Hatton: "Pressure is off!", Graham: "Ricky's still the best!"

Just found this. He told the MEN paper last week that his welterweight adventure might of been a "blessing in disguise". Quotes Hatton "That wasn't the real Ricky Hatton (against Collazo), watch any fight of mine and then watch that and you'll see no snap by comparison." "But maybe it was a blessing in disguise because people on both sides of the Atlantic now have wrote me off and it has taken a lot of pressure off me to be honest. I can just knuckle down and do my thing and because the expectancy has dropped I'll be praised whatever I do, and I plan on doing some destruction jobs and really looking the part." "What people don't realise is that it usually takes two or three fights to grow into a new weight division, not six or seven weeks. I was basically a blown-up light-welterweight, it's as simple as that!" "I feel hungry again like I did after the Vilches fight - needing to prove doubters wrong - and look what I went on to achieve after that: a couple of blockbuster performances and then the big win against Kostya. More of the same is in order: a couple of fights to make people sit up and take notice again and then try to knock Mayweather off the top of the tree like I did Tszyu." "I don't think Carlos Baldomir has anything to trouble Floyd to be honest, other than sheer size and strength to be honest. I think Mayweather will be far too fast for him and make him look pedestrian." Graham "You won't find a fighter on the entire bloody planet who could win a world title in their first fight in a new weight division while still able to make the weight below without a problem. I don't recall anybody ever doing that. Floyd Mayweather was forced to move up because his body outgrew light-welterweight, but TV forced Ricky Hatton to move up." "Don't worry, Ricky is still the business! He's the king of his division. He hasn't lost anything, you don't lose tools overnight. I've still got the best fighter in the business and we're still chasing the big one, the one we've been preparing for for three or four years, Mayweather."

Comments (20)

Man , you're fucking delusional. It was Floyd who offered to fight in the UK for £6m. Do you really want to get into attendance figures after Floyd's last fight, or any of his fights for that matter? LMAO. Hatton sold out 20k for the Tszyu fight within 2 hours. Hatton scared of Mitchell, the guy who scraped by Vince Phillips 6 months before Hatton destroyed him? You're showing yourself up. Castillo, leftovers? Exactly how stupid are you? Do you really need me to go through Floyd's opponents to show you how ridiculous that statement was? Hatton doesn't need Floyd more like. The guy becomes more of an emabarrassment every day. Hatton's a bigger draw than Floyd will ever be. Hatton is the one trying to build his profile in the US, right? Then why the fuck is he coming over here if he's trying to negotiate a Floyd fight in the UK? If he just wants to fight in the UK, then Hatton needs to stay there. No one gives a fuck about him here. The Collazo fight was partially empty even with 5000 UK fans making the trip to Boston. Don't talk about trying to build yourself up in the US when you want to fight the biggest fight out there in your own backyard. No matter where Floyd fights in the US, he doesn't have the type of fan support and bias that Ricky receives in Manchester... Floyd fought Sharmba Mitchell, a man that Hatton was scared to fight when Sharmba was the interim champion during Tsyzu's injury... I'm glad you think a fight with Castillo is a big step up for Hatton. Honestly, that's just Floyd leftovers... Floyd doesn't need Hatton. Floyd is the one who's beating multiple former champions. Floyd is the one who has won titles in four division. Floyd is considered #1 P4P in the sport. Floyd is the one about to sign a fight with DLH. Floyd just doesn't need Hatton and if he wants to request 3 times the money he's ever made in order to make a Floyd fight happen, why should we expect Floyd to bend over backwards for him?

19y ago

Joe_Soap

Hatton is the one trying to build his profile in the US, right? Then why the fuck is he coming over here if he's trying to negotiate a Floyd fight in the UK? If he just wants to fight in the UK, then Hatton needs to stay there. No one gives a fuck about him here. The Collazo fight was partially empty even with 5000 UK fans making the trip to Boston. Don't talk about trying to build yourself up in the US when you want to fight the biggest fight out there in your own backyard. No matter where Floyd fights in the US, he doesn't have the type of fan support and bias that Ricky receives in Manchester... Floyd fought Sharmba Mitchell, a man that Hatton was scared to fight when Sharmba was the interim champion during Tsyzu's injury... I'm glad you think a fight with Castillo is a big step up for Hatton. Honestly, that's just Floyd leftovers... Floyd doesn't need Hatton. Floyd is the one who's beating multiple former champions. Floyd is the one who has won titles in four division. Floyd is considered #1 P4P in the sport. Floyd is the one about to sign a fight with DLH. Floyd just doesn't need Hatton and if he wants to request 3 times the money he's ever made in order to make a Floyd fight happen, why should we expect Floyd to bend over backwards for him? When and if your boy fights Oscar, THEN he can talk honestly about SLAVE wages, because trust me Oscar can afford to give the peasant chicken corn money. Because like Hatton, Oscar doesn't like or need that muppet.

