Ricky Hatton: Tyson Fury must avoid trying to go to war with Dillian Whyte

In his first column of 2022, the British boxing legend breaks down Fury vs Whyte and Eubank Jr vs Williams while also previewing a big month for Fightzone.

Fury vs Whyte one for the ages

Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte is finally set and I think it is certainly one of the biggest British title fights in history.

It’s our biggest heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno went to war back in 1993, 100 per cent. We spent a lot of time waiting for Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua and that might be the one a lot of people want more than anything. But when you look at world heavyweight title picture, this is another huge one.

I think Dillian Whyte poses a similar threat to Deontay Wilder against Fury. Although Wilder is a lot taller and has a more slender build, there are a lot of similarities in their styles. Their shots are wide arching shots, they come around the houses and come from wide. They put everything into them.

The tactics Fury used for the second Wilder fight were bang on and he used them again for the third fight. Since he has linked up with SugarHill Stewart and started fighting with that Kronk style, he has turned into a 6ft 10in Rocky Marciano. It has worked. He is going to war with everyone and it is getting the results.

The old Fury might be needed

I’m delighted for Dillian – the poor sod have been waiting for ever and a day for his chance. But I think it is a fight Tyson can make as hard or as easy as he wants.

It all depends on how he comes out in those opening rounds. If Tyson tries to outbox him, he will do just that and could have a very comfortable night. But if he wants to go toe-to-toe and have a war, he is handing Dillian his best chance of winning that fight.

A bit of the old Tyson Fury might be what is needed. Slow him down and break him down a bit.  We’ve seen what Alexander Povetkin and Anthony Joshua did to him, we know Whyte can be knocked down, we know he can be hurt.

I just think if Tyson, especially early on in the fight, reverts to the old Tyson, utilising that movement, making his opponent fall short, leaning on him and letting him [Whyte] blow himself out a little bit, he’ll have an easier night.

But if he goes into the trenches immediately like he has done in his last two fights against Wilder, it could be dangerous. Tyson performed incredibly well in those last two fights against Wilder. But I think a different game plan might be needed for this one.

Things are looking better for the division right now. We’ve got Fury vs Whyte and the rematch with between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk to look forward to now. Those are two fantastic fights. And with Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams, Amir Khan vs Kell Brook and Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall, it is not a bad start to the year at all. They are all domestic fights too. People all over the world will be watching these and that is just for the start.

Eubank Jr must pass Williams test

I think Chris Eubank Jr really needs to make a statement against Liam Williams this weekend. He seems to have been around forever, we’ll be calling him Eubank Snr if he doesn’t get a move on.

He is a talented fighter, sometimes he shines and looks a million dollars but then there are other occasions when you are left wondering whether he has enough and you are not too sure. If Eubank fights at his best, and he will need to be at his best against Williams, he will probably win.

Liam might feel this is one of his last chances to really get the limelight. I wouldn’t say it his last chance but if he loses this one, he has got a bit of hill to climb.

He looks in fantastic shape and has clearly been working really hard. I do like Liam and if I had a choice of picking who I would want to win, I would say Liam Williams. That is not a dig at Chris, I just really like Liam and have an awful lot of time for him.

I just think Eubank Jr might be a little bit more polished. He has got a clever boxing brain, he is a good thinker in there. It’s a real pick-em fight. If Eubank Jr underperformers like he has done in the past, Liam will punish him. But if I am leaning anywhere, I’d go with Eubank Jr.  

Fightzone back in action in February

The Boxing Board of Control here in the UK decided against sanctioning fights in January due to the Covid threat. But we are making up for that now.

British boxing is restarting this month and as mentioned earlier, there are terrific domestic dust-ups wherever you look with Fightzone also hosting two cracking cards.

First up on Saturday 12 February we are back in Sheffield with Kash Ali set to to headline the show. Dennis Hobson has shown over the years he is an expert at manoeuvring boxers into title opportunities. He did that with Carl Thompson, with Clinton Woods and more recently he is doing wonders with the likes of Jack Massey and Hannah Rankin who picked up world titles at the end of last year.

With Kash Ali topping the bill again, he is heading in the right direction. I’m sure Dennis will be looking at bigger and better opportunities for him. Kash is topping cards and building his fanbase so it is all a move in the right direction.

The following week (Friday 18 February) Fightzone heads to Aberdeen with David Jamieson, Nathaniel Collins and Kieran Smith among those on the bill.

Sam Kynoch is an exciting young promoter doing great things in Scotland, bringing his fighters through on Fightzone. He has a great stable up there and I’m sure him and Dennis are building towards doing great things for their fighters this year.

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