Did Hatton Make a Mistake in Fighting Pacquiao?
May 14th, 2009
By Dave Lahr: Maybe Ricky Hatton shouldn’t have fought Manny Pacquiao at all on May 2nd, and instead should have cancelled the bout. According to Setanta Sports, Hatton’s father Ray feels that Ricky should have pulled out of the fight against Pacquiao because things weren’t going right in training camp leading up to the fight with Pacquiao. “It could have been a lot, lot better, massively better. I’m very disappointed with some of the things that I heard, Ray said to Setanta Sports.
Perhaps what Ray says is true, because Ricky Hatton had problems with his lead trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., who had reportedly been late to one of his training sessions. Beyond that, it’s hard to tell what the main friction was between Mayweather Sr. and Hatton that may have prevented him from soaking up enough information to be prepared for Pacquiao.
Although Ray is correct about the training camp issues that Ricky was experiencing going into the fight, Hatton should have had it together enough to perform better than he did against Pacquiao. It seemed as if Hatton had his own separate strategy that he was following on the night of the fight and wasn’t using any of the teachings from Mayweather Sr.
That could have been just a case of nerves on Hatton’s part, because after all, he was stepping it up against Pacquiao in a major way in contrast to Ricky’s recent opponents Paulie Malignaggi and Juan Lazcano. Hatton had failed miserably in his one shot against ‘A’ level opposition, losing by a 10th round TKO to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December 2007.
Although Hatton had a win earlier in his career over the once great Kostya Tszyu, an 11th round stoppage, but the win came at the end of Tszyu’s career and under less than desirable circumstances for the Russian star. As such, Hatton was for all practical purposes coming into the Pacquiao fight with a 0-1 record against top level opposition, and it seemed to hurt Hatton in a big way.
Ideally, Hatton should have fought someone slightly easier than Pacquiao to prove that Hatton belonged in the ring against a quality fighter like him. Hatton could have helped himself if he had fought someone like Juan Manuel Marquez or Timothy Bradley.
If Hatton could have gotten by one or both of them, then it would have been a good sign that Hatton was good enough to compete with the likes of Pacquiao. Instead, Hatton chose Malignaggi, a weak puncher, and Lazcano, a journeyman, and neither of them gave Hatton any preparation for the Pacquiao bout.
I think Ray Hatton is correct in saying that Ricky should have cancelled the bout with Pacquiao, but I think it should have been a long enough cancellation for Hatton to prove to himself and to others that he belonged in the same ring with Pacquiao.
Tags: 20 Responses to “Did Hatton Make a Mistake in Fighting Pacquiao?”
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Rex…im still not seeing your point, everybody expected Pacqauio to win so your analogy is meaningless.
What I want to say and show is the way Pacquiao fights he do this for his Country and for his People. another thing is that Ricky underestimated the power and skills of the Filipino that’s why he lost and he lost big time… Vietnam War is the greater example of that,two big powerful country subdued by the much smaller and near stone age country of Vietnam… mind you 4 million people lost their lives and not all of them are combatant most of them are just merely civilians…
hatton camp just under estimate the small guy from poor country thinking bigger and strong hitman sorry there no excuse you were badly beaten,just like DLH to many excuse,remember Diaz just admit after the fight pacman is just the best period.
hatton is a overrated b+ fighter he has no business fighting elite fighters
Hatton got his ass kicked because he underestimate the smaller guy. It is the boxer’s fault not the trainer. Del La hoya had two of the best trainer’s in boxing and still got his beating. Pacman won, give him his credit and let’s move on. Ricky has two options retire or fight Timothy Bradley.
1 of the biggest things ive always loved about boxing over any other sport is how its 2 men in a ring fighting it out, generally theres nobody else you can blame if you lose.
Theres is no doubt life in the build up to the fight was not great or smooth for camp Hatton, far from what a boxer is needing when he is preparing for a fight mentally as much as physically.
But you need to get a grip of anything thats gettin messy, throw out the trouble or rise above it. You need to be mentally strong and just get on with life.
It didnt help anything not 1 jot but lifes hard.
He didn’t make a mistake taking the fight, it’s fights against A class opposition that every boxer dreams of, and is what seperates the good from the greats, (I think you know that Hatton sits in the first category).
But it’s the the way he fought against him and his poor tactics that was the mistake.
Hatton should of fought Bradley he could beat him quiet convisingly i reckon. But Pacman was just to good for him
Didint Jones Jr come back from a second round KO agains tarver? hatton needs to fight on, get over it and stop dwelling. He made a big mistake comeing outof the blocks that fast and paid the price! keep fighting ricky!
Hatton started training camp ahead of Pacquiao. He could have fired Mayweather soon and get another trainer. But Just like Pacquiao said, he never blame his coach when he lost. This many “IF” just demean the good fight that we saw. Hatton lost but the way he fought, is just like he said, it will be a war and I have my highest respect for Ricky Hatton.
i think hattons weight,trainer,tactics and mindset were all wrong.simple as that.
Well for you guys to understand it all just look back at the world history and you will find the “Vietnam War”…
At this level theres more to boxing than just being a technically better fighter. Maybe Hatton was ill prepared or dehydrated or used the wrong tactics, but these are all factors that are needed to make a fighter great and are crucial in making the difference at the top level. If Hatton got these wrong then he isnt a great fighter. Just a very good one.
yup.
Everytime Pac wins, there’s always an excuse!!!!
That’s how great Pac is.
Btw, if you think that would have made a difference, ask for a rematch!
I don’t think hatton would of beat the pacman at any stage of his career as Manny is truely a class act.You don’t see many boxers who can hit with such power in both hands.In Ray Hatton’s defence i’ve never seen Ricky drop his hands so much in a fight.Something defently wrong with the Hatton camp going into the fight.Still a massive Hatton fan though!
omg! too much excuses. why can they take the bitter truth that hatton will never beat manny
I’m not sure if he could have improved at his age. Pacquiao has fought many good fighters before he got to this point and I think those fights made him a smart and a lot more sophisticated fighter not to mention tougher. The outcome would have been the same.
lito good analysis
there was nothing wrong the way hatton fought. he used the same tactics against his previous oponents. only in the case of pq, the later was so fast and strong for him. practically, the real problem of hatton before and during the fight was underestimation of pq power. he believes deep inside his heart that he can bully pq because of his size and superior strenght. he tried it but pq had the answer to everything he offered. in short, they were not on the same world. the may 2 result was just a true reflection of the respective abilities.