Ricky Hatton Needs to Fight Juan Diaz

By Dave Lahr: If anything was proved last night in Juan Diaz’s bitterly contested 12-round decision victory over Paulie Malignaggi, it’s that Ricky Hatton would probably have a great chance of beating Diaz if they were to fight. Diaz, 25, a fighter known for his high work rate, narrowly defeated Malignaggi by a narrow decision that has sent reverberations around the boxing world because of the controversial nature of the bout.

Whether Diaz really should have won or not, he failed to prove that he’s any better than Malignaggi. This is a good news for Hatton, 30, because he totally dominated Malignaggi in an 11th round stoppage victory in November 2008. Since Diaz probably won’t be giving Malignaggi a much needed rematch, this could leave Diaz free for Hatton should he be interested in swooping in and grabbing an easy scalp.

I don’t know whether Hatton’s chin has been compromised or not in his recent 2nd round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao in May, but I do believe that Hatton would have a good enough chin to easily beat a fighter like Juan Diaz. The reason is simple. Diaz is small for a light welterweight, and doesn’t have the kind of big power that would likely give Hatton much troubles.

Even better is that Diaz likes to go to war on the inside, slugging it out with his opponents. This would be perfect for Hatton, because he wouldn’t have to deal with a fighter with a lot of speed or movement like Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Pacquiao. Diaz would be facing an opponent with bigger power than Juan Manuel Marquez and Nate Campbell, and would be in serious trouble unless Hatton’s chin really is as bad as some people think it is.

Although I think Diaz would be interested in fighting Hatton, mainly because of the big money that a fight like that would generate for him, I’m not so sure that Hatton would be motivated enough to get back in training and take the fight. Even though Diaz is a fighter that is tailor made for Hatton, he might still be a little shell shocked from his loss to Pacquiao.

Hatton needs to consider taking this fight because Diaz is the perfect opponent for him and it would help Hatton get his career back in order. It doesn’t matter what Diaz does in the ring against Hatton, I can’t see Diaz having much luck in denting Hatton’s chin.

At close range, Hatton is dangerous and would be hitting Diaz with some major shots. Diaz didn’t look good against Malignaggi in the second half of their fight, and had Malignaggi had a little more power, he probably would have stopped Diaz. Hatton would be bringing big power into the ring and I doubt seriously whether Diaz would even make it to the 6th round if he elected to slug with Hatton.

This is a fight that I can see Hatton winning in his sleep with only a couple months of training to take off the weight. Hatton would win this fight using his old style and wouldn’t need to worry about learning any new defensive techniques.

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