By Jim Dower: It’s hard to believe that Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) was once considered by many boxing fans to be the top fighter in all of the sport. That all seemed to change after his 10th round stoppage loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December 2007. It seemed like a bad choice for Hatton to make by choosing to fight the bigger Mayweather, who fought a division above Hatton at welterweight and had a significant size advantage over him going into the bout. As most people suspected, the size disparity was too much for Hatton and he eventually lost after giving a good accounting of himself in the first six rounds of the bout.

Unfortunately, the American style of fighting, which sometimes doesn’t allow for as much infighting as in Europe, prevented Hatton from fighting in his usual style on the inside. It didn’t matter to the fans that Hatton was partially handicapped by not able to fight in close, he was considered the loser. But, along with the loss to Mayweather, Hatton also seemed to lose his status as one of the top pound for pound fighters in boxing. He was never considered to truly a top number #1 fighter, because that rested with Mayweather. However, now that Floyd is out of the sport, possibly for good, it leaves a hole for Hatton to move into the number #1 slot. For him to do that, though, he needs to fight at least three to four good fighters so that he can erase the perception of his earlier defeat to Mayweather.

Already, Hatton has chosen wisely by selecting Paulie Malignaggi, the International Boxing Federation light welterweight champion, as his next opponent on November 22nd in Las Vegas. Malignaggi is a popular fighter in the East Coast, and has great boxing skills, and is the type of fighter that will give Hatton a tremendous boost in the minds of fans if he can win impressively. Besides Malignaggi, Hatton needs to look towards fighting Manny Pacquiao next. By then, Pacquiao will probably have lost to Oscar De La Hoya, whom he faces in December, but a loss over the much larger De La Hoya won’t dampen Pacquiao’s appeal any.

I see it as the exact opposite. Pacquiao will be even more popular in losing to De La Hoya, because it won’t be an easy fight for the former Gold Medalist from East, Los Angeles, and Pacquiao will come out looking like the winner even in losing the fight. Hatton, only slightly larger than Pacquiao at 140, would then be the perfect opponent for him. This obviously will be a much tougher fight for Hatton than the bout against the weak-punching Malignaggi, but it’s a fight that Hatton, with his much better inside fighting ability, can win. He’d have to find away to deal with Pacquiao’s speed and movement on the outside.

Pacquiao is much quicker than Hatton, and no longer stands directly in front of him opponents for long without moving away. This would mean that Hatton would have to close distance without getting hit so often like he did in his bout with Mayweather, who sometimes tagged Hatton as he came rushing in. Pacquiao would likely try and clinch Hatton when he gets in close, in order to prevent him from using his better inside fighting ability.

This, too, would be an obstacle for Hatton to have to deal with, because clearly he would have problems with Pacquiao whenever the Filipino star was on the outside throwing fast shots. However, if Hatton could somehow find his way to escape from the clinching of Pacquiao, he could then take him apart on the inside with hard body shots and hooks to the head.

If successful against both Pacquiao and Malignaggi, Hatton would then probably need to fight someone like World Boxing Association welterweight champion Antonio Margarito, a tall fighter at 5’11”, and one known for having a busy work rate. This would be by far the toughest obstacle for Hatton to deal with, because Margarito has very long arms, enormous power and withering work rate. Most recently he stopped Miguel Cotto in an 11th round TKO in July.

Margarito, however, doesn’t always use his reach to his advantage, as he often punches at close range with his opponents. Incredible as it may seem, I like Hatton in this fight. He’d tear Margarito apart on the inside, hitting him with huge body shots and blistering hooks to the head. Margarito would have too much pride to realize that he’s no match for Hatton at close quarters, and would likely stay directly in front of him trying to beat him at his own game. It wouldn’t work. Hatton would be much too good for Margarito on the inside, and would possibly drop him once or twice with big body shots.

If Hatton can beat Margarito, as well as Malignaggi and Pacquiao, then I see Hatton easily being considered the top fighter in all of boxing bar none. The thing of it is, he’s already on course for that with his scheduled bout with Malignaggi and his talks of fighting Pacquiao in 2009. However, the bout against Margarito would be the clincher in most people’s minds, because if he can defeat a fighter with the fire power like Margarito, then people can’t ignore his greatness and will bestow upon him the title of being the best in sport.

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