By Liam Santiago: Ricky Hatton was in absolutely no state to be going anywhere near a boxing ring on May 2nd, in Las Vegas to take on Manny Pacquiao. His trainer, Floyd Mayweather Snr, proved to be as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Ricky may as well have had Homer Simpson in his corner. For what it’s worth I honestly believe the result would have been different if the circumstances were. As I have said before, I am a massive Manny Pacquiao fan and admire his abilities. His speed and power is amazing. But a peaked Ricky Hatton is also amazing.
Anyone who knows the slightest thing about boxing understands that if a fighter is over trained and pushed to extreme limits, which brings the boxer past his peak, it can have devastating effects. Was this the case with Ricky Hatton? Yes, probably. However, I do have many reasons to support this claim, which I am sure many people reading this might be rather shocked. Mayweather let Hatton go past his peak.
Hatton should have realised this as well as Floyd, but that’s why Floyd was there. The trainer paid very little attention to Hatton in training, even less as the fight got nearer. In sparring sessions Mayweather would show while Hatton was already in the seventh round. On fight night, Ricky couldn’t find him. He showed up not long before Ricky went out to fight. Tell me if I’m wrong, but, is this any way to prepare a boxer for a fight with the fight voted as pound for pound king? Not only was Hatton physically past his peak, he was mentally destroyed. He had no focus, which showed in the way he boxed.
Also, in his previous fight Hatton looked amazing against no.2 ranked light welterweight champion, Pauli Malignaggi. Of course, Pauli is no Pacquiao, but Hatton dominated that fight. He was superior in every aspect. The difference between this fight and the Pac-Man fight? Hatton was focus and mentally prepared for this fight, also he had not sailed passed his peak. Lets say, for what it’s worth, the Hatton the stopped Malignaggi turned up to fight Pacquiao. I honestly believe that the Hitman would have stopped Pacquiao. You have to understand, at the top level in boxing every single detail can have an affect. A lot of big details had an affect in Vegas and it showed in the result.
I suppose it’s just unfortunate for the Hitman that he chose the wrong trainer. If he stuck with Billy Graham, Hatton might be at the top of boxingnews24’s pound for pound ranking instead of Juan Manuel Marquez, followed by Hopkins, with Cotto in fourth place. Who knows. What I do know is Hatton needs to get back in the gym and train to become the best light welterweight in the world again. Who knows, we might see a Pacquiao-Hatton 2. I doubt we would have the same result though. I very much doubt that indeed.
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