By Dr. Peter Edwards
When the announcement came down that Ricky Hatton was going to be awarded with Ring Magazine's coveted "Fighter of The Year" award for 2005, I could not help but feel like a robbery was taking place.
I can't argue with Hatton having a great year and the accolades he was receiving from the boxing public for stopping Kostya Tszyu, but I don't think Hatton did enough to win the award.
There was another man who fought three times in 2005, and he fought one opponent that was tougher than Tszyu or Carlos Maussa, and he fought him twice. The fighter that should have been awarded Ring's top honor is Jermain Taylor.
When you break down the statistical facts of the fighters both men faced, there is no comparison. The opponents don't even come close at the time of the fights taking place.
Let's take a look at Hatton's two opponents, Kostya Tszyu and Carlos Maussa. There is no question that Tszyu was regarded as a great fighter coming into his bout with Hatton. Tszyu was also favored by many experts to win, and he was perched on many pound-for-pound lists in pundit land. The problem with Tszyu was not his credentials, but his lack of in-ring activity and he was still pretty fresh from coming off a near two-year layoff due to numerous injuries.
Prior to meeting Hatton, Tszyu had fought a total of three rounds in well over two years. Hatton on the other hand was fresh, healthy and extremely active. The two fighters could not have been any further apart in terms of activity in the ring. Hatton fought seven times between Tszyu's January 2003 bout with James Leija to the time him and Tszyu clashed in June of 2005. He also totaled 58 hard rounds in the ring which blow away the 3 rounds Tszyu racked up in his demolition win over Sharmba Mitchell in November 2004.
Tszyu was barely able to hold an average of one opponent per year since 2002, while Hatton was the total opposite by facing three to four opponents per year. There cannot be any argument made against the fact that Tszyu was on the downslide of his career and Hatton knew it better than all of us. Hatton's strategy was to stay on Tszyu, never stop punching and wear the inactive fighter down by testing his inner-resolve. Hatton’s gut feeling was that Tszyu was not physically able to go the distance in a bout fought at a very high pace. He never let Tszyu get a chance to catch his breath and stayed on top of him for most of the fight.
Then we come to Carlos Maussa, who was never regarded as anything special. Maussa's claim to fame was knocking out Vivian Harris, who was also nothing special. Coming into the fight with Hatton, Maussa had lost two of his last five fights, including an eight round TKO loss to a young Miguel Cotto in December 2003. Hatton had all sorts of difficulties with Maussa and some ringside observers felt the fight was close at the time of the stoppage. The only positive thing one could say about the Maussa bout was the maturity level of Hatton by staying calm when he suffering a bad cut in the bout. He knew the cut was pretty bad, but he stayed patient and eventually caught Maussa cold.
Jermain Taylor did something no other man was able to do for 12 years, and that was beat Bernard Hopkins. Not only did he do it once, but several months later he did it again. Hopkins had ruled the middleweight division like a dark warlord, cleaning out every opponent in his path. The dominance of Hopkins was so strong that several of his opponents moved up to super middleweight and light heavyweight for easier game. Any fighter that tried to move up from a lower weight class was taught a lethal lesson in pain from Philadelphia born ringmaster.
Hopkins was not only the favorite to beat Taylor, many experts said Taylor was not ready for an opponent of Hopkin’s caliber. Looking at Taylor’s record, there was not one fighter that even came close to level of a Bernard Hopkins. The dilemma for Taylor was the fact that Bernard had promised the boxing public that 2005 would be his last year in the ring. It was now or never for Taylor, either beat Hopkins now or lose the chance forever – those were the two choices. There was no way Taylor could take a chance that Hopkins would get upset by another opponent. Who in their right mind would even consider him the man at 160 pounds if he beat a guy like Felix Sturm instead of Bernard Hopkins? The answer is nobody, unless the person was an outright shoemaker.
Taylor was not fazed by the 12-year win streak of Hopkins, the collection of titles held by Hopkins or the 20 successful title defenses the veteran had consecutively piled up on his record. The two fights were close, and some questioned the outcome of both, but in the end Jermain had done something that no other fighter was able to do since Roy Jones Jr. had done it 12 years earlier. Hopkins was considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and Jermain was still viewed as a prospect that faced too many blown-up junior middleweights. Nobody would have guessed in 2004 that Hopkins would lose not once, but twice in 2005. If someone told you in 2004 that Hopkins would go winless in 2005, you would think the person lost their marbles or had some agenda against Hopkins.
Let’s forget Maussa, who never was and never will be a great fighter or an opponent that will make any fighter gain the recognition of being great by beating him. The real comparison is what should be considered bigger between a win over Hopkins or a win over Tszyu. One could say that Jermain had to settle for close decisions over Hopkins, while Hatton clearly beat Tszyu and made him quit on his stool after eleven. One has to remember that the only fighter to ever really beat Hopkins prior to the Taylor bout was Roy Jones, 12 years earlier. There is no person out there that even counts Bernard’s first career loss by way of a four round majority decision, which took place in his professional debut at the light heavyweight level. Let’s not forget that Tszyu had already been knocked silly by Vince Phillips eight years earlier, a bout that won Ring’s upset of the year honors for 1997.
Hopkins had a much better career run than Tszyu, he was considered a much better fighter than Tszyu and he beat better opposition than Tszyu. When taking all of the facts into consideration, a person has to wonder what makes Ricky Hatton more deserving of the Fighter of The Year honor. What more could of Taylor done to win Ring’s recognition as the best fighter of 2005? He beat the best fighter in the sport, in back to back fashion. Hatton stopped a great yet very inactive Tszyu and then went on to stop Carlos Massau, who is a B-level fighter at best.
I think the case is very strong in favor of Jermain Taylor being snubbed by Ring Magazine in favor of Hatton for their top prize. There is a much stronger argument for Taylor than there is for Hatton. I don’t even see how a case can be made for Hatton over Taylor, considering all the facts, but wonders never cease in boxing.
