Hagler comments on Hatton’s comeback efforts

By Boxing News - 11/23/2012 - Comments

Image: Hagler comments on Hatton's comeback effortsBy Scott Gilfoid: Boxing great Marvin Hagler doesn’t think fighters that are out of the sport for 2 or more years are the same when they do try and make a comeback attempt. Ricky Hatton is making a comeback on Saturday night against Vyacheslav Senchenko after being out of the ring for darn near 4 years. That’s a heck of a long time to be out of action, especially when you look all the fat that Hatton packed on during those lost years.

Hagler told the Telegraph.co.uk “I know when a fighter is out of the ring for more than two years, when he comes back he isn’t the same anymore…I can only wish good luck to Ricky Hatton after being away so long.”

It appears that Hagler thinks Hatton may have problems with his comeback, and I’m certainly in agreement with that. He looks heck of old in the face when you look at Hatton. Sure, his body still looks fairly youthful, but that’s from the outside appearances. When you’ve been out of the sport for as long as Hatton has been, you’re reflexes aren’t the same, the stamina also isn’t the same, and frequently the conditioning isn’t what it once was.

There’s also problems that can occur with a fighters ability to take hard shots when coming off of a long retirement. George Foreman wasn’t affected in that regard after a 10-year retirement from boxing, but he was one of the rare cases. Foreman also was wise enough to ease himself back into the ring by facing weak opposition for four years before stepping it up against Evander Holyfield in 1991. Foreman didn’t do what Hatton will be trying to do by coming off of a long retirement and then taking on a world class fighter straightaway. My guess is Foreman wouldn’t see this as a smart thing to do in a first fight back.



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