Can Hatton Be Salvaged?

By Manuel Perez: Ricky Hatton was once the best fighter in the light welterweight division and considered to be one of the top fighters in all boxing. It’s hard to say that now after Hatton was torn apart by Manny Pacquiao last week, dropped three times and knocked completely out. Some people are predicting that Hatton may retire from boxing after fighting one last time in Manchester.

But let’s say Hatton doesn’t retire, and chooses instead to continue fighting. Can Hatton’s problems – his inability to take a big shot without being stunned or knocked out, his lack of defense and his tendency to overeat and drink between fights – be fixed to where Hatton can once again be a super star in the sport.

Some fighters suffer permanent damage after being knocked out badly, and often are unable to take a hard shot without suffering further knockouts. In some cases, the knockouts occur easier much easier in future fights, and cause the fighter to have to retire at a much earlier point in their career than they would have liked.

It’s hard to tell conclusively if this is Hatton’s problem at this point because of the quality of the two fighters – Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao – that have knocked him out. If this was happening against lesser talented fighters than them, I could understand the call for Hatton to hang up his gloves.

But at this point Hatton still hasn’t fought enough fighters in the past couple of years to tell for certain if his punch resistance has decreased recently. If it has, then there’s nothing that can be done for him other than to suggest that he retire or if he wants to continue, having him hook up with a good trainer that can teach him how to block more shots.

Minus the problem with Hatton now having a glass chin, if someone were to take Hatton on as a resurrection project, one of the first things that would have to be taken care of is Hatton’s ballooning up between fights. I know that Hatton is great about stripping off all the lard that he puts on between bouts, but putting on and having to take off that kind of weight repeatedly tends to age a body in a negative way.

It’s best that Hatton not continue to eat or drink the way that he has had in the past. I doubt that Hatton could be trusted to do this alone, so my thoughts are that Hatton would need a permanent monitoring person that could stick by his side and stop him each time he’s about to put some rich food in his pie hole and also keep him from drinking alcoholic beverages of any kind.

Right now, Hatton can no longer afford even one beer or drink as far as I’m concerned, because his career is on the brink of failure. This is why Hatton must be isolated somehow from his old environment, and taken to some far away desert island where Hatton could exist on fish, coconuts and healthy food without any of his enablers that have let Hatton continue with his unhealthy lifestyle.

Since Hatton and Mayweather Sr. appear to be on the outs, it would be best for Hatton to find a good defensive trainer like Buddy McGirt. I wouldn’t pick Freddie Roach, because he’s a really busy trainer and not known for being a big defensive trainer, which is what Hatton needs most of all right now.

So we take Hatton and McGirt and put them on a deserted island with only the minimal amount of food and supplies, throw in two or three good sparring partners, and work on building Hatton from the ground up and teaching him the basics of boxing.

Everything that Hatton had previously learned in the past from his original trainer would have to be scrapped, because it’s painfully obvious that they’re no longer working anymore. We only have one trainer, none of this competing assistant trainer for Hatton to make things confusing for him and his main trainer.

Next, I would have Hatton sparring almost nonstop where he would have to show that he’s actually learning the things that McGirt is trying to teach him rather than just going through the motions by punching a bag or shadow boxing.

I think if you could put Hatton in those kinds of living conditions for six months, Hatton may emerge as a much different fighter than he’s been in the past two years. Ideally, Hatton might now be ready to beat the best fighters in the light welterweight division and could be good enough to hold down a title for a two to three more years.

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