19y ago

adamk1304

No his plan is to prey on crappy title holders like Juan Urango (and don't anyone dare bring up Mayweather's paper titles becaue Zab Judah and Arturo Gatti are like Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta compared to Urango) until Mayweather shows weakness (like Tsyzu) then try to beat him. Unfortunately I don't think that the fight will ever come off b/c if things play out like they should, Floyd is going up to 154 and Hatton is staying at 140. If Hatton doesn't like fighting at 147 then clearly the fight isn't going to happen. Can you explain to me what weaknesses hatton could possibly have seen in tszyu when he beat the shit out of shrmba mitchell??

19y ago

Cletus_Funk

Show me the many links to "many times". The "outpricing" refers only to the recent offer to fight in November. The exact time that Hatton was expecing to be in court with Warren. Wrestle? They were both as much to blame. And why would Hatton want to fight in a country where they allow Floyd to constantly lead with his forearm and elbow and penalise his opponents for hitting him when he keeps turnng his back, for chump change? $13m would seem about right in those circumstances. It wouldn't surprise me if Floyd had his buddy Nady built into the contract too. Collazo was forced onto him by HBO and was a much more creditworthy move up to 147 than Floyd's cowardly entry against a shot LWW. Urango would be a decent, exciting fight and I'm sure you're also aware that the Castillo fight seems like a certainty. That would result in an infinitely more impressive 2 years than Floyd's had. Hatton doesn't like Floyd so he's never going to bend over backwards to meet him on his terms. Hatton pricing himself out is a fact. They've admitted it many times in interviews. It's no secret... After seeing what Hatton did to Tsyzu in the UK (wrestle), I'm not surprised Floyd didn't want to go there... How are fights with little known Collazo and Urango building his profile in the US? He could really build his fanbase here with a big fight... maybe with some guy named Mayweather...

19y ago

Cletus_Funk

Hatton has his own agenda, as does Floyd. I've alrady told you why and when he said he needed more time. This has been done to death so learn how to use the search facility, dickhead. you get a clue dickhead, don't know where the fuck you been but it has been talked about for awhile and it came straight from the horses mouth. again hatton and his team said they neede more time before they wanted the fight with floyd. do some research before you talk shit.

19y ago

GEOFFHAYES

when a guy asks for 13 million Ricky didn't ask for 13 million. Ray did. Ricky's dad Ray is in charge of the business side of thing, always has been. Ricky just takes care of the fighting.

19y ago

GEOFFHAYES

when a guy asks for 13 million Ricky didn't ask for 13 million. Ray did. Ricky's dad Ray is in charge of the business side of thing, always has been. Ricky just takes care of the fighting.

19y ago

GEOFFHAYES

He's targetting guys like Gatti (he's done) He targetted Gatti because Gatti is one of his hero's and was always his dream fight.

19y ago

mediumdeek

Hatton/Mayweather will happen, eventually. This Hatton is avoiding Mayweather shit is getting boring. It will happen.

19y ago

El_Jesus

i have to disagree and i will explain why, when floyd moved up to 140 to fight gatti there was a reason why hatton was ringside and that is because floyd/hatton was the fight to be setup next and when the offer was on the table for hatton he and his team backed out by saying they needed more time and then he priced himself out. maybe it was because he was ringside and seen what floyd did to gatti (not saying gatti is on hattons level) and knew he wasn't ready yet. regardless it's a fight that i would like to see no doubt so i hope it happens soon. the night of that fight just about everyone in my house said him and cotto looked like they were in shock

19y ago

bdevils

Don't try to pass your theory off as fact then. Maybe Hatton & Cotto were purely there to see a big fight in their division. I know that's what Hatton described it as. That and showing his face in the US after his exposure against Tszyu. FYI, Hatton only asked for time to build his profile in the US once Floyd reneged on his offer to fight in the UK after he saw what he did to Tszyu. Hatton offered the fight for early 2006 but Floyd went for Judah instead. There was never any mention of either fighter pricing themselves out. Get a fucking clue. you get a clue dickhead, don't know where the fuck you been but it has been talked about for awhile and it came straight from the horses mouth. again hatton and his team said they neede more time before they wanted the fight with floyd. do some research before you talk shit.

19y ago

Cletus_Funk

Don't try to pass your theory off as fact then. Maybe Hatton & Cotto were purely there to see a big fight in their division. I know that's what Hatton described it as. That and showing his face in the US after his exposure against Tszyu. FYI, Hatton only asked for time to build his profile in the US once Floyd reneged on his offer to fight in the UK after he saw what he did to Tszyu. Hatton offered the fight for early 2006 but Floyd went for Judah instead. There was never any mention of either fighter pricing themselves out. Get a fucking clue. thats all you have to respond to my post with? get the fuck outta here and come back with something worth reading instead of just trying to discredit my post with this garbage. if you watched the floyd/gatti fight dipshit you would of seen thats what they were talking about a potential fight between floyd, hatton and cotto.

