Hatton: “It’s got to be a top-10 ranked, pound-for-pound fighter or a world champion”
January 13th, 2010
By Scott Gilfoid: Earlier today, Ricky Hatton finally cleared the air by giving boxing fans the word that he plans on fighting one or two more fights. So far, Hatton has mentioned IBF light welterweight champion Juan Urango as one of the names that he is considering a fight against. I seriously doubt that Hatton will fight Urango, though, because Juan has a unification bout coming up in March against WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander and I expect Urango to lose that fight and lose it badly against the young, 22-year-old Alexander.
That’s really admirable. Well, I would advise Hatton to look at fighting WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley if he wants to take on a top pound for pound fighter. I think Hatton would lose, of course, but at least he at least would be facing a top pound for pound fighter and impressing fans by going out on his shield one final time.
“After the Mayweather defeat [in December 2007], I jumped into action straight away and I didn’t really perform my best. But this time I’ve had a good rest, recharged the batteries and had a really good think; put that last fight really behind me and I’m happy to get back at it now.”
I don’t really know whether Hatton would have been better off taking time off after the Mayweather fight or not. I think it’s a good thing to take time off after a knockout loss, but I don’t if a fighter is going to balloon up in weight like Hatton has done recently after his 2nd round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao. That’s not good for you.
In that case, I’d have recommended for Hatton to have done exactly what he did, which is stay busy and get right back in the ring. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t have time off that affected him in his fights with Juan Lazcano and Pacquiao, in my view. It’s that Hatton fought in a reckless manner by trying to slug without covering up and protecting himself. You can’t fight like that for long without it hurting you, especially when facing top tier opponents.
Hatton says “I’m going to have one more fight, maybe two more fights – it all depends on the performance of the first fight. It’s always hard coming back. It would be very foolish of me to say, ‘Two more fights, three more fights.’ If Hatton chooses a light touch, I think he’ll get the confidence to fight again.
But once Hatton takes on a dangerous fighter like Bradley, Alexander or Marcos Maidana, I see him losing badly by knockout. At that point, I imagine that Hatton will retire. I just hope that with all this talk about wanting to fight a top pound for pound fighter that Hatton doesn’t select some fringe contender and then crow about how it after he beats them. I want to see Hatton take on the best like he says.
Tags: 33 Responses to “Hatton: “It’s got to be a top-10 ranked, pound-for-pound fighter or a world champion””
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@ Lex_Fugitive
I thought lex you’re a diehard Floyd! Oh yeah that’s why you hate Pac and you said that you dont wanna see again Hatton badly hurt. It’s the same reason why chiken Floyd ducked Pac, he’s afraid to be brutally hurt… Pac can’t dance, but he can give you one big punch that will keep you dreaming till Michael Buffer say “And the winner by TKO…”
How sadistic is this article??? The author thinks Hatton will get knocked out and take real damage against a top fighter. Then says he wants to see this!!! I like Hatton, he’s not a top-notch fighter though and I really don’t want to see him get badly hurt, again.
Kam,is that so well hatton has got some think like 40 million plus in the bank!!! hey not bad for some one who is a limited sucker so put that in yer huqqa and smoke it.
I think a come back fight with witter would be a good start for ricky see how he does after the bad defeat he suffered to pacman see what his punch resistance is like before he starts fighting the likes of bradley,kahn,etc.He is no spring chicken anymore and he has been in some wars due to his fighting style even when he won most of the time he still took some hammer of his opponents often cut and badly bruised.
However ricky has only lost to pac and floyd so you cant rule him out just yet.If he deafeated witter impresively then i think he would stand a chance against bradley or marquez.I think amir would be two fast for him and roach has his number already although i would say a prime hatton would deafeat kahn why because he would have been able to withstand the punches and back amir to the ropes and smother him on the inside and stop amir.
The main thing im wanting to now isnt actualy who hatton is gunna fight but who his trainer is gunna be?! Its obvs not gunna be floyed again after what he was up to with the last fight.
NGO
Obnoxious?
Overconfident a little perhaps. He’s hardly going to say he is going to get knocked out is he. Obnoxious my arse.
of the cotto-foreman june 12 fight gets signed there goes my cotto idea. I guess then with cotto out would like to see hatton go to 140 to fight bradley or bradley come up to 147. Other then that there only other legit welterweight option is to wait for the berto/mosley loser but seeing that that fighter wouldnt be available until early summer im not sure hatton would want to wait that long.
If he comes back at welterweight would like to see him fight cotto. If he comes back at junior welterweight i would like to see him fight bradley.
