Is Hatton Still The Same Fighter He Once Was?

By Boxing News - 04/23/2008 - Comments

hatton47568333.jpgBy Michael Lieberman: As light welterweight Ricky Hatton’s (43-1, 31 KOs) prepares for his bout against Juan Lazcano (37-4-1, 27 KOs) on May 24th in Manchester, the question remains whether Hatton is still the same fighter he once was after suffering a devastating 10th round stoppage to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December 2007. Many fighters, especially ones that were previously unbeaten, are often never the same after experiencing particularly bad losses. In Hatton’s case, his loss was made even worse in that the entire world was watching and it was so badly one-sided.

Afterwards, Hatton looked humiliated, almost like an ostrich wanting to hide his head in the sand but finding only hard canvas as he roots around looking for a hole to place his head. Perhaps it was only Hatton, as well as a few delusional fans of his, that felt that he had a winning chance against a fighter of Mayweather’s class. For most people, it was a given that Hatton would not only lose but lose in spectacular fashion. In that, Hatton succeeded. However, it’s the psychological part that concerns me. I have no doubt that his body and his brain wasn’t damaged by the knockout loss, yet I wonder if the loss has effected his confidence.

Before his bout with Mayweather, Hatton always had a sense of invincibility about him, as if he could beat any fighter in the light welterweight division without much of any problems. Just watching him stride into the ring, looking like a red-headed Peacock, you could just tell that he was ultimately going to win his fight with whoever he was going up against. I’m not sure if that was just a pose or not, considering that he never chose to fight Junior Witter all those years, even though he was a top fighter in the light welterweight division and was breathing down Hatton’s neck all these years in the close proximity of England.

I’ll assume that Hatton wasn’t afraid of him, because he never seemed even remotely afraid to fight any fighter whether it is Mayweather or Kostya Tszyu. Now, however, that invincibility has been shattered by Mayweather, and it will take some major work for it to be reinstalled, if it is at all possible at this point. At 29, Hatton looks closer to 35 in age, and would likely not have to freshness of mind that a younger fighter would have in terms of forgetting about a loss as bad as the Mayweather fight. The biggest hint, though, that the loss is having a big effect on Hatton is his choice of opponent.

In the past, Hatton would have never have wasted his time with someone like Lazcano, a good fighter but one that has already been exposed by a number of fighters, most recently losing to Vivian Harris. If the loss wasn’t bothering him, Hatton – the old Hatton – would likely march straight into a fight with Junior Witter, the WBC light welterweight champion, and promptly take his title from him in a superb display of pressure fighting. Not now, however, after Hatton’s loss to Mayweather. What seems to be escaping Hatton, though, is that he’ll likely not gain much from a win over Lazcano or any number of low level fighters that Hatton goes up against in his efforts to rebuild what likely is his shattered confidence.

Beating marginal fighters does nothing, in that you can’t gain much in terms of confidence from beating opponents that you are overmatched against going into the fight. For Hatton, the best remedy is the hair of the dog that bit him. That’s not to say that I want him to fight Mayweather again, because I don’t. Mayweather will destroy him just as easy if they were to fight again, if not quicker next time around. No, what I’m referring to is for Hatton to take on one of the champions in the light welterweight division, someone like Witter, ideally, or Ricardo Torres, the WBO light welterweight champion.

I wouldn’t waste time having Hatton fight IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi because that fight would be too easy for Hatton. Malignaggi shouldn’t even have a title, after he was given a gift decision over Herman Ngoudjo in their recent bout. It was a clear win for Ngoudjo. For that reason, I’d steer clear of Malignaggi, because he’s not the real deal.

Unfortunately, I doubt that Hatton will take any real tough fights, aide from signing on for another fight with Mayweather, in the near future. That’s a tough fight, but it’s not a winnable one given Hatton’s size disadvantage. I excuse him for losing to Mayweather because they’re not equal in size and he has no business fighting him in the first place other than to make a ton of money.

I don’t even consider it a sport at that point. It’s more like being paid to be slaughtered. Hatton needs to stay within his own division, fighting fighters roughly the same size as him, but he’s going to need to take on good ones and not the weakest available opponents if he wants to get his confidence back to what it once was. Let’s hope he does, but I have my doubts.



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