By Jim Dower: Rather than taking on the much stiffer challenge against unbeaten WBC light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (23-0, 11 KOs), Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) is going to be facing the much lighter threat by taking on former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (25-1, 5 KOs) on November 22nd, at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. At stake will be Hatton’s obscure IBO title, rather than the IBF belt, which was vacated by Malignaggi recently.
However, Hatton would probably been much better off if he had opted not to fight Malignaggi at all, and instead selected the young, faster, harder punching WBC champion Bradley, who many boxing experts feel is perhaps the best fighter in the division. While there is some disagreement as to whether Bradley is better than Hatton, probably most experts would agree that he’d wipe the deck with Malignaggi if given the opportunity.
Hatton, for whatever reason, isn’t interested in fighting Bradley. I can’t see any real reason why he wouldn’t be, because Hatton doesn’t have the excuse that he’s used for not facing Junior Witter all these years, since Bradley hasn’t been calling Hatton out for ages in the media.
Although I’m certainly sure that he’d love to fight Hatton if he had the interest in stepping in the ring with him. That, however, probably will never happen in a million years. Bradley is a dangerous fighter, with Floyd Mayweather Jr-like hand speed, movement and power that Hatton would find very difficult to beat.
It would possibly be a repeat bout of Hatton’s 10th round stoppage to Mayweather in December, but maybe even worse, because Bradley is even more of a power puncher than Mayweather is. He’d open up on Hatton much earlier in the bout, and likely take him out with some short left hooks in the first few rounds of the bout.
It’s tragic, though, that Hatton is seeking out another easy fighter after his bout with Juan Lazcano in May. Hatton needs to get back in the ring with a fighter that would present a real challenge for him, not another easy set up fight. On the whole, I see the Malignaggi fight as a foxhole, where Hatton can get a good payday without having to risk much.
But if he were to have to take a real challenge, like Bradley or even Witter, we’d see Hatton being put pressed to the point where he might end up losing badly again. However, at least he’d be facing a real challenge, and bringing some excitement to the ring rather than an easy opponent with little power. Malignaggi will probably jab and run all night long, and fight sparingly.
He doesn’t have the power to trade shots with Hatton for long without getting his facial features broken down like in his fight with Miguel Cotto in 2006. In effect, the bout will turn into one boring track meet, with Hatton trying to chase Malignaggi down all night as Paulie flees for his life.
The crowd will hate it, and it will do nothing to increase Hatton’s popularity with fans, even though it will keep him from losing again. In contrast, if Hatton were to take on Witter or Bradley, they would no doubt be coming right after him from the opening bell, trying to take his head off with every shot.
They know after watching Hatton’s fights against Mayweather and Lazcano, fights in which Hatton was badly hurt with left hooks, that he can be hurt again if hit with some hard shots.
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