Matthew Hatton vs. Ricky Hatton: Who Would Win?

By William Mackay: I know Ricky Hatton would never probably fight his younger brother Matthew Hatton, but then again you never know. It seems reasonable to consider, since the Klitschko brothers are often asked whether they’ll ever fight. People don’t seem to understand why the Klitschko brothers don’t go ahead and fight, considering it would make either one of them a lot of money and prove who the best heavyweight is in the division.

You can’t say that obviously with the Hatton brothers, because Matthew isn’t even close to being the best welterweight in the division, and Ricky, if he ever does fight again, is probably not close to being the best light welterweight in his weight class. But a fight between them would prove who the best Hatton is and that would be something that I’d like to know just for kicks.

If someone were to ask me a couple of years ago whether Matthew could beat Ricky, it wouldn’t take me but of a fraction of a second to say that Ricky would. But now, I’m not so certain. Ricky has been through a lot, been stopped by both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao and badly hurt by Juan Lazcano. Ricky Hatton’s ability to take a solid shot appears to have been compromised since his loss to Mayweather.

Let’s be real here. The shots that Pacquiao put Hatton down with didn’t seem like huge punches at all, yet they had Hatton flopping around on the canvas like a seal. Pacquiao hasn’t had that kind of effect in the past with his shots. He can hit hard but his power is usually only able to knock a fighter down. Pacquiao usually needs to throw an accumulation of blows before he can knock someone out.

So Ricky probably would be vulnerable to the shots that Matthew would be throwing, even though Matthew is the farthest thing from a power puncher that you’ll ever see. My guess is that with his extra weight and size, Matthew would probably be able to stun Ricky if he loaded up on his shots. But in the same token, Matthew Hatton hasn’t faced anyone like Ricky, and would be in trouble if Ricky attacked him hard in the early part of the fight.

If Ricky’s fragile chin could hold out for him, Ricky could for all practical purposes bum rush Matthew, hit him with a flurry of big power shots to the midsection and head and drop him. Once Ricky has a fighter in trouble, he’s usually a great finisher, so I can see him putting Matthew away in a quick fashion if Matthew was able to get up from a knockdown.

If the fight turned out to be longer fight than say three or four rounds, Ricky would have to employ his old wrestling on the inside. Since both of them are Brits and the fight would obviously take place in England, Ricky would probably be able to get away with grappling and punching Matthew on the inside without the referee saying much. It would be dull to watch, but Ricky would probably wear Matthew out by the constant wrestling. However, if Matthew was able to break free and get a foot or two of spacing, he could send Ricky to another planet if he connects.

I guess I’d have to pick Matthew to win the fight if it were to take place. I think Ricky can’t take a hard shot like he used to and would have problems if he got hit hard.

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