By Mark Vester
When undefeated Ricky Hatton (43-0, 31 KOs) steps in the ring to challenge WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (38-0, 24 KOs) on Dec. 8, he won't do it as a welterweight.
Ray Hatton, father and manager of Ricky, said his son is planning to come to the ring as junior welterweight. He told TalkSPORT radio, that he made a major mistake by bulking Ricky up for his 2006 welterweight bout with Luis Collazo.
Hatton's plan for the Mayweather fight is to come in at the junior welterweight limit of 140, even if the bout is at welterweight. Mayweather used the same approach in the May 5 bout Oscar De La Hoya. He used the less is more approach by coming to the ring weighing 148-pounds, a pound over the welterweight limit, for a bout at the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds. He refused to bulk up in order to keep his speed against De La Hoya, which is the same gameplan of Hatton Sr. is planning to use against him in December.
"When we fought Luis Collazo, we made a mistake. We tried to make Ricky as big as the guy he was fighting. When you only have a stature of 5ft 7in there are limitations of what weight he can put on before it affects him, Hatton Sr. said. "We slowed him down. His body was carrying more weight than what it was used to when it was put under exertion in a 12-round fight, so his performance dropped off."
"I caused a lot of confusion a few weeks ago when I said that Ricky Hatton wouldn't be fighting at welterweight. What I actually said was that he may be fighting for titles at welterweight. But he will not be coming in the ring as a welterweight. He'll be coming in the ring as a light-welterweight fighting a welterweight. We won't to be putting on weight he doesn't need. We've made that mistake once; we won't be making that mistake again."
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