Could Hatton/Marquez be fight of the year?

By Shaun Campbell: Styles make fights. Juan Manuel Marquez and Ricky Hatton were once the two most exciting fighters to come our of their respective countries in modern times. Although, they are not in their primes anymore, and some have that it is time for both men to hang up their gloves and enjoy retirement. Ricky Hatton was brutally knocked out in 2 rounds to pound for pound top man, Manny Pacquiao, and Juan Manuel Marquez is coming off a loss where he was outclassed by the superb Floyd Mayweather. So is this really a fight that could make fight of the year in 2010? Well, why not?

There’s no doubt that both men like a “tear up”. Both fighters have also stated that they want to go out in a rough, tough fight were neither man backs down. Hatton has stated that it is likely he will come back and fight again, and some reports have suggested he has even started training. These reports of Hatton in training are nothing new in Britain, he’s been doing gym work and in the boxing ring on bags and shadow boxing for months. Only light stuff yes, but maybe now he has cut out the junk food. There’s no point either Marquez or Hatton coming back for one last fight against a lesser opponent like Katsidis or Timothy Bradley. They aren’t planning to resurrect their careers, just one last fight for each of them to go out the way they want. But at the end of 12 rounds, someone has to lose.

It would be very surprising if the fight was at any other weight than 140 pounds. Even Light-welterweight may be a little too much for Marquez. He looked completely bloated in his bout against Mayweather, and there didn’t seem to be the muscle definition around his body. Can he afford to do this against arguably one of the top pound for pound body punchers in the sport? Some have suggest Marquez grew old during that Mayweather fight. He didn’t land much cleanly (but then again, who does against Mayweather?), and was knocked down by an impressive, yet not totally devastating shot. Having said this, there is no denying Juan Manuel’s heart. Credit should be given to Marquez, he isn’t a light-welterweight, but he is prepared to fight out of his comfort zone.

Hatton on the other hand is walking around at about 180 pounds at the moment so some reports suggest. There is no problem with the Hitman making weight, but how much will he have left after he does it? Is the punch resistance still there? Although the same question could be asked of Marquez. “No body fights 3 minutes of a round more consistently than Ricky Hatton” an expert once said during Hatton’s fight with Luiz Collazo in May 2006. Is it still the same Ricky Hatton? Against Manny Pacquiao the training camp went awfully. No weight training when a fighter has used weights to prepare for 40 other fights does affect your body. Ricky looked different at the weigh in.

This fight could very well be fight of 2010 with Pacquiao’s fight with Floyd Mayweather now seeming to be not happening. I doubt that fight would have lived up to the hype anyway. Remember the buzz surrounding Oscar De La Hoya vs Floyd Mayweather? Then remember the fight? Nothing special. Floyd Mayweather has a habit of being involved in boring fights. Hatton and Marquez only know how to fight one way, going forward. Both throw a lot of punches and don’t exactly concentrate on defence. So there is no point trying to make Marquez faster, no point making Hatton a pure, slick boxer. Just let them go out their, do what the do best, and fight like warriors.

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