Ricky Hatton, The Best Boxer of the Last Decade?
August 4th, 2009
By Liam Santiago: If I hear news that Manchester warrior, Ricky Hatton decides to retire I will be very sad. He is in my opinion, and many other boxing experts, the best fighter to come out of any country over the last decade. Of course, there is Mayweather with the undefeated record. Pacquiao with his victory’s over drained and disadvantages opponents.
Hatton’s has crammed 48 bouts into 13 years and each and everyone has been a war. Every boxing fan loves to watch him. His style is exiting and he gives 100% every time out. His biggest win came over the ring legend, Kostya Tszyu. Tszyu held the unified 10 stone title and had never lost it. He was magnificent. Yet, Ricky forced him to retire on his stool at the start of the 12th round. He could simply take no more of Ricky’s pressure and power.
Things dramatically changed for the ‘Manchester Mexican’ when he met Floyd Mayweather in Vegas. Ricky came out of his natural light welterweight limit and moved up to welterweight which proved a very bad move. In the first few rounds Mayweather really struggled to handle Hatton’s pressure and was knocked off balance on one occasion ; doing well to stay on his feet.
However, Hatton’s emotions got to him. Mayweather’s pre fight tactic of winding Hatton up had worked and Ricky was determined on knocking him out. Mayweather took advantage and the referee had to stop the bout. I am sure if Ricky fought Mayweather again things would be different. The referee also went out of his way to spoil Hatton’s rhythm.
Hatton went on to defeat Juan Lazcano and Pauli Malignaggi, displaying his boxing dominance in every round. He stopped Malignaggi, which Miguel Cotto failed to do when he met the Italian American. However, things took a turn for the worse when Hatton fought Pacquiao in Vegas. Hatton lost that bout in the gym three weeks prior to the fight. He peaked in Manchester before travelling to the USA and was mentally shook off his game plan by trainer, Floyd Mayweather Snr. As I have said I am a huge fan of the Pac-Man but Ricky may as well have had Paul Chuckle in his corner and used his brother Barry as a sparring partner. Pacquiao won.
As I have said many times, defeats don’t mean a fighter is ‘shot’. Look at Duran. Look at Ali. Look at Sugar Ray Robinson. They have all lost. Ali lost to very average fighter Ken Norton in his prime, simply because he underestimated him. Yes, Mayweather is good. But untested. The old boys in boxing used to tell me at the gym ‘if you haven’t been beaten, you shouldn’t be fighting for a world title’. Only now do I understand what them boys meant. Defeats are a fact of boxing.
The best boxers lose. I admire Joe Calzaghe and his talents, but there are fighters out there that chose not to fight in order to take on older fighters that certainly were not in their prime. Look at Marquez, the best boxer in the world today; top of boxingnews24′s p4p ranking. A couple of years ago, critics claimed he was shot. If Hatton can come back, fight an opponent that’s good but not at the very top level, just as a comeback booster. I really think he can go all the way and beat Pacquiao and Mayweather in a rematch.
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Liam Santiago I’m gonna store ur name in my memory as Idiot
This article is terrible. There is no way Hatton is the best boxer of the last decade or even top 5 considering great fighters such as Pacman, Mayweather, Barrera, Morales, etc. I dont think the author believes that either, he is just trying to get a rise out of everyone.
Kelly, are you and Lie-I-am drinking from the same stupid bottle or taking one a day stupid pills? Hatton the greatest of the last decade?
You must be Autistic Powers who just woke up from sleeping and missed the last decade. Go back to sleep or better still go backand finish doing whatever else you were doing because you certainly were not watching boxing!Really?
LIAM,
I AGREE WITH YOU, THAT OVERALL, IN TERMS OF QUALITY OF OPPOSITION, 42 CONSECUTIVE WINS, AND MANY WORLD TITLES THAT RICKY HATTON IS INDEED THE GREATEST FIGHTER OVER THE LAST DECADE. HE KIND OF REMINDS ME OR ROBERTO DURAN. LIKE DURAN HE NEVER DUCKED ANY OF THE REAL BIG NAMES, AND NEVER TRIED TO COMPROMISE AN OPPONENT BY ASKING FOR A CATCH WEIGHT ADVANTAGE. IN MY BOOK YOU HAVE IT RIGHT ON. BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE RING RICKY HATTON WAS THE BEST,AND WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WILL DO IN THE FUTURE.
hatton is a great fighter1 my fave! but i wouldnt put him up the top. i look at the facts. every 1 loves him. true gent and a very exiting fighter. just fell short of getting there. he will go down as a true british bulldog!! all us BRITS APPRECIATE HIM!!!!!
well said liam lad you dont half know your stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!
