Khan is not Ricky Hatton for Mayweather; the fan interest won’t be as high

khan5656By Scott Gilfoid: There’s been some talk about how Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s) will bring the same amount of interest to his proposed fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) than Ricky Hatton did when he fought Mayweather Jr. back in December of 2007. The Hatton-Mayweather fight brought in 850,000 PPV buys.

At the time it was considered a success because Hatton was a British fighter, and he wasn’t well known in the United States. However, Hatton had an unbeaten record going for him at 43-0 with 31 knockouts. That in itself helped sell the fight. Khan doesn’t have that.

read more

Hatton: Khan could give Mayweather problems with his speed

hatton64By Scott Gilfoid: Former Floyd Mayweather Jr. victim Ricky Hatton believes that Amir Khan actually has a decent chance of beating Mayweather Jr. in their proposed fight on May 3rd next year in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although the fight hasn’t been made yet, it’s likely the one that Mayweather will choose to make due to him having run out of interesting opponents to fight.

What’s interesting here is that Hatton is bucking the conventional wisdom about Khan being little more than a sacrificial lamb being brought out for the slaughter on May 3rd. Next to no one sees Khan as being anything more than a fodder opponent for Mayweather, yet Hatton is giving Khan a chance of winning.

read more

Hatton predicts Mayweather victory over Canelo on Saturday

floyd01234By Dan Ambrose: Former Floyd Mayweather Jr. victim Ricky Hatton is predicting a victory for Mayweather Jr. over WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez this Saturday, September 14th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hatton sees Mayweather’s defensive skills, hand speed and his ability to move around the ring as being too much for the red-haired Canelo handle in this fight. Hatton does think Canelo will ultimately be the toughest fight of Mayweather Jr’s career, but he won’t be good enough to beat him.

Hatton told the BBC Sport as quoted by Fightnews.com “Alvarez is younger, bigger and stronger but Floyd will have the speed and the movement to keep out of the way. He will be Floyd’s toughest fight, because Floyd is getting on a bit…Floyd will make Alvarez miss.”

read more

Ricky Hatton: The only fighter to face both Mayweather & Pacquiao at the peak of their prime

hatton3423By @BoxingMuse: Since the announcement of Mayweather Jr’s and Pacquaio’s respective fights, the prospect and matter of these two legends finally boxing against each has been reiterated. Although the demand to see these two meet is not what is was prior to Marquez’s iconic knockout over Pacquiao, there is still massive interest in the matchup. ‘Money’ of course meets Mexican light-middle ‘Canelo’ on September 14th whereas the ‘Pac-Man’ meets brawler ‘Bam Bam’ Rios later in the year on November 10th.

While studying both Mayweather’s and Pacquiao’s professional resumes on BoxRec.com, I noted down their opponents in common and they are as follows; Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley & Ricky Hatton.

read more

Hatton picks Mayweather to beat Canelo

Press surrounding Mayweather and Canelo(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Dan Ambrose: Former two division world champion Ricky Hatton is picking Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) to top WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) on September 14th in their mega fight.

Hatton likes the red-haired Canelo as a fighter, but he sees him as fitting the same aggressive style as past Mayweather victims and he doesn’t think Canelo will be able to win because of that.

Hatton doesn’t think Canelo’s size advantage will be enough for him to pull off the win, because Mayweather won’t be standing still in front of him the way that most of Canelo’s mostly poor opponents have done during his 8 year pro career.

read more

Hatton: Martin Murray has great chance of beating Sergio Martinez

murray322By Scott Gilfoid: Promoter Ricky Hatton thinks WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) is ready to be beaten by his fighter #3 WBC Martin Murray (25-0-1, 11 KO’s) on April 27th at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Hatton said to BoxNation “I think this is the right fight at the right time. Sergio is 38. He was holding on for dear life against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the last round. We’re not going in there to be second best. We’re going in there to take the title. I think Martin takes it on points or a late stoppage.”

Martin said “I’m just focused at getting in the ring and getting the job done. One way or another, I’ll find a way to beat him.”

read more

The world of boxing nicknames

floyd5 - CopyBy Simon “Silent” Allen: Many skills are needed to succeed in art of boxing. A good jab, defence, speed agility and stamina and so on but a nickname is not one of them. Yet no boxer worth their weight is without one and a look through the annals of the sports history shows just how diverse these monikers can be from the intimidating to the outright hilarious.

Many fighters nick names carry a description of their fighting style, they function as a source of advertisement to fans and other parties as an example of what is expected from this fighter in the ring. Take “The Will o’ the Wisp” Willie Pep a fighter known in his day as an a great defensive and elusive fighter. Even going so far as to win a round without throwing a punch. Another fighter with a nick name that accurately described his fighting style was “The Human Punching Bag” Joe Grim. Joe is one of the most defeated boxers in all of fight history losing almost as many fights as he has appeared in often being beaten all over the ring and hitting the canvas at regular intervals.

read more

Hatton: Pacquiao doesn’t look like the same fighter; he should retire

pac8By Chris Williams: Former two division world champion Ricky Hatton doesn’t like what he sees in Manny Pacquiao’s last three performances in the ring, and he believes these fights suggest a downward trend for the Filipino fighter that he’s likely not going to be able to reverse. Hatton says if it was just one poor performance then it wouldn’t be a big deal, but it’s been three straight fights where Pacquiao has looked less than great. Hatton says he doesn’t want him to get hurt if he continues to fight.

Speaking with On the Ropes Boxing Radio at doghouseboxing.com, Hatton said “I think Manny should retire now…he doesn’t look like the same fighter now…his last three performances haven’t been great. I can’t see the performances improving from here on end.”

read more

Hatton sees victory for Murray over Sergio Martinez on April 27th

murray5By Allan Fox: Promoter Ricky Hatton believes unbeaten Martin Murray (25-0-1, 11 KO’s) is facing WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) at the right time to pick him off and grab his WBC strap when they face each other in two months on April 27th at the Estadio Jose Amalfitani, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Hatton said to hattonboxing.com “Any great champion has to come to an end at some point. Martinez is 38, plus he’s had a couple of injuries. In his last fight he was hanging on for dear life against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. So it’s come at the right time and the right fight with Martin.”

While the 30-year-old Murray is younger than the soon to be 38-year-old Martinez, Murray is still the underdog in this fight. There are not too many boxing experts picking Murray to win this fight.

read more