, about 10 o\u2019clock, when the front desk calls me to say we have visitors,\u201d Jennings continued. \u201cIt was Ricky Hatton and his father Ray \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

So within minutes, Kostya, father Boris, trainer Johnny Lewis and Jennings were all downstairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent hours together, too,\u201d the manager continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some lunch, a few of the crew had beers, it was a wonderful afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth of them were still really marked up, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually took a photo of the pair together which I\u2019ll send you.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Kostya still has the photo and Ricky was also sent a copy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s of both guys together and you can really see the battle damage on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember that whole afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cRicky was just being so respectful of Kostya for giving him the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Kostya, of course, was also incredibly gracious, just as he\u2019d been in the ring afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you\u2019ll remember coming into enemy territory that night, the crowd had booed and booed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then afterwards, he got the microphone and told them all how he\u2019d come to England to fight their best man, and that their best man had won.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe described Ricky as the young bull, said England should be proud of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I can still remember the feeling when they stood and applauded Kostya for about three minutes \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Ricky Hatton and Kostya Tszyu after their famous fight. Picture: Courtesy of Glen JenningsSource: Supplied<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast last year, Hollywood actor Crowe also revealed his own previously untold moment backstage after the fight ended.<\/p>\n

Having developed a close friendship with the Aussie fighter, Crowe was among a small crew of people invited into the dressing room afterwards, and recounted how he was holding onto the fighter as he pissed blood into a bucket for 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

While the fight is best remembered for an unbreakable Hatton continually walking forward through Tszyu\u2019s punches, it also included several low blows and gritty moments, with Australia\u2019s superstar dropped in the ninth by one particular shot below the belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Hatton was jacked, man,\u201d Crowe recounted.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis body was chiselled in a way I\u2019d never seen it before.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd from my perspective, it looked like he was laying in some shots under the belt, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, you know, an audience like that in Manchester, which was all about Ricky, they were all for him \u2026 he didn\u2019t have a lot of dissenting voices.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I was in the dressing room holding Kostya over a bucket while he pissed blood for about 20 minutes after the fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat made me understand what the boxing world really is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogan also branded Hatton \u201cin his prime, a bad man, a mauler\u201d.<\/p>\n

Only three years ago, Jennings crossed paths with Hatton again, when in England for a world title fight between another of his charges, Shannon O\u2019Connell, and Ebanie Bridges.<\/p>\n

As part of the build to that bout, O\u2019Connell had spent part of fight week training at Hatton\u2019s gym. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo we had another great catch up,\u201d Jennings said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven then Ricky was still saying how that Kostya Tszyu win, it was his moment in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said that night in Manchester … it would always be number one for him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kostya Tszyu has expressed his incredible sadness at the passing of legendary rival Ricky Hatton \u2013 with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-145988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}