Hatton was a very good "boxer". His style was more of a brawler but his fundamental boxing skills were not too bad. He fought with heart and always came to win.
He was a highly aggresive pressure fighter, with great body shots that were very appealing to the eye. He was highly entertaining, and one knew right away it was going to take someone really special to defeat him. He fought like an absalute beast when he fought and dethroned the great Kostya Tszyu for the Ring and Lineal 140 lbs belts. He also had a ridiculous fallowing from England. Eventually in his 44th fight he lost to Floyd at 147lbs by 10 round tko, in a very competitive super fight. After his loss, he won a lopsided decision over the world class Juan Lascano and then beat up Paulie Malignaggi, stopping him in 11 rounds. Something Cotto couldnt even do. Then came the Pacquiao fight. Nobody knew going in,that pacquiao was going to terrorize the welterweight division for the coming years and send Floyd running for the hills. Hatton was Pacquiao's 2nd victim in that streak, the first being Delahoya, and the 3rd being Cotto and so on. The rest is history.
Also, he was ranked in the top 10 pfp for several years. Got in at number 5 pfp after defeating Tszyu who was ranked number three at the time. He was one of the big stars of boxing for several years. The Pacquiao fight was devastating to his career and reputation as a tenacious elite pressure fighting brawler. That loss was his only loss at 140lbs. His weight division. He was the man that beat the man. He was a proud leneal 140lb champ, he was the Tszyu conquerer, who stopped Castillo in 4 rounds. His only loss was to the pfp #1 Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao was a former 112lb champ that kept going up in weight, winning titles at 122lbs, 126lbs, 130lbs where he fought and defeated all the mexican stars. One might have thought that was where Pac was going to peak out, but to everyone's surprise he went up to 135lbs then 147lbs and destroyed Delahoya. The question was, could he go down to 140 lbs and dethrone The proud champ Ricky Hatton? What a superfight this will be. What a shock it was, Rickys tenacious come forward style turn out to be his undoing, agajnst a whirlwind rock fisted southpaw. Pacquiao was ranked #1 pfp before the fight, then proved it against another top 10 pfp fighter in devastating fashion. Now, the first thing you think of when you think of Ricky Hatton is that devastating ko loss. You can't unsee that. It was a big blow to his reputation and one that was very hard for him to swallow and i can see why.
He wasn't just a good fighter, he was a very good fighter. And a very down to earth likable young bloke too. There was no shame in losing to two elite fighters, no discredit at all. The only negative I give him for the losses was some excuses and a bit of public blame-gaming post fights. No one's perfect.
His cv is vastly overrated in fairness. Never actually beat anyone of note. But had a massive support base. He was like Marty Rogan on steroids.
Don't really count that loss on his record, he was basically semi-retired at that point anyway and was far beyond the Ricky we all once knew. Hatton in terms of actual boxing IQ, ability and skill wasn't spectacular & you'll find many boxers of today who are better, but the strengths he did have he utilised very well.....fast hands, very good power for a 140/147 fighter and pressed/cut off the ring incredibly well. I personally believe everyone in the top 5 at 140/147 now beat Hatton in his prime.