" SOMETHING WICKED, THIS WAY COMES."' Through the years,all the great champions have packed their bags and travelled to fight in their opponents backyards.Kostya Tszyu is a great champion, and the future hall of famer has decided to go to war again, this time, in the heart of Manchester, England, to face Ricky "The Hitman " Hatton, at his beloved M.E.N. Arena.

Hatton has fought 13 times in this arena and it is a place, very dear to his heart, and also a special place for his legion of fans. I have to say, i've been to them all, Madison Square Gardens, Ceasars, Atlantic City, but the atmosphere at the M.E.N. is electrifying.

Since signing with Frank Warren, "The Hitman" has become the biggest attraction in British boxing, and after 38 fights and 8 years as a professional, he is finally getting a fight, he has craved for, so long. Not only will he be getting a crack at the I.B.F. super lightweight championship of the world, he will be fighting, arguably, the best super lightweight boxer of all time.

Hatton [ 38 fights, [28 kos] ] started his career in 1997, with a blisterring string of knockouts, before being matched with the strong and stubborn fighter, John Thaxton in 2000, for the British light welterweight title. For many, this was a 50/50 fight and it truly was, Hattons first test as a pro. The fight was a cracker, and both fighters gave their heart and souls that night and many a drop of blood was spilt over the 12 rounds.

Hatton's heart and aggressive, will to win saw him overcome the brave Thaxton to take the title by decision. From there, Warren matched his new British champion with Tony Pep for the W.B.U. world title, and Hatton won the title easy by battering Pep senseless, inside 4 rounds. Frank Warren had yet another boxing superstar in the making, and through clever matchmaking, from him, and tremendously exciting performances from "The Hitman ", both of them have made millions of pounds over the years. Recently, i asked Hatton, about the money he was getting for fighting Tszyu. He replied," it was never about the money, i have more than enough money. For me, it was about me fighting the best boxers in my division. I have been asking for the big fights for ages, and there's no one bigger than Tszyu. I'm at my very best when im motivated and i will train hard and i know i can beat him."

In addition to having Warren's genius as a promoter, Hatton also has a dedicated , fantastic team around him, and when i visited his gym, "The Phoenix" gym in Denton, there was a great sense of frendship with all the boxers and although training was hard, there was still time for a laugh , which was great to see. With Billy Graham and Bobby Rimmer as trainers and good friends like Paul Speak, and Micheal Gomez, in his corner, and his dad looking after the business side of things, Ricky Hatton can concentrate on doing what he does best, and thats knocking people out.

Over the years, he has had problems with cuts around his eyes, and also a leaky defence which has been well documented. This i feel will always be there for him. Hatton likes to get inside and bang so hard and fast on the offensive, that he dosent mind taking the bumps inside to get off his debilitating hooks and uppercuts to his opponents. This is why he is a household name and also the most exciting boxer to come out of England since Nigel Benn. Like Hatton, "The Dark Destroyer" made millions of pounds by fighting all out attack, and threw caution to the wind, everytime he fought, and in doing so, he sold out arenas in hours.
Unlike Benn, Hatton has worked hard on his defence since his early days , because he knew he had to , to survive against the big boys of the division.

In his fights with Ben Tackie, and Micheal Stewart, he showed he could box and move very well and although i dont think this would be wise to use these tactics against Tszyu, the point is, he is a good boxer.

To say Hattons upcoming fight with "The Thunder From Down under" is his biggest fight to date is an understatement. Hatton will be the underdog for the first time in his boxing career and when i asked him what he thought about this, he replied," thats great. i will train harder than ever before, because i know how good he is, but in saying that, he has never been under as much pressure as i put him under. i cant wait to get in there with him."

Kostya Tszyu [ 31 fights 25kos] has reigned supreme in the super lightweight division for 13 years, and he has fought all over , America, Australia, as well as travelling the world , fighting in an extensive amateur career. When i spoke to him from his home in Sydney, he gave me the impression that the fight with Hatton was just another day at the office. He said, " Ricky Hatton is a good fighter. The fight will be a challenge for me, fighting at 200am in the morning. I needed a challenge like this. I have travelled many times. Ricky will give me a good mental challenge."

Since the Sharmba Mitchell massacre, Tszyu has been tying up loose ends in business ventures, meeting his fans at promotional lunches , driving in celebrity car races, and spending some good quality time with his family and friends. With his training camp, well and truly underway, he will have traded in the beer and the pork chops for steamed vegies and mineral water, and dedicated himself to training like no other boxer on the planet.

Since turning pro, on the undercard of Jeff Fenech v Azumah Nelson rematch in Melbourne, where he disposed of Darrell Hiles with frightening ease, Tszyu has fought and beat a who's who list of good seasoned veteran boxers like Juan La Porte, Livingstone Bramble, Angel Hernandez, Hector Lopez, and Jake Rodriguez, before being matched to fight the tough tormented brawler, Vince "cool" Philips in 1997, in Atlantic City.

This fight was allways going to be a stiff test for Tszyu. Philips was a hard , big punching , relentless fighter and he was hungry and felt it was his time. In the fight, Tszyu started well picking his shots , landing accurately but as the fight went on, he looked lethargic. Philips fought well, and took Tszyu's best punches and in the 10th round, he caught Tszyu with a huge right hand in the centre of the ring that sent him back towards the ropes, and Tszyu turned to his right, with Philips sensing he had him hurt, followed through and caught him again to send him into the corner before landing a volley of punches to knock him out on his feet, where the referee stepped in to stop the fight. I remember seeing Tszyu's face as the last punch reigned down on him. It appeared he was smiling. With this loss, Tszyu had a break of seven months to figure things out , and plan his comeback. The division was as strong as ever and after knocking out Ismael Chavez, and also blowing away Calvin Grove, Tszyu was back with a vengeance.

