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Hatton's loss to Floyd Mayweather has done little to dampen the ardour of his legions of fans. He's still the lineal Junior Welterweight Champion of the World. He still has a lot to fight for, in fact he has more to fight for at 140 lbs now than he did this time yesterday. So what's the next move for Manchester's Hitman?
Lennox Lewis thinks he should retire. Junior Witter thinks that he should fight... Junior Witter! I don't agree with either. His next move in the ring should be to take an easier fight back in Manchester. He should take on Gavin Rees for the WBA title. Then he should set up another US mega-fight at Madison Square Gardens, where Hatton has always dreamed of topping the bill, against Paulie Malignaggi. Then maybe he should fight Junior Witter (assuming Junior still has his WBC strap) back in England before calling it a day. There may also be room for him to face Ricardo Torres back in Vegas before he retires. Ricky could and should be remembered as one of the greatest 140 pounders in history.
One thing for certain is that he is going to have plenty of opportunities after boxing. He's in demand as a personality based on his likable demeanour and quick wit, and it's hard to imagine that his publicity agent will get bored any time soon.
As for Floyd, where does he go from here? How can he top winning the lineal undisputed welterweight championship, beating Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC Junior Middleweight title and beating a fighter many regarded as his closest rival in back to back fights? People have said he should fight Cotto or Mosely, but I'm not entirely sure what that would prove. There's always going to be a challenger, there's always going to be that guy who holds all the aces when it comes to beating the pound for pound number one.
Beating Cotto won't silence the critics who insist against all reason that Floyd is somehow a fake, but it would cement his place as the current best, providing yet another high quality scalp on an already packed resume. I really can't see how Cotto would beat Mayweather though. He lacks the foot speed to get in on Floyd and I couldn't see it being an interesting fight by any stretch of the imagination. Too big for Floyd to trade with, too slow to force the action.
You know what gets my vote? Let's see Floyd take on Felix Sturm for the WBA middleweight titles. He'd be going somewhere that no-one has been before if he could win a belt at Middleweight. I couldn't see him taking on the division's big boys, Kelly Pavlik would be a bridge too far (though I would have put my money on Floyd to beat Jermaine Taylor), but I could see him making boxing history with an incredible span of six weights and world titles in each.
I don't want to see him beaten, I want to see history being made. Floyd could be the one to make it.
Lennox Lewis thinks he should retire. Junior Witter thinks that he should fight... Junior Witter! I don't agree with either. His next move in the ring should be to take an easier fight back in Manchester. He should take on Gavin Rees for the WBA title. Then he should set up another US mega-fight at Madison Square Gardens, where Hatton has always dreamed of topping the bill, against Paulie Malignaggi. Then maybe he should fight Junior Witter (assuming Junior still has his WBC strap) back in England before calling it a day. There may also be room for him to face Ricardo Torres back in Vegas before he retires. Ricky could and should be remembered as one of the greatest 140 pounders in history.
One thing for certain is that he is going to have plenty of opportunities after boxing. He's in demand as a personality based on his likable demeanour and quick wit, and it's hard to imagine that his publicity agent will get bored any time soon.
As for Floyd, where does he go from here? How can he top winning the lineal undisputed welterweight championship, beating Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC Junior Middleweight title and beating a fighter many regarded as his closest rival in back to back fights? People have said he should fight Cotto or Mosely, but I'm not entirely sure what that would prove. There's always going to be a challenger, there's always going to be that guy who holds all the aces when it comes to beating the pound for pound number one.
Beating Cotto won't silence the critics who insist against all reason that Floyd is somehow a fake, but it would cement his place as the current best, providing yet another high quality scalp on an already packed resume. I really can't see how Cotto would beat Mayweather though. He lacks the foot speed to get in on Floyd and I couldn't see it being an interesting fight by any stretch of the imagination. Too big for Floyd to trade with, too slow to force the action.
You know what gets my vote? Let's see Floyd take on Felix Sturm for the WBA middleweight titles. He'd be going somewhere that no-one has been before if he could win a belt at Middleweight. I couldn't see him taking on the division's big boys, Kelly Pavlik would be a bridge too far (though I would have put my money on Floyd to beat Jermaine Taylor), but I could see him making boxing history with an incredible span of six weights and world titles in each.
I don't want to see him beaten, I want to see history being made. Floyd could be the one to make it.
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