By Dennis Broadhurst:
The name Ricky Hatton springs to mind whenever talking about boxing, he is a great fighter who cannot be matched for body punching. In 2005, Hatton took on the champ, Kostya Tzsyu in a fight where he was the underdog but after 11 hard fought rounds Tzsyu retired and Ricky was the new champ.
The Tzsyu fight was the pinnacle of Hatton’s career, even though he was getting on, Tzsyu was still a force to be reckoned with. Hatton proved his toughness and power in that fight but recently has seemed on the slide.
After losing twice in his last four fights, both by knockout, Hatton has been criticized by many a fan and writer. What some people don’t seem to be seeing is that Ricky lost to the world’s best both times and the fact that he challenged them makes him rise above many a fighter. After the knockout loss against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and hard fight against Juan Lazcano, Hatton soon changed his trainer to Floyd Mayweather Sr. Now I think that the fact that Mayweather turned up when Hatton was getting his wraps on, and the rumours that they were not getting on too well did not play well in the mind off Hatton that night. Now don’t get me wrong, I still think Hatton would have been knocked out that night as Pacquiao was the superior fighter but it seemed that Mayweather Sr. wasn’t there for the right reasons.
I think that Hatton does still have it and if he finds the hunger then will be at the top of his game again for a good few fights. I think that Hatton should fight two easy fights against quite well known opponents but ones that will not beat him so that he can get down to weight (e.g when he fought Paulie Malignaggi.) then take on a tough fight, a well known fighter with a 50-50 chance of beating him and if he gets through that then try to recapture a title from Bradley, Alexander or Khan. I think that Ricky can still be a strong force.
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