By Scott Gilfoid: First off, I don’t consider either of these guys as best in the light welterweight division, so effectively what we’re seeing is a glorified popularity contest between former champions. Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) has looked faded and over the hill for the past three years and hasn’t looked good since beating Kostya Tszyu several years ago, whereas Paulie Malignaggi (25-1, 5 KOs) hasn’t put in a quality performance since beating Lovemore N’dou in June 2007.
Since that fight, Malignaggi has looked plain awful in fights against Herman Ngoudjo and a rematch with N’dou, appearing to lose both of the fights but getting the nod by judges.
Power
Hatton, 30, is easily the bigger puncher in tonight’s fight, but it may not have much meaning if he can’t land any of his big power shots. To be sure, Malignaggi isn’t going to make it easy for him by just standing around and letting him tee-off with his big body shots. But at close range, Hatton would seem to have all the advantages in this bout because of his much bigger punches.
The one question here, though, is whether or not Hatton has drained himself taking off weight for the fight, which possibly may leave him weak and weight depleted. In photos of the weigh-in, Hatton looks terrible, emaciated and almost sickly.
Hopefully, this will go away once he’s rehydrated, but if not, then we could be seeing big problems for Hatton. His only real chance at winning is by going up against Malignaggi hard with his power shots, bullying him around the ring and trying to take him out with big shots.
Forget about his so-called new fighting style taught to him by his new trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., I don’t see that lasting for more than a round or two, if that long. Hatton will fight as he always does, putting everything into his shots and trying to take Malignaggi out with big leaping punches.
As for Malignaggi, I don’t expect him to try and load up with anything and will focus more on speed. That said, if he can hurt Hatton with a fast punch while Hatton’s lunging in with his punches, then I can see Malignaggi teeing off on his with some big hooks and uppercuts and perhaps taking the British fighter out.
Given that the fight is taking place in Las Vegas, there won’t be a referee in the ring to save Hatton this time if he gets hurt like he did in his last fight against Juan Lazcano. If he gets hurt like he last time, Hatton will be in deep trouble and may get taken out.
Chin
I’d have to consider Malignaggi as having the much better chin than Hatton at this point. Malignaggi has gone up against big sluggers like N’dou, Cotto and Ngoudjo and taken their best shots without going down or being hurt. However, Hatton hasn’t looked the same since being stopped with a short left hook from Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Hatton’s 10th round TKO loss in December 2007.
That fight may have loosened something up in Hatton’s head, making it easier for him to get knocked out in the future. It sure seemed to be the case in his first fight after the Mayweather bout in May against Juan Lazcano, who hurt Hatton twice in the fight with hard left hooks and had him close to being knocked out in the 8th.
Malignaggi may not hit as hard as Mayweather or Lazcano, but his speed is quite good and he may hit Hatton with a shot that he doesn’t see and end up taking him out. Whatever the case, Hatton’s chin may be so bad at this point that even Malignaggi has enough power to take him out.
Boxing Skills
Malignaggi is easily a better fighter than Hatton, having much better defense, better movement and a bigger arsenal of punches to fall back on. Hatton has depended his entire career on his slugging which has enabled him to overpower most of his lesser opponents until stepping it up finally against a good fighter in Mayweather. Hatton may have improved somewhat with the addition of his new trainer, but I expect him to be pretty much what he’s always been, a slugger and little more.
Prediction
I think tonight Hatton’s hard lifestyle will catch up to him in the ring, making him look old and slow after the 6th round. Having been used to fighting plodding fighters in recent years, Hatton will be forced to fight much harder than he wants to by Malignaggi and will be exhausted by the 2nd half of the fight. In the end, I see Malignaggi wearing him down and either stopping him in the later rounds with a short hook to the head or beating him by a clear cut decision. Following the fight, Hatton, in tears, will announce his retirement from boxing.
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