Tszyu favourite to beat Hatton

One of Britain's most successful fighters, Ricky Hatton, gets his moment to shine this weekend when he fights the mighty Kostya Tszyu for the IBF light-middleweight crown at the Manchester Arena in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The unbeaten Hatton will have plenty of support from his home crowd but he is a 15/8 (2.87) outsider to wrest the crown from the Russian-born Australian, who starts at 4/9 (1.44) having looked awesome in his last fight seven months ago.

On paper, Hatton has it all to do, despite a fearsome record of his own, with 38 victories, 29 by knockout. Tszyu, despite giving away nine years to Hatton, has been the hard man of his weight division for the past eight years. Of his 31 wins, 25 have been by knock-out and his heavy punching is what makes him the big favourite this weekend.

After losing to Vince Phillips in 1997, Tszyu bounced back and became the undisputed light-welterweight champion in 2001, only for a shoulder injury to keep him out for two years. But the manner of his victory over Sharmba Mitchell last November suggests Hatton will be in for a tough fight. Bet365 go 10/11 (1.90) that the fight will last 8.5 rounds or less, a bet that looks pretty generous given Tszyu's punching power. It's 4/5 (1.80) that it's more than 8.5 rounds.

Hatton's connections have been talking about a more tactical fight than their charge is used to, and a Hatton victory by a decision or a technical decision is 7/2 (4.50). As the level of opposition has risen, the duration of his fights have also lengthened. Four of his past 10 fights have gone the distance. In contrast, a Tszyu victory by knockout, technical KO or disqualification is just 4/5 (1.80).