If he were to win that fight would then like to see him fight the khan-madaina winner (assuming this fight happens). After that im not sure what else is really out there for him, marquez maybe?
correction- Let me clear this up- Im upset that a 45 win Ricky is less impressive than a 22 win Bradley or Maidana! What I said was that I would be less upset if you meant that only because Ricky is over the hill. Yes, he is older now and if thats the reason you think he will be beat, then I can understand. However, if you think these guys would beat 2005 Ricky Hatton, then you are out of your flippin’ mind!!!
(haha.. Ive noticed if I use any curse word on this forum, my post wont even save)
‘
scott gilfoid is the most biased writer i have ever seen
Thank you! Thank you!!! I am so glad that someone other than myself has said that they wish to see Hatton vs Cotto!!! Thats what I want and have wanted it for a long time!! Hatton vs Cotto is 2 great sluggers who are over the hill and would be perfect for each other!
On a side note from the author- why do you think that my man Ricky would get beat via knockout against, Bradley, Maidana etc…. Why?! These guys have only fought 20+ times and never lost, yet Ricky fought 45 flippin’ times and lost ONLY to the worlds best!!!! 20 fights gives you more confidense than 45?! I hope you are ONLY SAYING THAT because he is old.. I hope to God you dont mean old ricky would get his ass beat, because you are out of your mind if you think that!!
Baz, I don’t support the comeback if he is aiming for p4p again. If he is doing it however as a last hurrah to win a title and tidy up a few loose ends then ill support him.
Just from putting weight on doesnt lose you your technique and heart and if Ricky has the hunger to fight again I doubt the eating has done to much to damage Hattons rather unorthodox style.
Someone here again mentioned about Hatton not being able to beat anyone in the Top 10; I think it may be the same game that I dropped the Hatton Urango hint about last week repeatedly, even arguing about the weight.
I can’t see Hatton going in cold and fighting Marquez straight away, it would be very foolish. The likelihood is that Urango will unify in March and make a fight end of May/early june possible
hatton should hang up the gloves and be proud of what he achieved.he’d only be fighting for second place against any of the opponents mentioned.why get hurt for a silver..too heavy (again!!!) and too late.
at least he isnt running, rickys a warrior he doesnt give a damn if he gets knocked out as long as he knows he is fighting someonee with credibilty
Boxrec has Juan Manuel Marquez fighting on 5th may at MGM Grand with no opponent yet, so maybe thats where Hatton wants to start.
I cant see him wanting to fight Urango again and theres noone else in the top tep that I think he can A=beat and B=is free at summer.
@shakeeb-yeah khan cin take pacs shots in training with an inch thick head guard and 18oz glove,u realy dont have a clue about boxing.if u new anything about boxing you would know that you cant grow a chin,and khan has a terrible chin,that cant be blaimed on being weight drained because khan always stays in shape.plus back up why cotto would spank hatton?i said my point for a 50/50 fight,cotto also doesnt have a great chin the only reason he last so long against pac was because he put on hir running shoes.cotto has been down or hurt numerous times in his carear,torres and margarito had him down numeourouse time,and judah,mosley and clottey al had him badly hurt at some point or another just to name a few.i just think the match up prety well even chins,power,stamina,etc maybay cotto edges it because he has beter ring movement,and as i said before against common oppents mausa and malignagie hatton done a beter job.
@ NGO Whats wrong with being over confident? If a fighter goes into a fight not believing he is going to win then he has lost the fight already…
Think its going to be tough for Hatton to stage a great come back basically due to the fact of its recent KO’s are going to be on is mind constantly through is training and through his fight. I Do believe a final fight say against another boxer coming to the end of his career like Marquez would be a good farewell fight. There is to much good young talent coming up in the devision for Hatton to start trying to reclaim it.
@james ac- I know what you mean with hatton beating malignaggi more decisively than cott but I still believe that cotto would beat hatton by late fight stoppage.
Hatton has had his time and faught many wars but I believe he is shot. Plz hatton prove me wrong cuz I enjoy your fights. I know he lost against the best 2 fighters in the world but there had been others that went the distnace against them even in lower weight classes. For floyd: castillo(he actually won), hernandez, de la hoya.
And for pac: morales(actually beat him the first fight.), barrera(second fight) and marqeuz( who actually beat him the first fight…I dare you guys to go score points the first fight and tell me marquez didnt win.)
