Time For The Hitman To Hang up The Gloves?
May 7th, 2009
By Shaun Campbell: Is it time for Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton to retire? Firstly, both the British and American public would see no shame in Hatton hanging up his gloves to enjoy his retirement with his family. Ricky being a very family-orientated guy, needs to strongly think about his little boy Campbell and fiancée Jennifer before he makes a decision on his future. But at the end of the day, the only person that will tell Ricky Hatton what to do is Ricky Hatton.
Ricky Hatton does not need to fight on. Watching his head hit the floor and hearing Jennifer’s scream (which will never leave those at ringside’s memory), after that brutal left hook from Manny Pacquiao is something his fans will never want to experience again. Hatton would risk permanent damage to make his fans proud. But in all honesty, he has nothing left to prove. Should he retire now he will go down as a hero, an inspiration, and a true gentleman of the sport. His place in the British Hall of Fame is already settled. He is there. So what’s left for him to accomplish? Realistically Ricky knows he won’t get another shot at the pound for pound title. But he does have the best pound for pound fans on the planet, which in his own words is “priceless”.
On Thursday the 14th May he is due to open his new gym. He is now embarking on becoming a great promoter like his friend Oscar De La Hoya. It is likely he will make his decision there and then. Should he bid farewell to the sport he has sparkled in since the ages of 10, then his fans can all breathe a sigh of relief. His true fans would not want to see him hurt. Richard Hatton, a funny, kind, and down to earth man of the people, thank you for the memories, now go and enjoy the life you deserve.
Tags: 17 Responses to “Time For The Hitman To Hang up The Gloves?”
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Yeah he should retire or else fight the kind of guys he fought when defending that wbu( we be useless) title he had for years.
I think what we will all be behind Ricky whatever he does.
I guess the writter would be as well as he clearly cares for him.
i think that ricky should decide what he is going to do the knockout was bad but many people can come back from that kind of defeat im with ricky all the way
if me in hatton shoe, im going trainning all day, push my body to the limit once more,trainning to the death, the prime body of the people come only once and you cannot back, he is only 30 years old, beside champion never quit , like pacquiao he loss 3 times 2 from knock out and 1 outbox by morales but he trainning to the death to become the greatest , we sure that pacquiao name and his legacy never been forgoten in the philipines in at least hundred years to come
Ricky has alot of potential, I think he needs to really take his training serious. Ricky lost this fight because he got careless and didn’t stick with his game plan. If he is serious, he needs to train alot harder. These guys in his weight class are serious hitters.
Yes he should call it a day. Life is too short. Same goes for Roy Jones Jr. He needs to get right or get left.
hatton bores me with his fighting style, I personally think he should call it a day. This is coming from someone who used to think hatton was the greatest.
Hatton has been at the very top for a while since beating Kosta Tzsu. Anyone can come back from KO losses, but the question is will Hatton be able to get anywhere near the level he was? At the same time the question is how does Ricky want to go out? I would say Ricky should fight Whitter and depending upon the outcome determine if he should retire. He needs to understand that from now on, everyone he fights will want to test his chin, so he better develop his defense.
There’s no shame in being beaten by the best. Being beaten is the best way to learn a lesson. It’s kind of like breaking up with a really good girlfriend. You never appreciate what you have until it’s gone. By being beaten, one tends to humble himself and realize that the world is full of surprises. Now that Hatton’s been defeated in both the 140 and 147 pound weight classes, he might actually take his life more seriously. Maybe his defeat will make him change his lifestyle and no longer balloon in weight between fights. Maybe he’ll shut his mouth and not claim that he is the better fighter. Maybe he’ll never underestimate an opponent no matter how badly his trainer tries to make him believe that he’s the better fighter.
I seriously believe that his defeat at the hands of Manny Pacquiao may have been the second best thing to happen to him, next to having a great, supportive family. His excuse of being the smaller man was the justification for his loss to Mayweather. Now that he has lost in his weight division, he’s realized that there is no justification. He can’t make any excuses. So in order to never make any excuses, he will train like he’s never trained before. He will start to live a better lifestyle. This might give him the jumpstart he needs to,someday, become pound 4 pound king. As for now, he’ll have to take things slow and analyze everything before going into his next fight.
It,s hard not to wont to see and hear his blue-moon ring entrance one last time!!!!!!!!! but on reflection he’s been a great champion and has had a lot of tough fights for guy of thirty despite what our American cousins say and given he’s got around £50million in the bank i think he should call it a day, its been a pleasure.
Ricky really has no place to go. He can’t move up in weight since his two showings as a welter were pretty bad, and even if he did I don’t see him beating Cotto, Margarito, or any other welter superstar. If he stays at light-welter there is no fight that fans are hot to see. I mean does Hatton v. Holt really light anyone up?
in todays terms it,s over,theres no big money fighting journeymen in this division, & unlike other certain weight catgories the journeymen tend to be very good,he would soon lose his legacy
BRUTAL KO after being totally dominated.
He can carry on for sure but unless he retrains or does something spectacular he wil be a journeyman.
If he’d just lost to a top fighter, then retirement talk would be madness. The nature of the defeat has to be taken into account though. That KO was chilling. I never want to see that happen to Ricky again (nor any other boxer to be honest).
He’s been through a lot of fights despite being just 30, but his body has been through much more than most people’s will have done by that age, and, crucially, more than most boxer’s bodies will have done by that age.
Like I said in a previous post, I wouldn’t begrudge him a farewell fight infront of his adoring fans at the City of Manchester stadium. I do think though, that there is a right time to get out of boxing. Ricky must make sure he does so, because there is no point risking your health when you have it, and have your family, adoring fans regardless of the recent defeat/what he chooses to do next, and a place in the British boxer’s Hall of Fame secured.
It was a huge knockout and Hatton was a mess for a while after it.
But i dont know if that alone is enough for him to quit, maybe it is i cant make my mind up.
Theres been plenty and plenty more devastating knock outs in boxing and people have took their time to recover but they do and they come back and fight again.
No doubt it cant be good for you but when was gettin punched in the face ever good for you.
Im not sure how Rickie is guna be mentally though, he didnt cope well with his last defeat and this one is a hundred times worse in many ways.
Im also not sure how appealing any open routes for him will be to him. DLH? I dunno, reestablishin himself among the Bradleys, Torres, Witters of the 140 division?? Not so apealing when you know your no longer seen as unbeatalbe at a40.
And Scott Gilfoid, Adam and a few others always go on about his bad diet and drinkin between training and fights being deprimental, i always argue that weve never seen any signs of it. Well maybe im wrong after all, maybe the way he has treated his body has meant hes peaked younger and even though hes still far from old his body is feeling old.
Please don’t think you’re speaking on behalf of “true” fans…
As a “true” fan myself, I think people are jumping on the bandwagon with their knee-jerk reactions to the Pacquaio loss. As bad as it was, some perspective is needed here. It’s not as if he’s lost to a journeyman who can’t punch (in which case I absolutely would call for his retirement). Many fighters have come back from bad knockouts – Lennox Lewis, Nigel Benn, Roberto Duran, Wladimir Klitschko to name a few.
At the end of the day, only Ricky can decide if he has enough left to keep fighting. Whatever that decision, I will support him.
The knockout was really scary. The sound of the punch was so loud. Do they put a mic under the canvas like in wrestling? Hatton was out for so long and his breathing was affected too. That pic in the article shows exactly what was going on. The lights are on but no one is home. There is no sense continuing if it puts your life on the line.