-ricky hatton-

Well summed up, Uzi:good. I honestly don't get the hate of him either as a fighter. I can understand people saying that the constant referral to himself in the third person is annoying as hell but when talking about his legacy it should not even be mentioned. Hatton has been phenomenal for the sport in the UK, IMO, and he certainly can't be tarnished with the 'ducker' brush. He was the best in a competitive division for 4 years and only lost when challenging himself against the greats of his generation- in PBF's case, on his terms. He's been awesome, IMO. That said, it is only a very small, unsilent minority that fail to recognise this. Don't beat yourself up over it:good.

 

The only problem I have with Ricky Hatton is that like the England team, he works me up to break my heart. I ignorantly thought he could beat Pac man and just desperately wanted him to beat PBF just because he brought attention to the sport, I think the guy had the right intentions of wanting to be the best even if it was never likely to happen and for that he kind of had the Tim Henman effect for me, wanted him to win but knew deep down he never would.

 

I never really thought he'd beat Mayweather, but the build up to the fight & the anticipation was amazing.

 

He does get a lot of stick, probally due to his annoying personality and the whole "im just like you, honest" act that he puts on. As a fight fan in general, yeah I suppose I was happy to see him beaten by Pac, as im a bigger fan of Pac mans, but apart from that I cant say I ever really enjoyed a Hatton fight. His style wasnt very attractive to me, just my personal choice. I certainly dont hate the lad like some people do though. Just dont really care about him is all

 

I think the perception of him now is about right.

A good champion, good career.

Not elite, not great.

A lot of people overrated him, for a long time. Me included.

 

Yep spot on.

 

Totally agree with all of that. After the way he dismantled a very tricky Carlos Mausa and announced that he was going to move through the weights I honestly believed that he would capture significant titles at 147 and 154. However, any belief in that he was going to achieve anything like that ended sometime during the Collazo fight and never came back.

I know he looked good/very good against Mallignaggi but I still stand by my belief that Mallignaggi didn't turn up that night and, if he had done, the outcome would have been completely different.

Overall, he was a good fighter but will never trouble any ATG list. He will get into the HOF but only because they are committed to inducting fighters every year and will eventully run out of truely great fighters.

 

He is hilarious. Both of him.

 

Elite fighter but not A*, maybe A-. You don't beat Tszyu, Castillo, titlists if you are not a top fighter.

 

But would he have beaten a prime Tszyu or Castillo?

I don't think so and I honestly believe that it's not enough to have names on your record but when you get them on there.

 

Still, the versions of Urango, Maussa, Collazo and Malinaggi (Hatton beats any version of Paulie IMHO, "styles" and all that)that he did beat shows he was a decent champ/ fighter.

 

Overrated himself a fair bit, but what boxer doesnt?

One of the top British boxers in recent years and by most accounts a decent bloke with a good sense of humour.
He gets a lot of a irrational hate from some very bizarre people.

 

Betty says hi

 

I've said in other threads, Hattons career is a piece of **** to rank/ rate. He got comprehensively beaten by the the 2 prime 'elite' fighters he met, so its obvious he's not on that level but has beaten enough good world class fighters and world titists to make it just as obvious that he was a least a genuine world class fighter and a decent world champ.

You can split hairs on exactly where to rank him between those two extremes but the limits are pretty clearly defined IMHO. Either side of those and you're either nuthugging or hating.