The thought that Hatton may be the best boxer of the last decade, is laughable and borders on being absurd. I must say that I love Ricky, because he is a very guy and has been an entertaining fighter. However, to me, he has not been a great boxer, in the sense of displaying very good boxing skills. His success has been largely due to his mauling and holding tactic and style, which put a lot of pressure on his opponents. That is how he was able to beat Kostya Tszyu.
He i a smart guy, so I have no doubt that he had the potential to be an outstanding boxer, but unfortunately, he has not been trained and developed properly. Furthermore, he has been deluded into thinking that he has been great, which robbed him of the opportunity to realize his weaknesses, and thereby try to correct them. Consequently and inevitably, he was exposed by Mayweather, an outstanding boxer, who had the skills to deal with his mauling and holding tactics.
While Ricky apparently, considers his crowning achievement to be his win over Tszyu, I think that his best performance was against Mayweather. Although that performance was not good enough to match Mayweather’s skills, Ricky had demonstrated in that fight, that with the right training, he could compete successfully with anyone in his weight class. If he had learnt the necessary lesson from that fight, then his Pacquiao experience could have been completely different.
With the right training, I still think he could beat Pacquiao, but not Mayweather, unless the Pretty Boy’s skills have bbeen seriously eroded. Mayweather is just too smart a fighter to be beaten by Hatton.
Hatton would do very well with a trainer like Buddy McGirt, who I believe, has the right approach and temperament, to work with him.
is your article not a little late for a april fool?? Hatton you say would beat Mayweather and Pacman in a re-match??? what a joke! Hatton has found his level and it certainly wasnt the top world class level.Mayweather schooled him and Pac bruttaly exposed him also.Hatton struggled as soon as he stepped across the pond.Entertaining fighter but not world class
Liam so laim…and so in love with Hatton and Marquez; two fighters who are polar opposites in what they are missing to be a true peoples champ and pound for pound king like Pacquiao.
Marquez has the skills but lacks the raw courage and like-ability inside and outside the ring like Pacquiao. Marquez whines like a baby and is a sour loser. Hatton has the courage and he matches the popularity and marketability of Pacquiao but his skills, speed and discipline are not top tier. He regularly balloons between fights. His defense is his pressure offense, good enough again lesser fighters but too nearly enough against the elite.
Maybe, if you took the best of each fighter, you would get a Pacquiao!
The best British fighter IMO was Nasem Hamed. He had speed, reflexes and power which made him very exciting to watch. Hatton was exciting too but please, do not mistake that for skill.
His style is not a durable one and when you add his eating and weight binges, it was a recipe for diaster. R.I.P. Come one unless he changes like Barrera did, he might as well be dead.
For the record, how could he actually believe he was winning? He could not hit Manny with a bag full of rice if he it at him at a wedding.
Lie-I-am Santiago, I am convinced you are writing for hits now. Nobody could be that stupid, unless he is on a diet of stupid, for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper.
I really enjoyed watching Hatton and after the fact, I truly wish he had put up as good a fight against Pacman as he did against Floyd. Bceause now people are ridiculing him for coming up short in his biggest fights.
But back to you Lie-I-am, you seem to have an endless reservoir of dumb ideas. Seriously, do you have hen that lays them for you or do you stay up late at night after one of your stupid meals and write them down?
only ooooone ricky hatton.
hatton is a legend no doubt. everyone loses fights, quit bagging on him cause he did. Tyson lost to buster douglas but no one is calling tyson a bum.
Not even the top 5 best fighters of the last ten years.
As I have said I am a huge fan of the Pac-Man but Ricky may as well have had Paul Chuckle in his corner and used his brother Barry as a sparring partner. Pacquiao won.
Huge Fan ? duh ,… f&^k 0ff
Oh liam I liked the bit about the chuckle brothers. Thats pretty funny
Ahmed
I must admit people in general in britain people are racest about Khan, but that just shows a lack of inteligence. I think hes good and i think Pacquios good.
