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Ricky Hatton believes Tyson Fury must make TWO key changes if he is to turn the tables on Oleksandr Usyk in their blockbuster heavyweight rematch this December.
Legendary Mancunian fighter Hatton, 46, is one of British boxing's most decorated stars ever and is a close ally of the Gypsy King, having helped Fury battle back from weight gain and depression to revive his career in 2018.
And the man known as the Hitman believes Fury must make adjustments both in and out of the ring if he is to defeat Ukrainian ace Usyk, who inflicted his first career defeat upon him earlier this year.
Hatton, speaking exclusively to Aky Karim of Boxing Now, said: "I think it’s a 50/50 one again. A fight with Usyk and Tyson is never going to be a landslide either way.
“I do think Tyson’s pride would’ve been hurt in that first fight a little bit and he’ll want to come back. There’s little bits of wear and tear starting to show now, which is understandable.
“Look at Deontay Wilder, who he had those wonderful fights with. I think they definitely took their toll on both of them.
“The way he was bullied around the ring by the smaller man last time, I was thinking, ‘Ease back, hit him hard as he comes, use your height and reach when he’s close. Use that weight to lean on him a little bit.
“He had all the attributes to win last time and I don’t think he really used any of them.
“So yes, I’d like to see him hold his feet a bit more this time and hit him hard as he comes forward. When he did do that, he hurt Usyk with an uppercut.
“If he does that this time, I think he might just edge it."
There was also constructive criticism directed at Team Fury's corner last time out for the range of voices seemingly offering instructions during the fight — namely Tyson's father John and his trainer SugarHill Steward.
Hatton, who was famously a two-weight world champion during his own glittering career, believes addressing that issue is as crucial as the aforementioned in-ring adjustments.
The Hitman added: “There also has to just be one voice in the corner.
"If it’s Sugar, it’s Sugar and if it’s John, it’s John. I’m not saying who should be the one giving advice but it does have to be one voice.
“When you’re in a war and you’re getting hurt, taking shots, feeling dazed, then it’s hard to take that information in. The best chance you have of taking it in is when it’s only one person speaking.
“That’s one of the major things they can learn from that first fight I think. One voice only.
"By all means they should all be getting their heads together during the three-minute round but in those 30 seconds, it needs to just be one person.
“If Tyson makes those two tweaks, I think he can win the rematch."
Bookmakers currently have the bout
Since hanging up his gloves, Hatton has turned his focus towards guiding the careers of a number of up-and-coming boxing prospects — including his son Campbell.
The chip off the old block suffered his first professional defeat in a narrow points loss to Jimmy Joe Flint back in March and then once again found himself on the wrong end of a close decision in last month's rematch.
Yet Hatton, who was speaking about that second showdown for the first time with Boxing Now, admits he was gutted not to see Campbell get the nod.
He explained: "It’s my job to be honest with Campbell. He thought he’d won the first fight and I said, ‘I don’t think you did, son. I thought you were hanging on a little bit in the last round. You nearly got stopped’.
“But this fight, I thought it was one of them where you toss a coin. Some people have the view Campbell won, some thought Jimmy won.
“I was of the opinion he did just enough to nick the second one. He was a lot more solid, he definitely showed improvement.
“But the fact it went to the other corner didn’t mean it was a bad decision. I just thought he’d improved a bit, boxed a bit of a better fight but he didn’t get the result.
“I was very proud of him. They were 20 exceptional rounds across the two fights and he’s ticked a lot of boxes in how he showed his heart, his desire to turn it around.
“He’s been down in Essex training away from his little daughter and I thought he’d just done enough to merit it. But he didn’t."
Both father and son took to social media in the last few days to reflect on the fight and Ricky admits seeing the youngster handle his loss so gracefully filled him with emotion.
“A lot of people have said to me that the Instagram post I put up about him was nice but I thought his one was even better, to be honest.
“He said along the lines of, 'Let’s get one thing straight, I never said I was the next Ricky Hatton. I’ve come into boxing to test myself and I’ll be back’.
“I’m sure it brought a tear to his eye reading my post because it definitely brought a tear to mine reading his.
“And that’s what my son is, he’s a champion. It doesn’t matter what belt is around his waist, he’ll always be a champion to me.”
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