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Ring's Eric Raskin writes negative article about Ricky Hatton
Eric Raskin of The Ring magazine has written a new article that seems biased and unfair to British fighter Ricky Hatton. No surprise, The Ring's writers like Raskin, Dettloff and Goldman have been unfairly negative about European fighters in the past.
Article like this one explain why American's like $iN have had such an unfairly poor opinion of British fighters.
Here it is:
Did Hatton choose Malignaggi because he doubts his own ability?
By Eric Raskin
Buzz up!
Ricky Hatton is just like us. He goes to the neighborhood pub, plays darts and drinks until the day becomes a blur.
Of course, he has millions in the bank and can afford a lot more beers than we can
But still, he’s just like us. He’s always quick with a tension-breaking joke, and if words don’t do it, he just puts his pale white bottom on display.
Of course, that posterior has been beamed into millions of homes. Hatton is internationally famous and an absolute icon in his homeland.
But still, he’s just like us. He’s a blue-collar guy who is diligent and determined when he’s at work and gets a tad lazy and undisciplined on his days off.
Of course, his job involves punching people in the face and getting punched in the face.
Come to think of it, maybe he isn’t so much like us after all.
But here is one way in which he really is just like the common man: When things don’t go so well, he gets a little insecure, and he deals with that insecurity by seeking a low-risk way to find out where he stands. Hence his selection of Paulie Malignaggi as his opponent Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas when he defends his junior welterweight title for the fifth time.
Hatton is now 30 years old, and after peaking with a 2005 campaign that saw him pound reigning world champion Kostya Tszyu into submission and claim assorted Fighter of the Year awards, his late-20s unfolded a bit like we might have thought his early-to-mid-30s would.
“The Hit Man” started to show signs of slippage in 2006 when he barely survived round 12 and eked out a close decision over Luis Collazo in his welterweight debut. He didn’t have much time to prepare his body for the move to 147 pounds, the excuse went. So most of us looked the other way.
He returned to 140 for his next two fights and looked less vulnerable against Juan Urango and as sharp as ever against the aging but theoretically dangerous Jose Luis Castillo.
Then Hatton ignored what was best for his body and his record in favor of what was best for his bank account—and, hey, we’re not holding it against him by any means—by returning to welterweight to face Floyd Mayweather. Hatton crashed in round 10 and so did his perfect 43-0 mark, but again there were built-in excuses: He wasn’t really a welterweight, and it was Floyd Friggin’ Mayweather.
So again, we reasoned that he was still in his prime, or at least darned close to it.
Then came the Juan Lazcano fight this past May. Hatton was badly hurt by a fighter who was twice as far past his best as we thought The Hit Man was, and now the excuses became harder to buy. Hatton and his people revealed that he was sick in training camp. But popular opinion was that all the bad habits had caught up with him and he was 29 going on 35.
Forget walking in a Hatton Wonderland. Hatton may soon be relegated to walking in and wondering where he’ll land.
“Having covered most of Hatton’s career, as far as I’m concerned, he has been in decline for at least two years,” said respected British boxing writer Colin Hart of The Sun. “He boasts about the huge quan****** of alcohol he consumes between fights, plus the junk food he eats. It means he blows up 40 to 50 pounds over his fighting weight whether it’s at 140 or 147 pounds. At his age, you can’t keep that lifestyle and get away with it. He is an old 30, which is why I believe Malignaggi will beat him on decision. He will be too young, too fit, and too fast for Hatton.”
In terms of his potential to be too all of those things for Hatton, Malignaggi doesn’t seem to be the “safe” opponent we branded him several paragraphs ago. He very well could hand the beloved Brit his second defeat.
But Malignaggi is a physically safe choice. He can’t punch. Paulie’s not a cracker. (Please put all racial inferences aside so that the word-play works.)
Malignaggi has five knockouts in 26 pro fights, and that number is deceptively flattering. He has two knockouts in his last 23 bouts.
That’s one reason Hatton selected Malignaggi. We forget sometimes that boxing isn’t only about hit-and-don’t-get-hit because that’s how you win; it’s also about hit-and-don’t-get-hit because getting hit hurts. Let it happen enough, and it affects your quality of life.
