Can Hatton compete at Welterweight?
August 29th, 2009
By William Mackay: As of now, no one knows whether Ricky Hatton will decide to continue fighting or not. However, it’s looking like Hatton will decide to continue fighting because he was hinting about making a decision in three weeks in a recent interview he made after meeting with Muhammad Ali.
There’s no question that champions Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley would be serious trouble for Hatton at this point in his career, but facing either of them seems hardly worth the trouble. Neither of them have a big enough name to make it worth Hatton’s while to fight them right now. And by the time that Alexander and Bradley do become hugely popular fighters, if they ever do, Hatton will be long gone from the boxing world.
Besides them, there’s really not that much available for Hatton unless he wants to fight Juan Diaz or Amir Khan. Diaz is poor option right now considering that his last fight, a 12-round decision over Paulie Malignaggi, has caused a tremendous amount of controversy with many boxing fans feeling that Malignaggi should have won the fight.
I seriously doubt that Hatton would want to fight an opponent like Diaz under those circumstances. It would be like rewarding the judges for their screwed up decision. Besides, Hatton would get zero credit for beating up Diaz, because he got a boxing lesson from Malignaggi the entire second half their fight. Amir Khan is also a fight that wouldn’t exactly be the most appealing fight for the boxing public.
Outside of England, Khan isn’t considered to be all that great in the minds of many boxing experts. To be sure, a fight against Khan would be exciting to the UK fans, because he’s well liked their because of his Olympic experience. But the rest of the world could probably care less to see Hatton fight someone like Khan who was stretched in the 1st round by Breidis Prescott last year.
Maybe fans would feel differently if Khan had tried to avenge his defeat to Prescott, but as of yet, Khan hasn’t come close to fighting Prescott in a rematch. For a Hatton-Khan fight to be interesting, Khan would have to beat someone like Bradley or Alexander, and I can’t see that happening, because for one, Khan probably won’t those guys. As such, Khan seems like a bad choice for Hatton to fight next.
That leaves the welterweight division for Hatton. As it turns out, this may be even better for Hatton, because judging from his recent photos of his looking like a Pillsbury dough-boy model, Hatton might have a hard time getting back down to light welterweight without leaving himself drained and weak. I think he can get down to the weight, don’t get me wrong, but I think Hatton would be weak at that weight now.
Hatton has spent too much time at 160 and above while not in training and having to melt that kind of weight down would likely leave Hatton looking like a human skeleton against whoever he fights. I, for one, don’t want to see Hatton get knocked flat in the 1st round due to him being weight drained. Therefore, I think Hatton needs to focus on coming back at welterweight against the following opponents:
Oscar De La Hoya
Miguel Cotto
Floyd Mayweather
Shane Mosley
Juan Manuel Marquez
De La Hoya would be the best options, because if they can work out De La Hoya’s excuse properly, this can be a huge fight. De La Hoya would have to try and explain away his loss to Pacquiao and correctly point out that he was weight drained for the fight. I think the public would buy it, because they want De La Hoya back no matter what has happened in the past. This would give De La Hoya and Hatton to go through with a fight that they were considering last year before Hatton opted to take on Malignaggi. I don’t know if De La Hoya could make it down to 147, so possibly Hatton might have to be agreeable to make it at 154. He probably would know the kind of money and publicity that this fight would generate. At 154, I think De La Hoya wins it as long as long as he doesn’t go on a crash diet of buffalo meat.
Cotto and Marquez are a lot less appealing, because both of them will likely lose to their next opponents. However, if they do win, then a fight against either of them would be an appealing option for Hatton.
Shane Mosley is probably not a good idea for Hatton, because Mosley is just too good and I can see Hatton getting embarrassed by him in a one-sided loss similar to Hatton defeat against Pacquiao.
Floyd Mayweather is a good option, but it would mean waiting around for Mayweather to get past Pacquiao. That’s not a sure thing, and I doubt Hatton would want to fight Mayweather immediately after he gets beaten by Pacquiao.
Tags: 12 Responses to “Can Hatton compete at Welterweight?”
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Who the hell will he fight at welter,anyone in the top 20 would do a number on him.
“fool stopper” are you serious hatton beating mosley? LOL go write about something else man just stop. mosley would murder hatton, everybody else seems to think so.
i think hatton diaz would be the ideal fight right now, if he looks good and comes through then go for a fight with bradley or khan. would love to see him bully khan round the ring.
This is one of the worst boxing articles i ever read in my life. If Ricky was to come back why would he fight at welterweight, where he has not looked good at 147 in the 3 or 4 fights he has had at the weight. And even if he was to come back at 147 why would he fight de la hoya, who can’t make the weight and has not fought since pacquiao, and is now retired where he should stay. And to say that the fight should take place at 154 if it happened is just ridiculous because hatton has never fought above 147, and to make a comeback at a weight youve never fought at after such a bad loss is just a stupid statement. Also floyd mayweather, why would floyd fight hatton if after he beats marquez and pacquiao, surely there will be a bigger fight on the horizon. As a big hatton fan i hope he retires and enjoys the money that he has earnt over the years, he has nothing else to prove apart from pound 4 pound king which i dont think will happen.
they would all murder him, make good 24/7′s though
Hatton should not go anywhere near the Welterweight division!!
He should stick to LW, he should fight Juan Diaz I think he’d beat him both are brawlers have similar speed but Hattons stronger a good big money come back, thne he should take on Alexander or Bradley.
Avoid the P4P as he just isnt good enough.
hatton struggled in his fight with collazo at welterweight and the decision was controversial, if i were hatton i would have a come bak fight with diaz or sumbody respectable and then go 4 the P4P king again ,then win or lose RETIRE !!
Diaz would be a great come back fight for Hatton as the loss he suffered was so great against manny, there would be NOOOOOOOOO point in him jumping straight in at the deep end with the best of the best give the guy a break and let him have a credible fight with an ok fighter!!
Hatton struggles at Welterweight. His style is all about pressure and using your weight and wareing his opponants down.
I know hes won world titles at Welter but that 1 step up in weight seems to take plenty away from him. And if hes guna go face the very best of the division like some of the names youve mentioned i think hed get a bit of a beating.
stupid guys!!!
hatton is still an A fighter, hed beat de la hoya, mosley, dno bout marquez, pacman or cotto. stop writin a guy off cos of one bad loss.
who cares about hatton? if he wants to compete in welter let him be! life is short , it will be shorter then for him.
How are any of these fights ‘appealing’. All the fighters mentioned would kill Hatton. De La hoya at 154 – suicide! be over in 3 or 4. Miguel Cotto would be an annihilation in 5 or 6, he’s far too strong powerful and with far superior skills and defence. Floyd mayweather would be rid of him in less than 10 as was the case last time. Mosley would knock him out in 1 or 2 and Pacquiao would end him in 1. Marquez would counter the hell out of him, make him look like a fool and stop him late. WHAT SILLY SUGGESTONS. Poor Ricky. He used to be a solid B+ warrior but now he’s more like a B- OR C level guy. All the guys mentioned are A or A+ level fighters. nightmare. He should retire bless him – he doesn’t have it these days.