On June 4, 2005, the 35-year-old IBF and The Ring super-lightweight world champion, Kostya Tszyu (31-1, 25 KOs), faced a 26-year-old British boxer Ricky Hatton (38-0, 28 KOs), in a title defense fight.
Tszyu came in to the fight on a 13-fight win streak with a 78% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 6 months and 29 days. Hatton was on a 38-fight win streak with a 73% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 5 months and 24 days.
The champion refused to continue the fight in the 11th round, and Ricky Hatton is crowned the new IBF and The Ring super-lightweight world champion — in his first world-title fight. Hatton improves his record to 39-0 (29 KOs), while Tszyu adds a loss to his record at 31-2.
On May 31, 1997, the 27-year-old IBF super-lightweight world champion, Kostya Tszyu (18-0, 14 KOs), faced a 33-year-old American boxer Vince Phillips (35-3, 24 KOs), in a title defense fight.
Tszyu came in to the fight on a 18-fight win streak with a 77% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 4 months and 13 days. Phillips was on a -1-fight win streak with a 63% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 4 months and 20 days.
Vince Phillips stopped the champion via TKO in the 10th round of the 12-round world-title fight, winning the first world title of his career, and is crowned the new IBF super-lightweight champion. Phillips improves his record to 36-3 (25 KOs), while Tszyu adds a loss to his record at 18-1.