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.

However, I think Hatton’s problems aren’t physical in nature; Rather I think that Hatton has gotten a wee bit sloppy with his technique as of late and is trying to get by with some of his earlier bad habits, namely leaping in with his hooks and right hands without setting them up with a jab ahead of time. This kind of thing works against the lesser opponents he previously fought in the past, but now that he’s stepped it up against better punchers like Mayweather, Lazcano and other fighters of that class, Hatton is finding himself having some slight problems. The good news is that he can get these small problems ironed out without too much difficulties. A good start for him, obviously, was him changing trainers.

It’s sad that he had to do this, because I know both him and Graham go back a long ways, but it’s something that was clearly needed at this point in his career. Hatton is no longer fighting C-class opponents and needs all the help he can get if he wants to remain successful against the best fighters in boxing. I think he’s certainly good enough to beat Paulie Malignaggi using his old style of fighting, but against a fighter like Manny Pacquiao, Hatton will have huge problems because he’s still too easily hit, and doesn’t have the speed or movement that Pacquiao does.

I think Pacquiao is coming up next, once Hatton gets Malignaggi out of the way. Regardless of whether Pacquiao fights De La Hoya or not, I see Hatton fighting him in 2009. This is why it’s imperative that Hatton get a good defensive-minded trainer like Floyd Mayweather Sr. who can work on his defensive problems in his game and try to teach him to duck some of these shots that he’s been getting hit with as of late. I don’t for a second see Hatton as slowing down or going downhill as a fighter, and for those boxing fans and writers who’re saying this, they seem to be showing a lack of incite to boxing.

Hatton looked excellent against both Mayweather and Lazcano, except for his lapse of concentration and judgment by trying to throw a hook from too far away. Like I said, you can do that against a marginal opponent but not against a top fighter like Mayweather or Lazcano. Those types of fighters will make Hatton pay for it each time he tries to do such thing. Believe me, Hatton would have been tagged with a huge shot no matter how old he was and would have been in trouble.