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Remembering Ricky Hatton & His Impact On Boxing

Do you think an in his prime Ricky Hatton could be a world champion today?

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fattonBy Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

Richard John Hatton casts a remarkable figure over British boxing. As well as being the one man who stood in the ring against both Floyd Mayweather, JR. and Manny Pacquiao from Britain he is also the man who brought a legion of fans with him who went on to drink Los Angeles dry.
His rise as a fighter has been matched now as the head of a gym that includes Lucas Browne 24-0, 21 KO’s and the guy who battled Ricky Burns 41-5-1, 14 KO’s close the other week in Glasgow Kiryl Relikh 21-1, 19 KO’s.

His relationship with the British public has always been good though his relationship with the boxing press can be seen from the moniker of Ricky Fatton he got because between fight he would allow his weight to balloon up and then have to train and boil down to make the weight for his fights. At one point he entered the ring in a Sumo suit before taking it off to reveal the toned body he needed to beat the guy who had come to fail and take his belt away from him.

Up in Glasgow, Hatton strutted and walked tall. Partly due to it being him who had started a fund for the wife and son of lost warrior, Mike Towell, the Dundonian boxer who died a short walk from where the fight between Burns and Relikh was happening and partly because he was such a massive presence in British boxing before.

A few months earlier he had caused some headlines in the UK over both his mental health and activities whilst living in Spain. He had tweeted “I have nothing left. Absolutely nothing.” Between his parents and concerned fans this caused extreme alarm though it appears to have been a temporary feeling that has since lifted. Hatton has made little secret of his battle with drugs and alcohol but this additional threat and dark mood is not new. He has spoken of how deep that darkness came after his defeat in 2009 to Pacquiao. It left him close to suicide; a circumstance he vowed never to repeat.

It followed a pattern of destructive behaviour which included reports that he had knocked one guy to the floor and hospitalised another in separate brawls. It is, of course only right that we note that Hatton denies these allegations and I have no doubt that they shall be tested outside the court of public opinion as to their veracity. It is also true that any boxer who likes a drink can be the subject of unwarranted attention.

It is a long way from the headlines that followed him about in his heyday. Professionally active between 1997 and 2012 he was light welterweight (super lightweight) and welterweight world champion including becoming the lineal light welterweight world champion. He made a record 15 defences of the WBU version of the light welterweight belt and for many, me included, he is the best British light welterweight of all time.

Fighter of the year in 2005 his career saw many memorable nights. It took him only 3 years to become British champion before getting his hand on that WBU strap one year later. In 2005 against Kostya Tszyu he added the IBF title, the Ring title and the moniker of being the lineal champion. The WBA belt was won in 2006 with victory over Carlos Maussa.

He then moved up in weight to beat Luis Collazo for the IBF welterweight title and then dropped back down to light welterweight to win the IBF and IBO title against Juan Urango. With another fight at light welterweight against Joe Luis Castillo for the WBC and to defend the IBO title he earned the big one. A fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

It caught fire in the UK. We all wanted to see the modest Brit bash the brash American. Mayweather added to the mix by attending one press conference in a Manchester United shirt – Hatton is a massive Manchester City fan. It was not to end as the Brits wanted it though Hatton impressed Mayweather before being pulled out and the fight stopped in the 10th round. It was Hatton’ first professional loss.

Hatton had fallen out with the referee during the fight as a point had been deducted for hitting Mayweather whilst on the ropes – he hadn’t. Hatton claimed that his temper got the better of him and he became reckless. It was not the first time that officialdom had caused the Mancunian to lose as his departure from the amateur ranks came when a bribed official gave his opponent such a wide margin of victory in a World Youth semi-final that the scores of the other 4 judges failed to count!

Hatton got another day of glory when in 2009 he got in the ring against Manny Pacquiao. The build up to this fight was even more surreal than the Mayweather fight. Taking Pacquiao on a tour of Manchester he showed Manny how to play darts, leaving the future Filipino Senator bemused at this game traditionally played in pubs. Hatton didn’t make it to round 3 and afterwards hinted that this was it – time to retire. In the way that boxers nearing the end of their career like to leave all doors and windows open he then admitted you should not count him out yet.
3 years later Hatton climbed back into the ring against Vyacheslav Senchenko 37-2, 25 KO’s. The fans came back – sell out in 2 days – the singing returned – that night rocked like it was back in the day – the glory days – but the performance was gone. Hatton was floored and finished as a professional fighter.

Now his fights are more domestic in nature and from a corner than the centre of the ring. No matter the truth of what happened in Tenerife with these claims he has been violent, Hatton is a story familiar to successful world level boxers. The glory days, the big fights, the acclaim and then the ending which can be ignominious. His hugely generous personality though gives hope that he shall continue to show the side we love. His wit is also widely underrated. Asked about the arrogance on display from Floyd Mayweather, JR., Hatton quipped, “if there was such a thing as re-incarnation, Floyd would come back as himself.”

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