Hatton Sr. Says Ricky Craves the Pound-for-Pound Title

[BraveheartNYC]

This is like Mayweather calling himself the best of all time, instead of fighting the best they make enough noise that some people go along with it and they get the title without doing half the work. Manny MAYBE P4P because he has moved up in weight and looked really good. Have Hatton move up to Middle weight and fight Pavlik, or just to welter and fight Cotto, Mosley. He's trying to talk himself to the top without fighting his way to the top. Does anyone even have Hatton on their top ten p4p?

[Dave Rado]

In my opinion, Hatton is 20 pound bigger man than Pac, so if Hatton wins a close fight to me it means that Pacquiao is still a better fighter, pound for pound.

Hatton should have to win impressively to pass Pacquiao on the list.

I guess a similar situation would be if Chad Dawson fights Paul Williams at 175 and wins and then says he should be p4p #1 as a result.

I agree Hatton would have to win impressively. However, your 20lb figure is very subjective and quite contentious, IMO. Pacquiao seems to think he's become a natural Jnr. Welterweight, and so does Roach. How the panel who produces The Ring's rankings would see it is far from clear to me. Would be interesting to hear from Cliff Rold, given that he's one of the panel.

Williams isn't ranked in The Ring's top 10 yet, so I don't think your analogy applies. If Dawson were to beat Hopkins (who is arguably a naturally smaller man than he is) that would be a better analogy, although even Hopkins is only ranked #3, not #1.

[Dave Rado]

This is like Mayweather calling himself the best of all time, instead of fighting the best they make enough noise that some people go along with it and they get the title without doing half the work. Manny MAYBE P4P because he has moved up in weight and looked really good. Have Hatton move up to Middle weight and fight Pavlik, or just to welter and fight Cotto, Mosley. He's trying to talk himself to the top without fighting his way to the top. Does anyone even have Hatton on their top ten p4p?

It's not about moving up. When Hopkins got the P4P #1 ranking he was still at Middleweight, where he had been all his career. Hagler was P4P #1 and only ever fought at Middleweight.

And Hatton is ranked #8 in The Ring's P4P list, which is by far the most respected P4P list because it's compiled by a large panel of highly respected boxing experts who do not work for The Ring (one of whom is Cliff Rold of boxingscene).

[MANGLER]

We know this already. Damn I'm gettin sick of these pointless articles.

[Hitman932]

I agree Hatton would have to win impressively. However, your 20lb figure is very subjective and quite contentious, IMO. Pacquiao seems to think he's become a natural Jnr. Welterweight, and so does Roach. How the panel who produces The Ring's rankings would see it is far from clear to me. Would be interesting to hear from Cliff Rold, given that he's one of the panel.

Williams isn't ranked in The Ring's top 10 yet, so I don't think your analogy applies. If Dawson were to beat Hopkins (who is arguably a naturally smaller man than he is) that would be a better analogy, although even Hopkins is only ranked #3, not #1.

Well Pac can say what he wants about being a junior welter but I believe he could still make 130 without too much trouble if the big fight was there.

To me Pac at 135 and above is like Hatton at 147 or higher. So maybe 20 pounds is too much, but 15 is fair and 10 is not enough to cover the physical differences.

The analogy with Dawson is looking down the road a year or two to what may become a legitimate p4p matchup. I didn't want to use Hopkins as the analogy because he was always a super middle in a middleweight body and I don't think Dawson holds such significant advantages physically over Hopkins as Hatton will over Pac.

It's not too crazy to think that in 2-3 years time when the current top 5 are retired or on the slide that a fight like Williams (154 or 160 pound champ) vs. Dawson (long reigning LHW champ) may create a lot of hype and p4p discussion.

[Dave Rado]

If you beat the best,then you earn the right to call yourself the best.Most people on here have Pacman as No.1,but if Ricky beats him those same people are going to say it doesnt count because its Hatton? GTFOH!!!!! nobheads!

Historically, beating the P4P #1 ranked fighter has never given anyone the P4P #1 ranking immediately. When Taylor beat Hopkins, he was only ranked #4 as a result. When Tarver beat Jones, he was only ranked #3 as a result. The reason is that styles makes fights, which means it is possible to beat someone ranked higher than you but lose to someone ranked lower than you; and you only ever get the P4P #1 ranking based on a series of wins, never on the back of a single win.

The P4P rankings are not a title that can be passed on. Plus if you are fighting a naturally smaller fighter, then given that P4P is a theoretical (but subjective) measure of how elite you are divided by the number of pounds at your peak weight, the fact that your opponent is naturally smaller does influence how that result would be viewed by The Ring's rankings panel.

[BraveheartNYC]

It's not about moving up.

But that's why Pac. is number one by moving up, and taking out David Diaz and then ODH I don't see how Hatton beating a JMM or Pac makes him number one. If he was to fight Mosley, Cotto and win hands down then I'd say he is up there or close to it. Pac has moved up from 106! 106! Beat champs. like D.Daiz, JMM, Morales, Barrera, DLH. Between 130 and 142, this is a guy who started out at 106!

[nj_evoixgsr]

i hate to be biased especially since i am a pac fan. most people seem to be biased when they post.

as many mentioned i think p4p, should go to the guy who can defeat the best in other weight classes than his natural weight class. hatton is good at 140 but obviously was beat at 147 and he said he didn't feel good at 147. that definitely doesn't help when pac and jmm are moving up weight classes after every few fights to beat bigger and "better" opponents at their natural weight classes.

pac record of defeating opponents at their weight classes, HOFers, and great fighters provides that p4p acknowledgement. he also shows heart and willing to fight toe to toe which is extremely entertaining.

for those who say oh odlh was washed out. i have no doubt in my mind you had oscar as the favorite in the fight. just like oscar you denied him the potential of winning. got beat. and vote for the next guy cause he just got his ass wooped.

[Hitman932]

Historically, beating the P4P #1 ranked fighter has never given anyone the P4P #1 ranking immediately. .

Everyone keep this in mind as this thread moves forward.

[rod_serrs]

I agree with the masses on this topic. A win over Pacman doesn't warrant Hatton the P4P title. It would likely be his biggest victory, but he'll need several other big wins to prove he's deserving. Many of the other people on the P4P list have moved up in weight classes to capture titles and successfully defend them against solid competition. Hatton has yet to make a solid standing at any other weight class, and his biggest win was against an aged Tszyu. Hatton needs a lot more to lay claim to the P4P 'title'.