Hatton and the p4p talk

The "small" article in the Daily Mirror today doesn't shut the **** up about it:

"Ricky Hatton has revealed he thought he had blown his chance of becoming the worlds P-4-P king."

"Hatton will have a second crack at becoming the best fighter on the planet when he faces Manny Pacquiao in a £40 million showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on 2nd May."

"But he banished those demons by knocking out Paulie Malignaggi impressively in his last fight and now claims it is his destiny to become the pound-for-pound king."

"Hatton, 30, claims he will have fulfilled his ambition of becoming the worlds P-4-P best if he beats Filipino Pacquiao in their LWW clash."





As I said this was a small article; it also contained the usual bull**** regarding a second fight with Mayweather.

 

In answer to the question posed, yes I do believe Hatton believe he would be P4P number one if he beats Pacquiao. I would be very suprised if he had anything other than a 'if you beat the man, you are the man' view of it.

As for everyone else, as I have pointed out previously in other threads, much of the 'analysis' of what would happen after a Hatton win is failing to take account of the hyperbole that is naturally generated after any 'big win'. That is a big error, as it is that hyperbole that is the main driver of these P4P ratings.

How many times have we seen someone launched up the pound for pound ratings (and when I refer to ratings here I am talking about consensus ratings and specifically using The Ring as the ratings that everyone looks at, not my own personal ratings where I attempt to avoid putting too much stock in hyperbole) on the basis of one fight. Margarito (laughably) went top six after beating Cotto. Taylor was as high as four after beating Hopkins. Tarver was as high as three after beating Jones. Pavlik went top six after beating Taylor. Hopkins (and this one I think has striking parallels for the Hatton/Pacquiao situation) went from ten to the number two spot and then onto number one after dispatching Trinidad, who had been ranked three previously.

There is ample precedent, then, for a fighter climbing a large number of places on the basis of one win. I can quite easily envisage a stoppage win for Hatton and the hyperbole that that would create resulting in him occupying the number one spot in a lot of pound for pound lists. Certainly no lower than number three.

He actually would have a very good claim anyway, in terms of who he's beaten and where they were ranked when he beat them. Hatton would have beaten three fighters ranked in the P4P top ten when he beat them - number one, number three and a number eight, and only have one loss to a P4P number one at a weight higher than his optimum. Of the other fighters currently ranked in the top ten only Hopkins has beaten more fighters in the P4P top ten at the time he beat them (Trinidad, De La Hoya, Wright, Pavlik), but also has more defeats. Pacquiao beat Marquez and Barrera when they were in the top ten. Marquez has only beaten Barrera, Calzaghe only Hopkins.

Purely in terms of who he has beaten, there's a pretty decent argument right there. It then comes down to what criteria you base the selection on, how much weight you put on each criteria, etc, etc.

 

I'd probably be 2 or 3 below Marquez and/or Hopkins if he manages to win. Remember he only lost one fight moving up against Mayweather who was the clear P4P number one at the time.