Ricky Hatton has admitted he feels Tyson Fury should have retired by now as the Briton prepares for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury was beaten by Usyk via split decision back in May, with the Gypsy King suffering his first defeat as a professional in the process.
Some feel the 36-year-old is past his best, with his defeat to Usyk following an unconvincing victory over former MMA star Francis Ngannou.
Hatton, speaking to the Daily Mail, has revealed he’d have liked Fury to retire by now.
Boxing news: Ricky Hatton has admitted he feels Tyson Fury should have retired by now as the Briton prepares for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk
PA
But he’s also expressed hope that he’ll end his career by facing Anthony Joshua after years of intense speculation.
“I think we should let them have their last fights against each other,” he said, referring to both Fury and Joshua.
“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.
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“Then they can put their feet up, and fair play to them both for brilliant careers.”
Fury was outclassed when he lost to Usyk in May.
Though the Briton insists he was unfortunate to lose, his opponent was a class above throughout the entirety of the showdown.
Hatton is, however, convinced that Fury could get the better of Usyk if he makes ‘changes’ to his game and uses his size to his advantage.
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“I do think Tyson has a good chance if he makes the changes that are needed,” he said.
“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.
“I think Tyson needs to hold his feet a little bit more.
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Boxing news: Ricky Hatton feels Tyson Fury can win his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk
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“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.”
Meanwhile, speaking earlier this week, Fury insisted that both himself and Usyk ‘did fantastic’ during the bout in May.
And he also doubled down on his stance that he deserved to come out on top.
Tyson Fury was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in their first fight back in May
REUTERS
“I have watched it a thousand times, well probably not a thousand but maybe a hundred times,” he told Queensberry Promotions.
“I thought it was a very good fight. I thought that I did fantastic, I thought Usyk did fantastic, it was what it was.
“It is just someone’s opinion isn’t it, who won the fight, because like we see in a lot of these fights recently, especially in fights that people think are close, some people might have one man winning it and some might have the other man winning it.
“I think that I won, he thinks that he won. I have seen him doing his view where he says ‘I thought I won it by a point’, one of the judges had me up by a point and one of the judges had him up by a point.
“It is an opinionated thing if it goes the distance and that is what you have got to deal with.
“If something goes the distance, then you are relying on three people’s opinions, and they might not all see it the same.”