If Hatton is as unsure as the rest of us are of how much he still has in the tank, then Malignaggi being granted this title shot makes perfect sense. (And yes, it is a title shot, even if the powers-that-be at HBO insist on cheapening the value of their own fight by calling both combatants “former junior welterweight champions” in advertisements.)
It’s a little bit like placing a “feeler bet” in No-Limit Hold ’Em. You put a small amount of chips at risk relative to the size of pot with the intention of gaining information about your opponents’ hands and finding out where you stand. Maybe you win the pot if your opponents have nothing. But if they have something better than you, you can get away cheap.
“Paulie is well known as a slick boxer with fast hands,” Hatton said at a press conference in his native Manchester. “I’ve been a bit crash, bang, wallop in my fights, but I’ll have to use my boxing brain for this win. I’m sure the fans want to see me blow him away, but I have to be a little more cute in this bout.”
It seems somewhat counterintuitive, that a body-banging pressure fighter like Hatton would try to out-cute Malignaggi.
Of course, if you ask Malignaggi, the reigning RING champion isn’t even much of a body-banging pressure fighter.
“He mauls and holds. That’s all he does,” the ever-so-slightly opinionated Malignaggi told THE RING’s Joe Santoliquito in an exclusive Q & A. “A lot of idiots in the media say he’s an inside fighter. He’s basically a guy who gets away with anything and everything he wants.
“Hatton is a limited fighter. He can’t box. … I just don’t think he’s much of a fighter, or was ever much of a fighter.”
To say he never was much of a fighter is a stretch, considering the manner in which he overwhelmed Tszyu, a pound-for-pound-rated fighter who’d shown no signs of fading before Hatton had his way with him.
But to say he isn’t much of a fighter now, at age 30—that may very well be the case. With his quick jab and fleet feet, Malignaggi has the style to make a man who’s getting old look even older. But he doesn’t have the style, or the physical attributes, to punish him.
Maybe Hatton will find a way to win on Saturday night, and maybe he won’t. But he at least picked an opponent who should leave him with more than enough brain cells intact to make an informed decision about the rest of his career after this fight is over.
Eric Raskin can be reached at raskinboxing@yahoo.com
Article like this one explain why American's like $iN have had such an unfairly poor opinion of British fighters.
Here it is:
Did Hatton choose Malignaggi because he doubts his own ability?
By Eric Raskin
Buzz up!
Ricky Hatton is just like us. He goes to the neighborhood pub, plays darts and drinks until the day becomes a blur.
Of course, he has millions in the bank and can afford a lot more beers than we can
But still, he’s just like us. He’s always quick with a tension-breaking joke, and if words don’t do it, he just puts his pale white bottom on display.
Of course, that posterior has been beamed into millions of homes. Hatton is internationally famous and an absolute icon in his homeland.
But still, he’s just like us. He’s a blue-collar guy who is diligent and determined when he’s at work and gets a tad lazy and undisciplined on his days off.
Of course, his job involves punching people in the face and getting punched in the face.
Come to think of it, maybe he isn’t so much like us after all.
But here is one way in which he really is just like the common man: When things don’t go so well, he gets a little insecure, and he deals with that insecurity by seeking a low-risk way to find out where he stands. Hence his selection of Paulie Malignaggi as his opponent Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas when he defends his junior welterweight title for the fifth time.
Hatton is now 30 years old, and after peaking with a 2005 campaign that saw him pound reigning world champion Kostya Tszyu into submission and claim assorted Fighter of the Year awards, his late-20s unfolded a bit like we might have thought his early-to-mid-30s would.
“The Hit Man” started to show signs of slippage in 2006 when he barely survived round 12 and eked out a close decision over Luis Collazo in his welterweight debut. He didn’t have much time to prepare his body for the move to 147 pounds, the excuse went. So most of us looked the other way.
He returned to 140 for his next two fights and looked less vulnerable against Juan Urango and as sharp as ever against the aging but theoretically dangerous Jose Luis Castillo.