Looking at those aspects I don’t believe hatton has what it takes to beat floyd or pac. So he should just fight 2 easy fights and then face off against marquez for one last glorious war that will send both of them into legendary status and retire with some money and respect.
hattons best known for losing badley to mayweather and pacquiao. And david diaz did better than hatton against pacman and marquez did better against floyd. Other than that whats so special about ricky hatton?
People forget that Hatton has only ever lost two fights and both were against the Worlds pound for pound champions.
Prior to those defeats he never even looked like losing. Get back with Billy Graham for these next two fights and Hatton has a great chance of beating any of the fighters mentioned in the article including Khan, Maidana, Alexander and Bradley.
We can speculate all day long about if he is shot or not but the only way is for Ricky to get back in and have a go. Lets face it there is no way anyone in the world would retire after the Pacquaio knockout. One bad judgement doesn’t make him a bad fighter over night.
Just look at his record.
James mc, you seem to forget that Khan spars with pacman, if that isnt a water tight hitter, i dont know what is. Cotto Hatton? Cotto would garden fall hatton. Cotto and Hatton get brutal kod, yet khan can withstand pacman at sparring and hold his own. I rest my case.
your a complete joke
@baz-i agree with hatton vs cotto,but the winner stands no chance against floyd or pac.i think hatton vs cotto would be a great fight,very similar power as ko percentages go,similar world title fights,both 2 weight world champs,but both are way by there best,alot of people say cotto would destroy hatton,but against common opponents mausa and malignagie hatton done a beter job,plus hatton lost to 2 beter fighter than cotto,because roach said pacs best weight is lww,so argubly hatton faced a beter pac,plus floyd is easily beter than margarito.so my opinion it definatly a 50/50 if its at 144 or 145.
that was me that said that last coment dont know why it came up anonymous.
@shakeeb-witch biger hitter has khan faced than hatton?prescott has a biger ko percentage at 78%,but thats at lightweight?if drilzan,gomez,limond can badly hurt khan and prescott can almost flatten him with a jab,what woul a full blowen lightwelter with a 70% ko record do to khan,seem bad do even think how khan would leave the ring.
ricky hatton vs miguel cotto at 145lbs, great match up ,two great body punchers , this would be a war and the winner gets another crack at floyd or manny !!!! thoughts plz
Hatton is a great boxer, The pacman fight doesn’t count. There were training issues that lead to the loss of Pacman. Look What happened to Rocky balboa when mickey fell ill, he lost to clubber lang, which shows that mental fitness is as important as pphysical.
Good article here. Ricky Hatton could prove to be one the biggest daintons in boxing history. A fight with Khan would finish Hatton. Khans speed agility and of course having allah on his side would dance wolves around static hatton. Hatton doesn’t have the power to hurt khan, khans been in with bigger hitters than Hatton. Please Hatton retire from the sport it doesnt need you.
i’ve slagged you off many times for your crap biassed articles scott, but this is a good article and i think people are just going to hate you and your articles whatever you write. good unbiassed article.
@scott guilford-can u start writing articles with some back up to what your saying,1st-why would hatton get kod badly against alexander or bradley?because none of them have an notable power to ko anyone badly.2nd bradley being p4p-how can bradly be p4p if he hasnt faught 1 a class fighter yet,his best 2 oppents to date are a 35 year old witter,witch he win by sd unepresive and a 37 year old campbel that end a nc also unepresive?bradley also has no power and a questionable chin after being knockdown by the light hitting holt.scott you honestly no nothing about boxing a casual fan who reads the paper knows more than you,so from now on can you start writing some proof to you articals or stop writing altogeather?
I agree that Maidana is dangerous for Hatton on this time in his career, but the others are a nice option for the Fatman.
I’m no Hatton fan, but he’s not just a fighter.
Yes he lost 2 out of his last 4 on KO, but against Pac and Floyd and before that he had about 40 in a row and he didn’t steal those either.
So even if he’s a little shot, he’s still a lot better than a lot of ‘champions’ out there.
hatton beats bradley. bradley ain’t all that. what exactly has bradley done that makes people think he’s a great fighter?
Thats funny… “I would advise Hatton to look at fighting WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley if he wants to take on a top pound for pound fighter. I think Hatton would lose, of course”
On what evidence do you base this? Bradley has fought no-one of any significance and is one dimensional. The Hitman would tears chunks out of him. Remember that Hatton has won 45 of 47 and lost only to Pacquiao and Mayweather… that is a tremendous record by anyones standards, even yours.
Sure Bradley is a tough guy but Hatton would and will knock him out. But i have to agree that this is the best fight out there for him and he should take it.