By Liam Santiago: If I hear news that Manchester warrior, Ricky Hatton decides to retire I will be very sad. He is in my opinion, and many other boxing experts, the best fighter to come out of any country over the last decade. Of course, there is Mayweather with the undefeated record. Pacquiao with his victory’s over drained and disadvantages opponents.
And Cotto, who comes very close behind the Hitman in my view. OK, Hatton has lost twice. But everyone in the world loves to watch him. I am sure if the two fighters that beat him would dare accept a rematch ; he would be victorious.
Hatton’s has crammed 48 bouts into 13 years and each and everyone has been a war. Every boxing fan loves to watch him. His style is exiting and he gives 100% every time out. His biggest win came over the ring legend, Kostya Tszyu. Tszyu held the unified 10 stone title and had never lost it. He was magnificent. Yet, Ricky forced him to retire on his stool at the start of the 12th round. He could simply take no more of Ricky’s pressure and power.
Things dramatically changed for the ‘Manchester Mexican’ when he met Floyd Mayweather in Vegas. Ricky came out of his natural light welterweight limit and moved up to welterweight which proved a very bad move. In the first few rounds Mayweather really struggled to handle Hatton’s pressure and was knocked off balance on one occasion ; doing well to stay on his feet.
However, Hatton’s emotions got to him. Mayweather’s pre fight tactic of winding Hatton up had worked and Ricky was determined on knocking him out. Mayweather took advantage and the referee had to stop the bout. I am sure if Ricky fought Mayweather again things would be different. The referee also went out of his way to spoil Hatton’s rhythm.
Hatton went on to defeat Juan Lazcano and Pauli Malignaggi, displaying his boxing dominance in every round. He stopped Malignaggi, which Miguel Cotto failed to do when he met the Italian American. However, things took a turn for the worse when Hatton fought Pacquiao in Vegas. Hatton lost that bout in the gym three weeks prior to the fight. He peaked in Manchester before travelling to the USA and was mentally shook off his game plan by trainer, Floyd Mayweather Snr. As I have said I am a huge fan of the Pac-Man but Ricky may as well have had Paul Chuckle in his corner and used his brother Barry as a sparring partner. Pacquiao won.
As I have said many times, defeats don’t mean a fighter is ‘shot’. Look at Duran. Look at Ali. Look at Sugar Ray Robinson. They have all lost. Ali lost to very average fighter Ken Norton in his prime, simply because he underestimated him. Yes, Mayweather is good. But untested. The old boys in boxing used to tell me at the gym ‘if you haven’t been beaten, you shouldn’t be fighting for a world title’. Only now do I understand what them boys meant. Defeats are a fact of boxing.
The best boxers lose. I admire Joe Calzaghe and his talents, but there are fighters out there that chose not to fight in order to take on older fighters that certainly were not in their prime. Look at Marquez, the best boxer in the world today; top of boxingnews24’s p4p ranking. A couple of years ago, critics claimed he was shot. If Hatton can come back, fight an opponent that’s good but not at the very top level, just as a comeback booster. I really think he can go all the way and beat Pacquiao and Mayweather in a rematch.
Comments are closed.