Now remeber just because some is a fan, he could just be bias not racest.
Good article a little bias but i agree hatton was good and exciting.
Maybe not the best of the decade
But deffinetly one of the best without a doubt top five i would say!
okay okay you right guys, i love white people and i love bum fun with white people, ricky is rubbish but bum fun would be nice.
Liam this time your were wrong, hatton is an over rated fighter he was beaten by Luis Collazo, Juan Urango and Juan Lazcano and everyone knows, that they gave those fights, to boost his career. Click my name and you will see.
these writers are blatantly racist you can see the non sense these guys are always writing. hating on guys like amir khan and paqcuiao and loving this white guy who is nothing special and overated
This article is very funny…lol……Oh it’s real. Mr. Santiago you need to open your eyes and get out more. Hatton is the Best alright! The best of been over rated!!!! Write that article. You would see you are going to get better respond. And by the way……………………..You are very welcome.
la razón y la verdad,
I thought Hatton was winning on both fights before he got knocked out of his senses.
Im a big Hatton fan…
But no way in hell is he the best fighter of the last decade, and I fail to see how anyone can think otherwise.
Mayweatheer has never been tested? I feel Chavez, Castillo (twice), Sosa, Ndou, Corrales, Gatti (god rest), Shamba Mitchell, DeMarcus Corley, Baldomir and Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton himself would beg to differ!
Compare the above list with who Hatton has fought and you’ll see why your suggestion is laughable!
Hatton was just another Brithish myth who was hand fed a string of nobody’s before he stepped up to Tszyu. That fight was one of the best in British history, no doubt, but it was down hill from there.
He struggled against Luzcano and the writing was on the wall for the Mayweather fight. I actually went over to Vegas, but it was more in hope than expectation.
It wouldn’t have mattered if Hatton’s Dad was the referee, he still would have got whipped!
Agree with you Liam he’s the greatest that came out of UK, but you didn’t go far enough. He’s way up on top of Ali, Leonard, Tyson, Duran, etc. He’s the greatest.
Agree with you Liam, but you didn’t go far enough. Hatton should be way up there on top of Ali, Leonard, Tyson, Duran, etc. He’s the greatest.
Some good articles on Pacman on the way guys! lol!
“He is in my opinion, and many other boxing experts, the best fighter to come out of any country over the last decade.”
WTF! LMAO
Hey Santiago! Stop living in the past. Hatton is done. After Mayweather and Pacquiao, he only proved one thing – he can’t rumble with the best. Simple as that. No excuses, no buts. He got knocked down and out by the two greatest boxers today. Don’t make excuses for him because you really don’t know. The only person who can invent excuses for Hatton is Hatton. Not you, not anyone.
Hell, I love Roberto Duran, but can he make a comeback now? No, because he is done.
even though im no the biggest mayweather fan, to say the guy is untested is unfair. castillo, corrales, judah, de la hoya, gatti, hernandez, chavez and hatton is a hell of a cv.
i think the same he has only lost to the to best fighters on the platet when he fourght world number 1 kosta tyzu and stopped him to be honest tyzu was a better fighter then paqio and mayweather ye there brilant fighters in fact thhe best if they were to beat hatton he should go on to fightth quiter witter and timothy bradley COME HATTON YOUR THE BEST OUT THERE !!!..
I think your close to being right, maybe if hatton stuck to the gameplan on both defeats he may have beaten floyd and manny but i agree on hatton losing his head in both fights which is a shame because i strongly believed hatton could beat both manny and floyd if he stuck to what his gameplan would of been, and i do strongly believe cortez was alot to blame for the floyd outcome if hatton has been boxing the same for how many years and then all of a sudden you can’t box that way,joe cortez never let hatton box the way he does, i think hatton was doing just great up untill the seventh round even hbo had hatton 1 round up on points,i recently watched that fight again and i would still say the same.
And as for the fight with manny well he got it totally wrong he did not block,his hands were at his waist the whole time,i do believe it would and could be a great fight if it was to happen again.
Well i do believe ricky hatton is the greatest boxer to ever come from the uk.
