Ricky Hatton was not for real

[tyson]

I like Hatton. He's a good guy.
He HAS been smothering his own work lately. He gets in too close and can't get his shots off. He can't get at the body effectively. I'm all for a bit of rough tactics but he hasn't looked good for a few fights. Before he caught Castillo to the body he was looking similarly ineffective.
I'd like to see him back to his old self but I wonder if he's lost the confidence to **** from inside without leaning on.
A bit of a shame as it would have been a thrilling fight. He still would have lost to the superior Mayweather but we might have seen a real, exciting fight.

You're into something here. Short inside-fighters like Hatton, Tyson, Frazier etc have one thing in common; They are all heading downhill fast when they approach the age of 30.
I've read an article about this long ago, where someone more educated than me had studied that type of fighters from all eras.

I think it's fairly obvious that someone like Hatton endures alot of punishment over the years, and it takes its toll on everybody.
It slowly takes your motivation, your confidence while at the same time it makes you think about how to avoid being hit as much.
The result, I think, will often be that the fighter in question starts to fight differently in order to make it easier on his body.

At first, I think this will make it a little bit easier to win fights. You endure less punishment and spend less energy, essentially picking your spots to fight.
Over time, though, you will slide gradually away from the tools and skillsets that made you a worldbeater in the first place.

I don't think Hatton is done for just yet, but I think he used to be better. And I don't think he'll return to the good ol' form again.
In short, you can say he's gone old. Like all short inside-fighters do when they approach 30...

[kadyo's]

You're into something here. Short inside-fighters like Hatton, Tyson, Frazier etc have one thing in common; They are all heading downhill fast when they approach the age of 30.
I've read an article about this long ago, where someone more educated than me had studied that type of fighters from all eras.

I think it's fairly obvious that someone like Hatton endures alot of punishment over the years, and it takes its toll on everybody.
It slowly takes your motivation, your confidence while at the same time it makes you think about how to avoid being hit as much.
The result, I think, will often be that the fighter in question starts to fight differently in order to make it easier on his body.

At first, I think this will make it a little bit easier to win fights. You endure less punishment and spend less energy, essentially picking your spots to fight.
Over time, though, you will slide gradually away from the tools and skillsets that made you a worldbeater in the first place.

I don't think Hatton is done for just yet, but I think he used to be better. And I don't think he'll return to the good ol' form again.
In short, you can say he's gone old. Like all short inside-fighters do when they approach 30...

excellent post man.

[Jim Jeffries]

Hatton blowing up between fights and his binge drinking when not in training combined with his style of fighting takes a ton of toll on someone's body. But I don't think someone beats 4 current world champs in a row if they are not "for real."

[kadyo's]

Hatton blowing up between fights and his binge drinking when not in training combined with his style of fighting takes a ton of toll on someone's body. But I don't think someone beats 4 current world champs in a row if they are not "for real."

True man, similar to eric morales he is sometimes 40 pounds overweight 2-3 months before a fight. Only one lose Ricky Hatton is for real.

[Jim Jeffries]

True man, similar to eric morales he is sometimes 40 pounds overweight 2-3 months before a fight. Only one lose Ricky Hatton is for real.

Yeah, I don't think anyone can deny that Morales was a great fighter, even though his last win came at the age of 28. Blowing up between fights and his aggressive style radically shortened his career as well. To say Barrera or Pacquiao "exposed" Morales is just silly.

[Weebler I]

you guys got it all wrong

Hatton was reffed out of the first 6 rounds. We never got to see the real Ricky Hatton fight Floyd Mayweather.

NOW is the time Ricky has to show what he's all about. He must beat all the big names, Pacquiao, Mallinaggi, Witter etc, and get that second shot at Mayweather.

[monkeyboy]

I'd love you to be right Weebler but count how many seconds of body contact there is between Hatton and Mayweather. For large swathes of time Mayweather and Hatton are in a lean or a clinch and we know that that is not Mayweather's style.
If you were behind Hatton (and I prefer him as a person to Floyd) then it was exceedingly discouraging to see him risk jumping in only to end up chest to chest. Noone does good work there.
Floyd is a great fighter and the man to beat.
You can't just grab him, hold on and throw in clinch and expect to look good to the judges. Additionally less than 5 clean shots a round won't wear him down.
The judge didn't help him but the judge isn't there to help anyone.
Hatton made it ugly but unlike earlier fights, ugly and ineffective.

[Crazylegs77]

He was built up to be so called great basically fighting nobodies then when he took his first real challenge in Floyd he choked.

a fool is too foolish to know that he is a fool.

[branagan]

spot on motofan

[BmoreBrawler]

Could have? All Hatton has done his entire career is cherry pick fights. The only fighter he didn't hand pick is Mayweather. He did that only for the money. His 2 other toughest fights were also handpicked.

He waited for Tszyu to be at his absolute worst before enforcing a mandatory position he had been holding. As everyone knows, Tszyu was coming off injuries and a long stretch of inactivity. Tszyu was so past his prime that he retired after this fight.

Collazo was another tough fight for him, but this was a case of cherry picking gone bad. Hatton figured Collazo would be an easy win because he was the worst titleholder at welterweight. Little did Hatton know that welterweight isn't full of bums like 140, so Collazo gave him the fight of his life and he was lucky to escape with the win. If the current crop of titleholders were holding the belt at the time, I guarantee Hatton never steps foot in the welterweight division.

I have to call a spade a spade here: Viva, You were riding Hatton's balls before the mayweather fight.