By Michael Lieberman: Not holding back his punches in the least, International Boxing Federation light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (25-1, 5 KOs) let loose the dogs of war with some recent comments made to Ring magazine, saying “Hatton is a limited fighter. He can’t box…I just don’t think he’s much of a fighter, or was ever much of a fighter.” Malignaggi, 27, is probably the finest light welterweight in the division at this point in his career, having beaten excellent fighters like Herman Ngoudjo, Lovemore N’dou, Edner Cherry and lost a life and death battle to Miguel Cotto.
If Malignaggi’s credentials weren’t so impeccable, I would probably dismiss at once his comments and consider them merely bluster on his part. However, he’s shown to be one of the best fighters in the game and knows boxing through and through. So if he says that Hatton is a limited fighter, I guess I have to believe in what he says. Not through with throwing darts at Hatton, Malignaggi had one final pearl of wisdom to say about Hatton, commenting in the same interview with Ring magazine, “He’s [Hatton] the John Ruiz of the junior welterweight class.”
By Jim Dower: It’s hard to believe that Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) was once considered by many boxing fans to be the top fighter in all of the sport. That all seemed to change after his 10th round stoppage loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December 2007. It seemed like a bad choice for Hatton to make by choosing to fight the bigger Mayweather, who fought a division above Hatton at welterweight and had a significant size advantage over him going into the bout. As most people suspected, the size disparity was too much for Hatton and he eventually lost after giving a good accounting of himself in the first six rounds of the bout. 
By William Mackay: In a move that I think is utter waste of time, Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) has taken on Floyd Mayweather Sr. as his new trainer, this after parting ways with his long-time trainer, Billy Graham shortly after Hatton’s rough time against Juan Lazcano in May. Mayweather Sr., the father of Floyd Mayweather Jr. who badly schooled Hatton last December before stopping him in the 10th round, is a trainer known for teaching defensive boxing skills to fighters. In some cases, like Oscar De La Hoya, the teachings don’t always appear to take, since he looks for the most part the same fighter he’s always looked before taking on Mayweather Sr. 
By Aaron Klein: I don’t begrudge a guy for wanting to make some money, but come on, there’s a point where one can only stomach so much before they lose interest completely in the sport. For me, I think I’ve reach that point with the latest boxing news that Oscar De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) has decided on fighting Manny Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs) on December 6th. It’s not as bad as it once was, however, because De La Hoya is now hinting that he’ll continue fighting beyond this fight, presumably against other smaller fighters like Ricky Hatton, a rematch with Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., or possibly against the inexperienced Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Each fight would most likely generate huge money similar to the payday that De La Hoya will get for his bout with Pacquiao in December. 
By Nate Anderson: It’s been a year since Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) got pasted by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in an embarrassing 10th round stoppage at the MGM, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and there any many boxing fans out there saying that Hatton has lost a step, and should consider retirement from the sport. However, it’s not quite clear whether Hatton is any different than he previously was, because by looking at him, he looks the same. He looked superb against Juan Lazcano in his last fight in May, and the only real thing that I noticed that was wrong with him was his lunging a bit too much at Lazcano, which was cause for a bit of excitement when he was stunned briefly by a short left hook in the 8th round. 
By Sean McDaniel: Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) will be challenging IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (25-1, 5 KOs) on November 22nd, at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton, 29, already is a huge favorite to defeat Malignaggi, and regain his IBF light welterweight title. However, Hatton may be in for a bit of a shocker in this one, for Malignaggi has impeccable boxing skills which are a cut above that of Hatton and barring a knockout victory for Hatton, this may turn out to be a case of Malignaggi having too much skill for the slower, less skilled Hatton to deal with. 
By Jason Kim: The Oscar De La Hoya sweepstakes continue as the CEO of Golden Boy, Richard Schaefer, said yesterday that De La Hoya is now considering a fight with the following opponents, Ricky Hatton, Sergio Mora, Paul Williams, Roy Jones Jr. and Shane Mosley. De La Hoya, 35, was previously working on a fight with Manny Pacquiao, but that fight fell through when Pacquiao failed to accept Golden Boy’s offer of a 30% share of the PPV revenues for the fight. Pacquiao, however, was looking at getting at least 40%. 
By Jonathan Watkins: On December 10th 2007, a bruised and beaten Mancunian lay motionless on the canvas of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. When Ricky Hatton squared up against Floyd Mayweather on that winter night, both fighters knew the long-term repercussions of a loss were going to be career changing. In the end it was Hatton’s reputation that took a turn for the worse.
By Michael Lieberman: With the recent news of Ricky Hatton and his long-time Billy Graham going there separate ways, I don’t think for a second that this is going to fix Hatton’s many problems in his boxing career. For me, it seems like a cry for help, a desperate move on Hatton’s part to try and regain what is probably lost forever. Changing trainers at this point, something I wouldn’t recommend him doing, isn’t going to solve Hatton’s problems and start making him good again like he was earlier in his career. Let’s face it – what made Hatton good in the beginning was his high energy way of fighting, which was fueled in part by his youth. 
By Jim Dower: With other more potentially tougher opponents out there to fight in the light welterweight division, former IBF champion Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) took a blind eye to them recently, ignoring more worthy fighters like Timothy Bradley (perhaps the best light welterweight in the division at this point) and Andreas Kotelnik, to fight the soft-punching IBF champion Paulie Malignaggi on November 22nd at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton’s choice of Malignaggi seemed more of the status quo for him, who has been dodging Junior Witter, another top light welterweight, for years now and has instead fought older light welterweights past their prime like Kostya Tszyu and Vince Phillips rather than the Witter.