Hatton beat tszyu,hatton beat collazo and even put him on his bum something no boxer has done,hatton beat castillo in four from a body shot a guy who floyd mayweather fought twice and only won on points and also some say thats floyds toughest fight yet,hatton stop Malignaggi something cotto could not do,juan urango a guy who is rated very highly hatton also beat him.hatton has also beat tough people like vince phillips,ben tackie,carlos maussa these are all top guys at that time,and not forgetting floyd and manny.
so yes maybe hatton is one of the greatest fighters of the decade.
You are out of your mind… Who said that Hatton was a boxer? He is better off in WWE. The guy has no style, no defense and all he does is push people against the rope. He got destroyed by a natural boxer with no power at the welter division, FM Jr, and of course got a nasty ko by the “best” p4p (until Nov. 14).
Liam is absolutely right, but I think he didn’t go far enough. Hatton is the best, better than Ali, Leonard, Tyson and Marciano. Liam you’re brilliant, you should write more articles like this.
I cant say Hatton is the best boxer of the last decade, I would put him up there. Seriously though it’s pacquiao, he was knocked out 3 times before people even knew who he was and now look at him, a super feather weight to a welterweight and still beating the best fighters in them divisions. I’m a big fan of Hatton but pacquiao was a born boxer.
The best boxer of the last decade will be decided when mayweather vs pacquaio takes place. Hatton is no where near that level!
i have read so many in the past and this one is the greatest… the greatest disbelief on my part… Fighters fight on that square box whether its a mega fight or a non-title fight that don’t matter… as a professional boxer everyone has made his preparation for the upcoming war.. training a good 2 1/2-3 months in advance… what i dont understand is how come so many people and sometimes even the loser quips that he was not prepared.. was dehydrated.. lost because of this and that and this… ultimately for me and supposedly for everyone.. the loser LOSES. PLAIN and SIMPLE. If you are going to fight and already have a pre-determined reason and excuse for losing then that is DISRESPECT to boxing itself and the other fighters who won… and if you dont understand where i am coming from then you better find another sport.
Are you Brits out of your minds? Ricky Hatton is not even in the top 10 of fighters of the decade. Who did he ever beat in his record of padded flunkies? Yes, he beat Kostya, but since he retired right after, that does that tell you of the diminished skills the Ruskie had. Hatton beat a shell of a great fighter, just as Pacquiao did against Oscar. What else has Hatton done? Barely beat Luis Collazo? Got knocked out by Floyd — who was among the top two fighters of the decade with Pacquiao. His victory over Malignaggi was tainted by trainer Buddy McGirt, who forced Paulie to fight in a box and took away his legs. I could go on, but suffice it to say Hatton is one of the most overrated fighters in history. At least Calzaghe beat some legit top guys, Hatton has not!
YOu and Manny punanny are clown shoes! i dont even read your nonsense anymore. i just stop by to poke fun at your ignorance. You must be cum drunk from Drinking to much of Manny’s baby’s from his fleshy scepter. EL CHOLLO HOTO!!
Are you on crack? Where do these idiots come from seriously.
Liam Santiago, the antidote to Scott Gilfoid….
is this a joke or some kind of ruse to get hatton to retire
Ok, Hatton was exciting, but let’s not confuse crowd-pleasing with talent. At International level Ricky failed twice against the top fighters so there are at least two guys that need to be ranked above him.
So is he the best of British so far this decade? This is trickier to work out. Whilst Calzaghe finished his career undefeated it was largely against people we had never heard of before or since, or those well past their prime. Hatton only really beat one top fighter in Tszu but did show more nerve than Calzaghe in taking two fights against the best p4p men at the time. Lennox had seven fights since 2000 so his name should be in there too. Naz also had four fights this decade.
For me the most talented of this British crop was Naseem but that’s just my opinion….
Fighter of the decade,huh? Who can we really say step his game up in the last decade? In the last decade the Pac has fought the likes of Barrera, Morales, Marquez, Oscar, Hatton, and now looks ahead to Cotto. Impressive resume. With the exception of Marquez he stopped all of these guys, and let’s not forget that had the three knockdown rule been in effect Marquez would had been stopped to. Hopkins, Trinidad , Mosley, Mayweather, Calzage, Marquez, deserve accolades for their achievements but while some of their fight failed to excite the fans, Manny never stops the action. Fighter of the decade? Always up for debate, but Manny is the fighter of the now and present. Respect. BOXING IS NOT DEAD.