Then Hatton ignored what was best for his body and his record in favor of what was best for his bank account—and, hey, we’re not holding it against him by any means—by returning to welterweight to face Floyd Mayweather. Hatton crashed in round 10 and so did his perfect 43-0 mark, but again there were built-in excuses: He wasn’t really a welterweight, and it was Floyd Friggin’ Mayweather.
So again, we reasoned that he was still in his prime, or at least darned close to it.
Then came the Juan Lazcano fight this past May. Hatton was badly hurt by a fighter who was twice as far past his best as we thought The Hit Man was, and now the excuses became harder to buy. Hatton and his people revealed that he was sick in training camp. But popular opinion was that all the bad habits had caught up with him and he was 29 going on 35.
Forget walking in a Hatton Wonderland. Hatton may soon be relegated to walking in and wondering where he’ll land.
“Having covered most of Hatton’s career, as far as I’m concerned, he has been in decline for at least two years,” said respected British boxing writer Colin Hart of The Sun. “He boasts about the huge quan****** of alcohol he consumes between fights, plus the junk food he eats. It means he blows up 40 to 50 pounds over his fighting weight whether it’s at 140 or 147 pounds. At his age, you can’t keep that lifestyle and get away with it. He is an old 30, which is why I believe Malignaggi will beat him on decision. He will be too young, too fit, and too fast for Hatton.”
In terms of his potential to be too all of those things for Hatton, Malignaggi doesn’t seem to be the “safe” opponent we branded him several paragraphs ago. He very well could hand the beloved Brit his second defeat.
But Malignaggi is a physically safe choice. He can’t punch. Paulie’s not a cracker. (Please put all racial inferences aside so that the word-play works.)
Malignaggi has five knockouts in 26 pro fights, and that number is deceptively flattering. He has two knockouts in his last 23 bouts.
That’s one reason Hatton selected Malignaggi. We forget sometimes that boxing isn’t only about hit-and-don’t-get-hit because that’s how you win; it’s also about hit-and-don’t-get-hit because getting hit hurts. Let it happen enough, and it affects your quality of life.
If Hatton is as unsure as the rest of us are of how much he still has in the tank, then Malignaggi being granted this title shot makes perfect sense. (And yes, it is a title shot, even if the powers-that-be at HBO insist on cheapening the value of their own fight by calling both combatants “former junior welterweight champions” in advertisements.)
It’s a little bit like placing a “feeler bet” in No-Limit Hold ’Em. You put a small amount of chips at risk relative to the size of pot with the intention of gaining information about your opponents’ hands and finding out where you stand. Maybe you win the pot if your opponents have nothing. But if they have something better than you, you can get away cheap.
“Paulie is well known as a slick boxer with fast hands,” Hatton said at a press conference in his native Manchester. “I’ve been a bit crash, bang, wallop in my fights, but I’ll have to use my boxing brain for this win. I’m sure the fans want to see me blow him away, but I have to be a little more cute in this bout.”
It seems somewhat counterintuitive, that a body-banging pressure fighter like Hatton would try to out-cute Malignaggi.
Of course, if you ask Malignaggi, the reigning RING champion isn’t even much of a body-banging pressure fighter.
“He mauls and holds. That’s all he does,” the ever-so-slightly opinionated Malignaggi told THE RING’s Joe Santoliquito in an exclusive Q & A. “A lot of idiots in the media say he’s an inside fighter. He’s basically a guy who gets away with anything and everything he wants.
“Hatton is a limited fighter. He can’t box. … I just don’t think he’s much of a fighter, or was ever much of a fighter.”
To say he never was much of a fighter is a stretch, considering the manner in which he overwhelmed Tszyu, a pound-for-pound-rated fighter who’d shown no signs of fading before Hatton had his way with him.
But to say he isn’t much of a fighter now, at age 30—that may very well be the case. With his quick jab and fleet feet, Malignaggi has the style to make a man who’s getting old look even older. But he doesn’t have the style, or the physical attributes, to punish him.
Maybe Hatton will find a way to win on Saturday night, and maybe he won’t. But he at least picked an opponent who should leave him with more than enough brain cells intact to make an informed decision about the rest of his career after this fight is over.
Eric Raskin can be reached at raskinboxing@yahoo.com
i thought that was a pretty funny
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