By Jake Donovan
This Saturday will mark exactly 50 weeks since the last time Ricky Hatton last played the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was there that he lost his “0”, at the hands of then pound-for-pound best Floyd Mayweather Jr in their welterweight superfight last December.
It is where Hatton returns this weekend, this time one weight class lower for the fifth defense of his lineal junior welterweight crown when he meets top American challenger Paul Malignaggi (Saturday, HBO, 10PM ET/7PM PT).
Gone is the team that had accompanied him for that fight, but still lingering are the ghosts of what stands for the moment as the worst night of his professional boxing career.
“Whenever I walk through the MGM Grand the first thing that will go through my mind will be Floyd Mayweather knocking me out,” admitted Hatton (44-1, 31KO) during an international conference call Tuesday afternoon to discuss this weekend’s match.
A loss of any kind is often difficult to overcome; a knockout loss even more so. With Mayweather now claiming retirement, Hatton is forced to move on and settle for beating the best of the rest.
That journey began last May, when he returned home – and to the junior welterweight division – for a fight against faded American challenger Juan Lazcano. Despite the title lineage at stake, the show’s true purpose was a double-barrel showcase, with plans for the matchup this weekend so long as Hatton and Malignaggi emerged victorious.
Neither fighter was particularly impressive or even entertaining in their decision wins. Malignaggi overcame a weave malfunction to survive his mandated rematch with Lovemore N’Dou in the evening’s co-feature; Hatton had less difficulty with Lazcano, save for a brief scare in the 10th that was averted by a clinch and a time out for a shoelace re-adjustment.
But in front of 56,000 hometown fans in Manchester, England, how the wins came about meant far less than that they happened. It didn’t make anyone forget what took place the December prior, but at least served as a reminder that Hatton still owned real estate, and that the road to junior welterweight supremacy didn’t go through, but ended with him.
The one perhaps in greatest need of a refresher course was Hatton himself. The lesson that should’ve been learned from his May ’06 controversial points win over Luis Collazo - the first time Hatton headlined a card in the United States - was that welterweight was not a good fit, no matter how much he ballooned up in between fights. Instead, the shaky performance was chalked up to a bad matchup of styles – the usual out any time a fighter looks less than stellar against a crafty southpaw.
It served as a moot point for the moment: he was still undefeated, and returned seven pounds south to defend the lineal crown he brutally snatched in his career defining performance, an 11th round stoppage of incumbent leader Kostya Tsyzu in June 2005. A follow up ninth-round knockout of newly crowned alphabet titlist Carlos Maussa five months later clinched Fighter of the Year honors for the Mancunian.
The year served as a watershed moment in Hatton’s career, having previously sustained criticism for his failure to step up in competition. The wins kept piling up – 38 without a loss heading into 2005 and his date with Tszyu – but none against opposition suggestive of how he’d fare against top junior welterweights.
Speculation ended when he beat the very best. Following the Fighter of the Year accolades, Hatton entered 2006 riding a wave of momentum, the first time in a long time a year began without his career credentials being called into question.
Then came the Collazo fight, a double-edged letdown; even if he deserved the decision (and objectively speaking, the win wasn’t nearly as tainted as some East Coast writers made out to be the case), both the performance and the turnout were less than stellar.
It wasn’t until his next stateside appearance – eight months later – did Hatton finally develop into a bi-continental box-office attraction. The traveling band relocated to Las Vegas, where the Paris Las Vegas hotel was transformed into Little Manchester for his junior welterweight fight with then-undefeated Juan Urango.
Oddly enough, Hatton entered the fight as lineal champ, but still fighting for his old title that he never lost in the ring. His brief welterweight foray meant giving up the alphabet hardware, which Urango claimed in a fairly disgraceful decision over Naouefel Ben Rabah. Justice was served, as he’d never successfully defend it; the lone attempt came against Hatton, a fight in which the Colombian only managed a single round on all three scorecards.
Hatton proved to be just as dominant, and an even greater ticket seller, in his next fight, a 4th round body shot knockout of Jose Luis Castillo. As grand as the scene was – more than 13,000 rabid fans creating a football (or as us Yanks call it, soccer) atmosphere – his follow up performance would surpass it by miles.
He would play Vegas for the third time in as many fights, though in his third separate venue along the strip. The superfight with Floyd Mayweather – just the second ever meeting in boxing history between undefeated reigning lineal champions – attracted a sold-out crowd of more than 16,000, once again dominated by Union Jack waving and band-playing Brits who crossed an ocean to support their favorite son in the biggest fight of his life.
Though their behavior was roundly criticized – particularly the booing of the Star Spangled Banner, their unwavering support could not be questioned. Even after suffering the lopsided knockout loss to Mayweather, Hatton’s fans still cheered their man on, with renditions of “Walking In a Hatton Wonderland” filling the MGM Grand.
Not quite as supportive in the aftermath has been the media, as whispers of a career on the decline has graced many a keyboard in the months that followed. His performance against Lazcano – dominant, yet still hardly impressive – did little to sway the masses.
Ever the realist, Hatton is well aware that a resurrection was in order.
“I can understand why people have maybe said Ricky Hatton is past his best,” acknowledges Hatton, “but I think they might be writing a new script come Saturday.”
Enter Extreme Makeover: Boxing Edition.
In a year where change was promised on the Presidential campaign trail, Hatton decided on a fresh start within his own staff. As a result, his 46th trip into a boxing ring as a professional prize fighter will be the first ring walk accompanied by a trainer other than Billy Graham, who attends this weekend fight only as a spectator.
Now manning the reins is Floyd Mayweather Sr. The odd couple formed about two months ago, but much as Presidential-elect Barack Obama believes he is to the United States, Hatton insisted the hiring of Mayweather was in fact the change he needs.
“The new training camp has made me into a better fighter. There will be a lot more method in the madness. You're going to see a lot more polished Ricky Hatton.”
And if he has his way, we’re going to see more of Hatton than is suggested in the lyrics to his fans’ favorite song.
“Floyd reminded me of the fact there are two Ricky Hatton’s.”
Rest easy, Manchester. It’s merely a metaphor for the untapped potential that’s failed to surface in recent years, instead relying on one method of attack to get through the day.
"You can't bulldoze everyone, not at this level. Floyd has brought out what I had locked up inside all along. Floyd has me putting the heat on my opponents but I'm not getting so many punches coming back. I'm quicker and I'm faster."
At least that’s the case in the gym. But to quote this weekend’s opponent, Paul Malignaggi, “Everyone has a game plan until they get punched in the face.”
It’s that first punch that Hatton takes in the old venue that last saw him being rescued by his corner and the referee, that will reveal whatever lingering effects remain from last year’s loss.
For the moment, he insists that it won’t be an issue.
“(Floyd Mayweather Jr) was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, possibly of all time, but this training camp has made my confidence go right through the roof and I am not thinking about the Mayweather fight.”
All he is thinking about, is re-establishing his dominance at junior welterweight, and ensuring that his fans have better reason to cheer than sheer loyalty.
“The day Ricky Hatton fans leave a fight without being entertained is the day I hang up my gloves. That's certainly not what is going to happen on Saturday.”
What happens beyond Saturday is anyone’s guess. If Hatton has his way, then awaiting him will be another monster payday against the likes of the winner (or even loser) between Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao, or a junior welterweight defense against lineal lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, should he choose to move up in weight.
In order to dance with those devils, he needs to exorcise the demons that await him the moment the modified version of “Blue Moon” signals his first ring walk into the MGM Grand since that night.
“I will only be in the firing line for these fights if I put in a big performance on Saturday.”
Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .