According to a report from Dan Rafael of ESPN, undefeated World Boxing Council welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KOs) recommends that Ricky Hatton not fight again, stating “I hope Ricky Hatton is able get to through this one. This is tough on him and his family. I know he’s been through a lot of wars. I don’t think he should fight again. A fight of this magnitude can really tear you down mentally and physically. The wars, like his fight with Kostya Tszyu and me, eventually catch up to you like they did with Fernando Vargas and Erik Morales.”
For his part, Mayweather seems to be speaking for a lot of boxing fans who feel that the 29 year-old Hatton has nowhere to go from here but downward. The loss will likely be a huge setback for the previously unbeaten Hatton, and could very well be the thing that that finishes him as a fighter. Clearly, Hatton may have had creeping doubts about his ability after his narrow 12-round unanimous decision over welterweight Luis Collazo in May 2006, a fight that many felt that Hatton had lost, but with Hatton’s humbling loss to Mayweather, it would seem to be a watershed bout for him.
Hatton has recently said that he’ll be moving back down to junior welterweight, giving up on the idea of fighting as a welterweight after this loss. However, there’s not a lot of options of Hatton for money-making bouts in the junior lightweight division due to the absence of stars for Hatton to fight against. Kostya Tszyu, a former light welterweight star that Hatton previously beat in his only other huge payday, has seemingly retired since then, so that’s no longer an option for Hatton.
Whomever Hatton ends of facing, it will be interesting to see how he performs. This defeat could very well finish him as a competitive fighter, with both his chin and his confidence forever shattered. I don’t expect for Hatton to face anyone of note, as he will likely opt to fight a journeyman type fighter in an effort to regain some of his confidence. However, it may take multiple battles against fighters of this caliber to undo the damage that Mayweather has down to Hatton’s psyche.