By Chris Williams: Thus far, Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) has been badly beaten when he stepped it up against a prime opponent in Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a 10th round TKO loss in December 2007.
On Saturday night, Hatton will risk having a similar thing done to him when he takes on perhaps the best fighter in boxing in Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton, 30, is going into this Saturday’s fight with a lot of confidence and a short two fight win streak.
However, should Hatton end up getting knocked out or soundly beaten by Pacquiao, he’s going to be finding himself in a similar situation that Oscar De La Hoya did after getting trounced by Pacquiao in an 8th round stoppage loss in December 2008.
As most people already know by now, De La Hoya opted to retire from boxing rather than try to start over and continue on knowing perhaps that there would be likely further beatings in the future against other opponents. Now, of course, Hatton probably doesn’t want to even consider having to face a career decision at this time just before a huge fight with Pacquiao, but the question still needs to be asked regardless.
What does Hatton do if he gets drilled into the canvas in a one-sided loss to Pacquiao? At 30, it would seem unlikely that he would want to continue on for long in the sport. He’s said previously that he has a three fight timeline with his career, with only two more fights to go after the Pacquiao fight.
Frankly, I think that’s a bunch of lip service on Hatton’s part, because I can see him fighting those fights and still want to continue fighting. That might change if Hatton is beaten badly by Pacquiao or if he’s beaten in all three of his next fights. That can happen too, because Hatton apparently wants to fight Juan Manuel Marquez next, and then Floyd Mayweather Jr. one final time.
That would almost certainly end up as a loss for Hatton, so what we could be looking at realistically is either Hatton losing two out of his next three fights or all three if things go like I expect them to. If I were Hatton, I’d forget about fighting Marquez next if I were to lose to Pacquiao.
That would be an insane move on Hatton’s part to go straight from a likely knockout loss at the hands of Pacquiao into an even harder fight against Marquez. Hatton will need to let his brain rest and recover from what will likely be a serious beating from Pacquiao.
When Hatton does come back, he needs to fight some weak-punching opponent like Paulie Malignaggi that he can beat up without getting hit hard. I imagine Malignaggi would jump at the chance to fight Hatton a second time. He wouldn’t win, but Malignaggi would probably love to get a good payday against Hatton.
It probably wouldn’t be interesting for Hatton to be going over old ground by fighting Malignaggi, but at least he wouldn’t present the same kind of threat that someone like Marquez would or one of the bottom 15 contenders. The main thing is that Hatton gets back in the ring, continues with his career, and faces someone that isn’t going to knock Hatton out.
Personally, I see Hatton’s career being in tatters if he loses to Pacquiao, and it probably won’t matter who he fights, because he will be more of an afterthought rather than a relevant fighter. Who would care whether he fights Mayweather or Marquez or not by this time in his career.
I think Hatton could undo some of the damage from a loss to Pacquiao, but it would take at least two to three years and at least eight to ten victories over top fighters to make boxing fans forget his loss to Pacquiao. Beating journeyman or weak punchers like Malignaggi won’t do it.
There will have to be some substance there for Hatton to make people forget a loss to Pacquiao. Hatton would have to go after the top of the light welterweight division and beat most of the top fighters to get his credibility back. I can’t see that happening or even him trying to make it happen.
This is why I feel that his fight against Pacquiao is really a fight with his career on the line. If he loses, it’s the end for him. He can keep fighting but he’ll be finished just the same.
Comments are closed.