19y ago

bdevils

Nice story. Plucked from your ass, but nice none the less. thats all you have to respond to my post with? get the fuck outta here and come back with something worth reading instead of just trying to discredit my post with this garbage. if you watched the floyd/gatti fight dipshit you would of seen thats what they were talking about a potential fight between floyd, hatton and cotto.

19y ago

Cletus_Funk

Nice story. Plucked from your ass, but nice none the less. i have to disagree and i will explain why, when floyd moved up to 140 to fight gatti there was a reason why hatton was ringside and that is because floyd/hatton was the fight to be setup next and when the offer was on the table for hatton he and his team backed out by saying they needed more time and then he priced himself out. maybe it was because he was ringside and seen what floyd did to gatti (not saying gatti is on hattons level) and knew he wasn't ready yet. regardless it's a fight that i would like to see no doubt so i hope it happens soon.

19y ago

bdevils

No, he didn't want Hatton. If he did he would have pursued the fight, not just get his management to put down an offer.. if Hatton did accept, Floyd might have moved up regardless, think out of the box, dumbass, speculate. i have to disagree and i will explain why, when floyd moved up to 140 to fight gatti there was a reason why hatton was ringside and that is because floyd/hatton was the fight to be setup next and when the offer was on the table for hatton he and his team backed out by saying they needed more time and then he priced himself out. maybe it was because he was ringside and seen what floyd did to gatti (not saying gatti is on hattons level) and knew he wasn't ready yet. regardless it's a fight that i would like to see no doubt so i hope it happens soon.

19y ago

bdevils

No....Hatton just wanted to bathe in the glory of being a champ and have maybe a couple of defences (like most champs do) and then fight PBF. What is wrong with that? PBF is still in his prime, and is not more vulnerable than he ever was! Hatton isnt going anywhere, unlike PBF, with his talk of retirement. Now Hatton is ready. Nothin bullshit about that bro. Hatton does want every part of PBF. He wants everything PBF has! He wants to be known as the best. He wants PBf p4p status. So that is where you are wrong. Hatton has as good as chance as anyone of upsetting PBF. Better than Gatti or Baldy anyway! NO, thats where you are wrong. hatton and his camp both said they needed more time to be ready when they were offered a fight. get your facts before you try to debate it came right from the horses mouth.

19y ago

hugh_grant

It really would be silly for someone with a mouth like PBF to talk about retiring. He keeps talking about wanting to fight the big names, and says what he would do to them so it does not make sense to retire, without accomplishing what his mouth keeps saying he will accomplish. Basically there is unfinished business. There are not that many more names for him to beat....but they are important ones for him, if he wants to be taken seriously. Once he has won 3 or so more fights he can happily retire. And i wish him a happy retirement. He will have enough money so it should last him, until he dies about 90 years old.

19y ago

ThaHorseman

Don't worry guys. PBF's stay at 154 is gonna be a short one, he's gonna come right back down where he belongs. Then Hatton or other top 147 fighters might get their shot, unless of course PBF retires. I have to agree with you on that. He is not even a natural 147, so its going to be EXTREMELY difficult for him to fight at 154. And he is going after some great guys at 154 (Oscar or Spinks). I don't think he'll be fighting at 154 more than once. Then again he might not fight at any weight more than once more. As for Hatton getting his shot, he could have had it and turned it down. Floyd is not going down to 140 and Hatton is scared out of his mind to go back to 147. That fight is never happening.

19y ago

Del_Coqui

Riiiiiigggghhhhttt. You are retarded. There isn't much "thinking out of the box" when a guy asks for 13 million. Hatton's team has said plenty of times that they want to fight Floyd..... later. Down the line. When he is long gone to 154. When there is no real chance of the fight being made because Floyd is fighting 2 weight classes above Hatton. Ok, maybe they didn't say all of those, but Hatton's team did say that they weren't going after a Floyd fight for a couple years. So who is avoiding the fight? No need to speculate, dumbass. Don't worry guys. PBF's stay at 154 is gonna be a short one, he's gonna come right back down where he belongs. Then Hatton or other top 147 fighters might get their shot, unless of course PBF retires.

19y ago

bakey321

No, he didn't want Hatton. If he did he would have pursued the fight, not just get his management to put down an offer.. if Hatton did accept, Floyd might have moved up regardless, think out of the box, dumbass, speculate. Riiiiiigggghhhhttt. You are retarded. There isn't much "thinking out of the box" when a guy asks for 13 million. Hatton's team has said plenty of times that they want to fight Floyd..... later. Down the line. When he is long gone to 154. When there is no real chance of the fight being made because Floyd is fighting 2 weight classes above Hatton. Ok, maybe they didn't say all of those, but Hatton's team did say that they weren't going after a Floyd fight for a couple years. So who is avoiding the fight? No need to speculate, dumbass.

19y ago