By Aaron Klein: In news that will surely sadden most of his fans, Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) announced yesterday on his Birthday that he will be fighting only one more years and three fights and then he’ll be retiring from boxing. The three fighters he mentioned, Paulie Malignaggi (his next opponent on November 22nd), either Oscar De La Hoya or Manny Pacquiao, whoever comes out the winner of the battle, or possibly Juan Manuel Marquez. Also, a fighter that looms out there for Hatton is Floyd Mayweather Jr., who Hatton is very interested in fighting a rematch with in order to avenge his 10th round stoppage defeat to him from December 2007.
Except for the Malignaggi fight, which previously was a fight that Hatton was interested in mainly because he wanted to recapture his IBF light welterweight title, the other fights would be intensely appealing to most fans. The fight with Malignaggi, a fighter mostly popular to boxing fans on the East Coast of the United States, now appears to be a big waste of time for Hatton now that Malignaggi’s IBF title will no longer be on the line for the fight. It’s unfortunate that Hatton couldn’t have cancelled that bout altogether once the title was removed from the equation, because Hatton could be instead facing De La Hoya now rather than the defensive-minded Malignaggi, who will probably be a minor headache for Hatton due to his constant movement and defensive style of fighting.
Hatton’s new trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., is working on re-shaping Hatton’s style of fighting, turning him more into a fighter that uses more defensive skills than he previously used up till now. At 30, it will be interesting to see if any of Mayweather Sr’s teaching take hold with Hatton or if they only end up messing him up, making him more mechanical and less fluid a fighter. Going into his fight with Malignaggi, this is probably the wrong time to try and change the way Hatton fights, because he’s not going to be able to defeat Malignaggi, a good boxer by a weak puncher, if he tries to beat him at his own game.
The same would seem to hold true for a potential match with De La Hoya, who will probably defeat Pacquiao on December 6th and become Hatton’s next opponent in the process, because Hatton won’t stand a chance if he tries to fight at a distance against the much longer armed De La Hoya. If Hatton has any chance at all of defeating De La Hoya, it’s by getting inside and turning it into a war.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I hope he gets beat by malignaggi then retires. Hatton is the most over rated boxer in the world. Most his fans dont watch boxing they follow him because thier from his area or they support man city fc. If he gets in the ring with pacman or mayweather (again) he will be destroyed.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I think theres a really good chance that hatton loses this fight and blows those future oportunities. Hatton is an old 30 yr old. proabaly becasue of his lifestyle. that said, I still hope he’s in shape and wins the fight.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Who even cares???????????This guy can’t box…he’s just popular cause he’s from Manchester
October 7th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
he might be overated but at least he’s fighting the best and not a midget like dlh
October 7th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Hatton moved up in weight to take on the pound for pound king and got KO’d… this doesn’t mean that he’s not a force to deal with in the 140 pound weight class anymore. I see Hatton beating Maggi (with old style or new Mayweather Sr style). As far as Bradley, Holt, Witter, etc., they need to fight eachother to create a larger fan base. Hatton will likely not take the risk fighting either of them for little money.
October 8th, 2008 at 4:10 am
The truth is no one really knows if hes a force at leight welter. He hasnt fought any of the top ten light welters at the moment. I hope he gets beat then hel be exposed. I agree de la hoya should fight margarito but hatton only fought mayweather not because he was brave because he couldnt turn down the money.
October 8th, 2008 at 6:40 am
dave i have to agree totally. also if he did fight mayweather again the result would be just the same but maybe quicker than the last time
October 8th, 2008 at 7:11 am
i think hatton can beat any of the top boxers hes got a great style in boxing he could beat cotto magarito and esppecially with mayweather snr in his corner mayweather snr is very knowlegable in boxing
October 8th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Hatton is and never was overated!!
He has not ducked any fight, he fought at a heavier weight class and became a world champion!?
What the hell are you guys talking about??
I live the other end of the country and still follow Hatton….and Man City dont come into the rquation either.
Nearly all the greats have been beaten through history, Ali, Joe Louis, Lewis, Tyson, Naz, Barraera, Kostya, the list can go on forever!
Once again it is just peoples personal opinion getting in the way of fact.