Lets not forget that Ricky is number 3 in the world and that is an achievment in its self. He has been a great embassador to the sport and has given everything he had in the ring. Mayweather and Pac were just better fighters on the day. Thats it!
I hope retires and enjoys the rest of his life in safety.
Are you serious? You sure make a lot of excuses for him. I promise you Floyd and Manny would both knock him out again. He’s no doubt been an exciting fighter to watch but if you think he’s the best of the last ten years you’re terribly mistaken. You place him over De La Hoya, Mayweather, Trinidad, and Roy Jones Jr.? Very surprising opinion.
Unbelieveably strange report,Floyd worked him out,broke him down then ko’d him,against Pac man he was horribly overmatched.Them 2 are on a totally different level to Hatton,Hatton done very well for himself and gave us some great memories but you make way to much of him.He been found out at the highest level and could face Floyd and Pacman another 10 times and he’d lose every single time
pants again from the boxing expert… buncey has no hope of getting the boxing hour back on tv…. i hear channel 5 are givng the hour to liam santiago……….hahahahahahahaha
hatton should retire hes got nothing left to prove his resistency has gone and he is now easily hurt by shots his career has been amazing and ive loved every second but now its time for hatton to call it a day
MACLOW – “like fighters respect each other after a fight, let’s respect each others views. I’m not saying we can’t disagree but we can do without disrespect.”
WELL SAID MATE!
Hatton is Englands golden boy. Oscar and Rickys popularity have led some to believe that being popular with the fans and selling ppv is enough to be considered great. Both of these fighters are good but neither one could get the job done when it needed to be done. Calzage on the other hand not only beat fighters that were suppose to test him, he did it with ease. Note to all true boxing fans: just like fighters respect each other after a fight, let’s respect each others views. I’m not saying we can’t disagree but we can do without disrespect. BOXING IS NOT DEAD.
Hatton is one of my favorite fighters, I’ve travelled all over to watch him but let’s be honest we love him cause he is always ready for a good tear up.
Last 10 years you have Mayweather, Hopkins, Pacman, Marquez, Calzaghe, Mosley. You say he stopped Malanaggi when Cotto didn’t, don’t you realize Cotto was a drained fighter at that weight that’s why he moved up and looks better for it, Hatton even said so himself.
We love Ricky’s aggression but the simple fact is boxing is about the muscle in your head not the one’s in your arms.
Hatton has been stopped heavily twice and the binging has finally taken its toll plus he isn’t the hardest to hit, it will take along time to fall in love with a British fighter like we did with Hatton but when push comes to shove he fell at the final hurdle.
liam get f00ked
In some ways I kind of agree with Liam. Hatton has always been fantastic to watch! An exciting pressure fighter with good power! But tactically twice on the big occasion he’s got it horribly wrong and fallen well short! I blame this on two major faults Hatton has, he lacks self control and discipline! He lacks it in his lifestyle outside of the ring, his constant ballooning in weight has done him no good and As I said in the two fights where it mattered most Ricky lost his head! Forget the over training issue, Ricky lost it mentally on both nights and could not adapt to a game plan!
IMO he’s been the best boxer to come out of Britain in a long time! A true gentleman in and outside of the ring. 5 time world champ at two different weights his acheievements have to be admired! Personally I think he had the tools to beat both Pac and Floyd but you can have the tools in abundance but if you lack self control and discipline they count for nothing!
IMO Hatton should retire, he has nothing to prove and I would HATE to see him used as a stepping stone for the likes of “FRAUD” Kahn. I just don’t think Ricky has it mentally any more, he should enjoy retirement and concentrate on promoting let Kahn fight a SHOT morales for another name on his record.
you obviously are in love with hatton, but not in love with common sense and reason. Also your knowledge of boxing is terrible to think hatton would win any of the two rematches??????
Joe Calzaghe. No arguement but im sure Scott Gilfoid will post Chad Dawson or something ridiculous, Hattons face is a mess and he always looks the loser afterwards, look at Joe, the worst cuts he ever had were from Bika and Hopkins butting him, from the fustration of not being able to touch him.
Your loving hatton quite alot arent you? He was a good fighter over the last decade but you have to give it to Manny Pacquiao ring magasine fighter of the year three times in 2000-2009.