Richard John Hatton, MBE - has enough time passed to fairly rate "The Hitman"?

Hatton s not quite an ATG but at his best he is a tough nights work for anyone. I would place him in Cotto territory and always felt Hatton would beat him in one of my dream hypotheticals that could and should have happened.

 

Wow,
This fight would have been fantastic. I would have to favor Cotto by the smallest of margins, but he would be in trouble near the end.

 

A very good fighter not an all time great imo

 

What’s does getting a MBE get you? Do you get a stash of cash with it?

 

You don't even get a free PPV

 

As someone else said earlier, he was world class, but he would struggle with the elite and greats of the sports, as was proven in his fights against Mayweather and Pac.

He had many flaws; leaping in with shots, neglecting his underrated jab, mauling to much, lack of head movement, terrible defence, but his terrific engine, solid chin, and his underrated ring IQ, when he employed it, got him through his fights.

Tszyu was obviously his biggest win, but i think, stylistically, he changed for the worse after this fight. The mauling style he employed against Tszyu worked brilliantly to tire out the ageing and inactive veteran, but he stuck with this style and rarely reverted back to his old, pre-Tszyu style. Before his breakout fight, Hatton would use head movement and clever, quick footwork to attack his opponents from multiple angles. He would use a good jab, often doubling and tripling it up. After Tszyu, Hatton became much more predictable, neglecting his jab, not moving his head as much, leaning on and mauling his opponents more, and not creating angles on the inside with his footwork. He just seemed less dynamic and less exciting post Tszyu. To an extent, it was a similar stylistic decline to Mike Tyson.

Still, the man had a career to be proud of, and he is the main reason for the increase in popularity in boxing in the UK these days.

 

He was just the perfect person for the British public to get behind. Indisputable raw talent, but flawed and vulnerable enough to allow for the roller coaster ride he sent his fans on.

 

Was he really that popular with the British public or was is just a Manchester hometown thing?

 

Working class wicky lofl
Guys never had a job
Cut my finger laying a carpet and that's it I was off
Lofl
Some fickle gulable fhooker round these parts
Football fan don't make you a working class hero
Gtfoh

 

Hatton got me into boxing, hence the name on my account. When Hatton was up and coming, I was only a kid, not even a teenager. Watching him take out guys with vicious bodyshots on Friday fight night is a standout childhood memory for me. I didn't know much about boxing, but I knew I loved to watch him fight.

I've had clowns on here attack me unprovoked about supporting Hatton, even though I haven't spoke about him on here in years. Weirdos! There's preordained opinions about Hatton fans for some reason. Personally, I know Hatton wasn't a great fighter, but as said, he played a huge part in my transition from casual fan to boxing fanatic. I can't be the only one. For that, he'll always have huge respect from me.

In his prime, he was world class and very exciting. As said in a previous post, he deserves huge credit for going after the very best in the game and going out on his shield. For that, he deserves everybody's respect.

 

He was a popular fighter across the country.

People liked his exciting style, and down to earth nature outside the ring.

 

he briefly was elite,thats it. solid.

 

He achieved lots in his career, and like you say that most fighters dream of doing.

He did step up massive levels taking on FM and MP only to come unstuck, no shame in that though at least he went for it.

Got to give him massive respect.

 

At 147 I would favour Cotto. Cotto was a terrific boxer - puncher whose skills, I feel, would have seen him through a tough fight. Plus, Ricky really wasn't a welterweight. However, at 140, just after the Tszyu fight when both where champions, I always favoured Hatton. Cotto was more of a come forward, less all round fighter back then, so Hatton wouldn't have had to go looking for him. Also, Hatton was an unrelenting beast back then, whereas Cotto was starting to struggle with the 140 weight limit. I think Hatton would have wore Cotto down in a brutal fight.