The fact is, Hatton will go down in boxing history as an all time great fighter, it is people like Mayweather who have ducked fights who have and will continue to be shown as the gutless boxers they really are.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Hatton is well over rated i agree with dave. name 2 current top ten fighter he has fought at light welter you bell ends? Ksyzu was retiring and to me it you couldnt really tell who was winning when he decided to pack it in. Hatton has always avoided fights. He only fought mayweather for the money. Hes only fighting maginalli due to the fact he has a small KO ratio. Dave is a mong is a good name for you.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:18 am
What blitz going on about how can you compare hattons record to mayweathers. Hatton hasnt fought half as many good fighters as mayweather. Your right it shows your personal opinion clouds your judgement if you think mayweather ducks more fights than hatton. Another stupid football fan.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Ha ha. Well said. Most hatton fans havnt got a clue they only watch hatton and never know anything about the other guy he’s fighting
October 8th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Evryone has a differerent opinions on hatton and that’s fair enough, but one thing no one can take away form him is his personality, which is why he has the best and most loyal fans and one of the largest fan bases in boxing…he may have got beaten by mayweather, but he is twice the man floyd will ever be.
Also anyone who hasn’t seen it, check out ‘ricky speaks - 2′ on youtube and his new regime with floyd snr and lee beard sounds as if hatton is going to come back better than ever…i hope so, but we’ll find out in a few weeks.
October 9th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Hatton will be fine as long as he keeps away from Oscar…..to big!!
October 9th, 2008 at 3:39 am
OK, you fools cant see that Hatton was beating Kostya??
Switch sports cuz you clearly dont not understand boxing!
For a fighter to become world champ, then move up a weight…..and become champ is a big feat!
open your eyes lads…..you will see a great sport with great fighters
October 9th, 2008 at 10:28 am
people say he shoudnt fight del hoya why not hatto nis an amazeing boxer and can beat him there styles are different so it would be a very good fight but i think hatton is slick with his punching and in ye face wich makes him a good boxer
October 9th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
some of you guys really should leave the comments to proper fans and cause you watch half a dozen big fights does not make you a fan! hatton is a world class boxer and a great guy but saying he is one of the greatest of all times is taking it to far he is in one of the most exciting weight cat at the moment and the top five in the world can all be the best on there day p.s hatton will win within six rounds
October 10th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
What special about hattons personality ? he gets pissed and swears alot? Hatton always fools his fans tells them hes got thier best interests at heart. The reason he didnt fight in new york against maginalli is not because its cheaper for his fans its because there is an ice hockey match on the date they had for it to be televised. Hatton might be able to fool his moron football fans but he cant fool anyone else. And I watched that show hattons jokes were worse than his strategy against mayweather!
October 12th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
faz i agree with what u say about his football fans but it not just man city fans who follow him whats wrong with getting pissed ? when he goes into training he trains very hard he has to because of the weight he carries give the boy a break he deserves a pint after the job is done like every other person
October 13th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Theres nothing wrong with getting pissed but its not a reason to say someone is a great sportsman. I agree he must train hard. However hes a sportsman and he abuses the skills hes been given by not looking after himself. The career of a boxer is only short and in hattons case very rewarding he owes it to his fans to look after himself so he can perform to the best of his ability since his fans pay ridiculous money to go and watch him. there will be plenty of time to go on binges when he retires. And hes not exactly a great role model to young boxers when he says that he is fine when he eats burger and chips with a larger but not when he eats good food. Also hatton is sadly like alot of other boxers who say they wont give boxers a chance if they arent big enough such as whitter, bradley, torres, holt, etc. That is the equivilent of chelsea saying that they wont play everton because they are not a big enough club or tiger woods saying he wont play anyone who hasnt got enough fans.
October 15th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
faz you are taken this to far your saying not a good role model he is one of the best boxers in the world how can you say he does not look after himself he looks pretty inshape to me every time he comes to the ring if you dont like him fair enough but dont talk nonsense chelsea tiger woods what a load of rubbish he wants big pay days as does any fighter at the top end of any devision thats close to hanging up there gloves think he is entitled to a pint or 2 no young boxers will be put off buy that the guy is a legend in most youngsters eyes
October 18th, 2008 at 2:45 am
you talk rubbish jonesy any one who knows anything about sports nutrition knows it is not healthy to balloon up in weight by 3 stone when on a break from sport. Hatton is overrated. If you think its so fair that he can just fight for big money then all up and coming boxers might as well not bother because when will they get there chance. Fights should go off ratings not just big money fights. If you were a true boxing fan you would want to see two boxers in the ring that would produce a great fight not two boxers in the ring who just want a load of cash. That is what a fight between de la hoya and hatton would be. Even malignaggi is a low risk fight for hatton due to his low knock out ratio. Hatton carefully chooses his fights and always has. For christ sake he has never even held the WBC belt which is the most prestigous. Your judgement is clouded just because hes brittish jonesy.
October 19th, 2008 at 12:00 am
faz nothing to do with been british you are starting to be a twit blow my whistle bitch