By William Mackay: In a move that I think is utter waste of time, Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) has taken on Floyd Mayweather Sr. as his new trainer, this after parting ways with his long-time trainer, Billy Graham shortly after Hatton’s rough time against Juan Lazcano in May. Mayweather Sr., the father of Floyd Mayweather Jr. who badly schooled Hatton last December before stopping him in the 10th round, is a trainer known for teaching defensive boxing skills to fighters. In some cases, like Oscar De La Hoya, the teachings don’t always appear to take, since he looks for the most part the same fighter he’s always looked before taking on Mayweather Sr.
Perhaps Mayweather Sr’s best pupil is Joan Guzman, a number #1 rated lightweight in the World Boxing Organization, and who looked like a Mayweather Jr. clone with his excellent boxing skills, especially in terms of his outstanding defensive. The fact that Hatton has decided to take on Mayweather Sr. at this late stage in the 29 year-old Hatton’s career seems to strike one as a move made out of desperation rather than just a basic need. After all, Hatton hasn’t looked good in quite some time, dating back to his 4th round stoppage over an undersized Jose Luis Castillo last year in June. Don’t get me wrong, I think Mayweather Sr. is a great trainer for someone just starting out in the boxing game, but for someone as old and as seemingly set in his ways like Hatton, it seems like trying to turn a fastball pitcher into a junk ball one.
Beyond that, I suppose Hatton will make his decision based on how well he looks against the boxer Malignaggi. This is a fight that Hatton, the much more powerful fighter of the two, could probably win in his sleep, because Malignaggi has none of the power or aggression that Hatton will be bringing into the fight. If Hatton makes the mistake of trying to box with a boxer like Malignaggi, which I suspect he’ll be doing with his decision to take on Mayweather Sr. as a trainer, then I can see Malignaggi boxing circles around the crude, short-armed Hatton.
Even if Hatton could learn enough skills from Mayweather Sr. to be effective, it’s going to take years for them to become engrained with his own skills. The basic things he’ll learn in the next two months, I think, will just make him more mechanical, less instinctive against Malignaggi, and cause him to make the fight much closer than it would be if he just stuck to his brawling style of fighting.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Dear William , with no dis respect as i respect all boxing writers hugely , this is not Rocky 3 where Apollo Creed turned Rock Balboa into a mirror image of Sugar Ray Leonard after 3 months this is the real world and Mayweather Snr will be fully aware of Hatton’s style all be it a very different style to the one he teaches , and the sucsess its brought him , and if Mayweather is the defensive expert you make him out to be maybe Hatton will learn to slip a few of them right hands on the way in , plus he will have better sparing partners at his disposal and i dare say an all round better training environment , this move is six years too late granted but still a good move !!!!
I think its a great move by Ricky and ill look forward to seeing the results on Malinaggi’s face after the fight , or maybe on the inside of his rib cage who knows !!!!!
September 5th, 2008 at 4:42 am
i can’t believe this guy would think they’re going to try especially in the space of 5 weeks or at any time in the future for that matter hatton into a slick defensive master.hatton who for a go forward fighter used to be quite good defensively,has let that side of things slip in recent fights.i’m sure mayweather snr. will simply be trying to make some adjustments especially with hattons head and upper body movement on the way in,which he seems to have foresaken.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Hatton’s style reminds me a little of Mike Tyson’s. Even when Tyson was getting picked apart by Lennox Lewis, he still kept moving forward instead of trying to pick his spots and throw Lewis off balance. I see Mayweather Sr. working with Hatton on when to move forward and fight inside and what to do when you’re not moving forward and fighting inside. I see an easy fight for Hatton as Maggi has no power what so ever… therefore old or new Hatton would beat him; the key is to see if Hatton looks to be more versitile in this fight.