News – Hatton Interested in Fighting Marquez

By Boxing News - 07/25/2009 - Comments

hat3524By Dave Lahr: Ricky Hatton has a big opportunity to shut down his critics and make a huge comeback if decides to fight Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KO’s) in the future. Hatton is reportedly interested in facing Marquez if the Mexican fighter can get by unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their September 19th fight at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton isn’t interested in taking any easy fights for his next bout, and a fight against the 35-year-old Marquez would be the ideal fight to get Hatton back into the public’s eye.

However, the chances of that fight occurring are slim at this time because many boxing fans feel that Mayweather will beat Marquez. Floyd has a lot of things going for him in his fight with Marquez – speed, size and boxing skills – and it will be tough for Marquez to overcome all those factors in order to get the win.

Hatton, 30, was knocked out in the 2nd round by Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd, and since then, Ricky has been taking his time coming up with a decision about what he’ll do with his career – retire or continue on. Although Hatton has received a lot of advice from boxing fans and active fighters telling him to retire, it seems likely that Hatton will continue to fight in the future, if only to erase the lingering image of him laying out cold on the canvas in his fight with Pacquiao.

Marquez wants a fight with Hatton and has made no secret about his desire to fight him in the future. So, from Marquez’s side, this is a fight that is clearly possible if Marquez can somehow get by Mayweather. Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez says that he could put the fight together if Hatton decides that he wants the fight. Gomez can make the fight happen if Marquez does his part by beating Mayweather.

Although Hatton was destroyed by Pacquiao, Ricky still remains a hot star in the sport and a fighter that the boxing public really wants to see. Marquez, however, would be a tough opponent for Hatton coming off a knockout loss as bad as the one that he suffered against Pacquiao, it might not be the smartest thing to go forward with a tough opponent like Marquez.

We’ve seen recently a painful reminder what happens to a fighter when they take on a tough opponent in the form of Enzo Maccarinelli, who was destroyed by power puncher Denis Lebedev in a third round knockout last weekend. Hatton’s ego may be putting him in an equally bad position where he might find himself getting knocked out again.

Even taking away Hatton’s two knockout losses to Mayweather and Pacquiao, it would be difficult for Hatton to beat a fighter like Marquez. Hatton has beaten some good opponents in his career like Kostya Tszyu, Paulie Malignaggi, Jose Luis Castillo, Juan Urango and Luis Collazo, but none of them are in the class of Marquez. The victories over Tszyu and Castillo aren’t so impressive because it came late in their careers.



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