He promised himself, he would never underestimate an opponent ever again, and from that devastating loss, he said he learned so much, and when i watched him in the gym, he trained like there was no tomorrow.

It was now 1998, and Tszyu was matched to fight Rafael Ruelas, for the W.B.C. world title eliminator. Ruelas was an experienced fighter who had been there done that, and had fought some of the toughest mexicans ever to lace up a glove. Tszyu punished him and eventually stopped him in the 9th round to get another crack at a world crown. After surviving against the lanky Diobelys Hurtado , and then hammering Angel Gonzales into submission, he finally got his chance . The champion was the legendary , Julio Cesar Chavez. To win the title, Tszyu would have to travel into Chavez's cauldron, and fight in the hugely Mexican , populated city of Pheonix, Arizona. The fight was staged at the Alamo Memorial Arena, and it was hyped up to be a huge fight. It was a huge fight, but come fight night , Chavez looked weak and old, and Tszyu bashed him up for 6 rounds to win the W.B.C. World title.

Tszyu was champion again and with that win, it catapulted him into some huge money fights. Next up for him was the trash talking southpaw, Sharmba "little big man" Mitchell, from Washington. Mitchell was tooted as being the next big sensation to come out of the states and and he was so confident in his own ability, of whipping Tszyu, that he had no problem putting up his own W.B.A championship belt in a unification bid, with the winner take all and also a shot next, at Brooklyn's Zab "Super" Judah's I.B.F. title. The stage was set.

In the fight Tszyu and Mitchell, boxed out the first few rounds and from the fourth, it looked like Mitchell was going to be stopped sooner than later from the relentless Russian/Aussie, who was imposing his considerable will on him and "The little big man" seemed to be looking for a way out. In the 7th round, after falling awkwardly, Mitchell claimed he had injured his knee and could not continue, and the referee stopped the fight. Injured knee or not, there was only ever going to be one winner and that was Kostya Tszyu.

After a tougher than expected fight with Oktay Urkal, Tszyu got the chance to unify the super lightweight division in 2001, and he didnt need too much time to cement his place alongside Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor, when he blasted out the young speedster, Judah, in two explosive rounds. Tszyu took a couple of thunderbolt shots from Judah, that seemed to surprize him more than hurt him, but in the second round, he sent out his probing left hand to Judahs chin and bang, he hit "Super" with a missile right hand that was sent by radar that knocked him down twice. Tszyu was now on top of the world.

After a good long break, he once again came back to the ring with easy defences of his titles by outboxing Ben Tackie and stopping Jesse James Leija, and after recovering from what could have been career ending injuries to his shoulder and achiles tendon, Tszyu carried on and was matched to fight a rematch with Sharmba Mitchell. The rematch had been an on /off saga , but was finally set for November , 2004. Mitchell had been on a winning streak since his defeat by Tszyu, and was one of the most active prize fighters in the world. He was getting on , and when i watched him sparring, i noticed he had lost alot of his movement that had served him so well in his long career. Tszyu had been out of action for well over a year and there was alot of questions being asked by the boxing experts around the world.
Was he too old? Would he be fit enough after his injuries? I knew Tszyu would waste Mitchell inside six rounds, and boy did he do a number on him.

Mitchell was down 4 times ,in a mismatch which skyrocketed Tszyu , yet again to legendary status. Me, i didnt quite see it that way. Mitchell was a fighter on the slide, and yes Tszyu battered him like no other, but i believe Ricky Hatton would have done the same. Maybe not as quick, but certainly as clinically.

Kostya Tszyu, like Hatton has a fantastic team around him. From his manager , Matthew Watt, to his long time trainer, Johnny Lewis, to his proud father , Boris, who has allways been by his side.

It has been well documented, how hard Tszyu trains. I have been following Tszyu since his amateur days and alongside "Iron" Mike, Tszyu would have to be the hardest, most profesional trainer in the gym. Like all fighters, he does have his flaws and i have noticed he is open to the right hook , especially as he is getting older.

Also some of his speed of foot is gone, and at 35, its a possibility that he could grow fight weary overnight. He does however live well, and will be in tremendous shape for Hatton. He has a superb ring mind and carries natural power, as his 25 opponents will tell you. Even at his age, he is still the complete fighter. "Wicked" if you like.

"Something wicked this way comes"

For me, i believe this fight will be over inside 6 rounds, or less.
I also believe that either champion can win on the night. It depends on how Hatton fights, and not how Tszyu does. If Hatton can find a way through Tszyu's range finder, left hand ,and punch it out the way everytime he swirls it out,as he tries to search and close the gap between his poleaxe right hand, and Hattons chin, and attacks and pressurizes Tszyu from the opening bell , then he has a chance. He has to throw everything at Tszyu and get inside and punch him to the head , the neck, and the body , hard and often to win. Easier said than done, but thats what he has to do.

There is no plan B. Plan B would be to try and box with Tszyu and he could only do that for a couple of rounds before Tszyu would cut the ring and that would be curtains.

In the past, Tszyu wasn't just happy beating his opponents, he wanted to beat them up and make a statement to all the boxing experts who doubted him.

I feel Tszyu will try to make a statement in this fight. I believe Tszyu will try to stop Hatton with a body punch, just to show the boxing world that he could out body punch, a body puncher.

Whatever the outcome, this fight will be a fantastic sporting event and its guaranteed to be an explosive night of boxing for the fans around the world.