Ricky Hatton, the final reflection

I agree with a lot of what was said in the opening post, and think this is a good thread coming in the aftermath of Ricky's final retirement, but I disagree with this quoted comment.


How and why did the nature of those defeats demonstrate that Hatton was some way past his best? :huh


Q - Was Hatton fighting and beating guys of the calibre of Pacquiao and Mayweather a couple of years earlier, or whenever his peak was supposed to be?

A - Nope.



Q - Is it not possible for a fighter to suffer comprehensive/crushing losses in his prime?

A - Of course it is, especially when he comes up against p4p-calibre fighters. Many better fighters than Ricky Hatton have suffered convincing losses in their primes.



I ask again, how and why did the nature of those defeats demonstrate that Hatton was some way past his best? :huh

 

I don't think Hatton was at his absolute peak when he fought Mayweather, because Hatton's absolute peak was at 140lbs, Luis Collazo had already shown Hatton was not a particularly effective welterweight, he was noticeably worse at 147 than 140. At 140, Hatton beats Collazo-calibre fighters much more comfortably.

I don't think Hatton was at his absolute peak when he fought Pacquiao either, but there's a difference between someone being past their peak, and someone being considerably and noticeably 'past-prime'/'shot' to the point that it devalues a win over said fighter. Pacquiao and Mayweather are probably both past their absolute peaks now, but they are both still capable of performing effectively at a high level, as was Hatton in the Malignaggi fight. A prime Miguel Cotto broke Malignaggi's jaw and couldn't force the stoppage, but Hatton under Floyd Sr was so dominant over Paulie that he became the first guy to stop him. By no sane definition could Hatton be considered 'washed-up' or whatever other rubbish his fans come up with to offset the fact he suffered a crushing stoppage defeat.

 

PS: Yes, I could also see an absolute peak Tszyu (circa 2001 not 2005) on a given night beating Pacquiao or Mayweather. I wouldn't back him to beat either of them, but it's by no means out of the question. His power and incisiveness make him a live dog against 99% of people who've ever fought at lww.

 

As soon as I read this sentence I started to think of how fun Pryor vs Tszyu would be at 140.

 

c'mon people. hatton was no all timer but he acheived world titles in two weights, shared the ring with some legends, headlined/sold out vegas a few times.....
he can put on classics like castillo-corales for his grandkids and say "yeah i knocked out that guy"......
he had great coverage on HBO etc (24/7 twice was it?).....
all these things that lots of fighters aspire to (and many 'better' boxers never get). and he can retire with a large sum of dough i'm sure.
granted he was no elite boxer but to dismiss all he acheived is just classless.

 

He would have beaten most of the top 10 140 lbers at that time.

 

I've scored it to both Hatton and Collazo on the 2 times I watched it, it was very close and with all due respect you're a Hatton fan. It doesn't matter if it's 'American judges', Collazo isn't American and Hatton is the money fighter the promoters wanted to win

 

WTF are you blabbering on about now dum dum? Low Self-Esteem? ****ing prat.

 

Good for you. Boxing's a subjective sport. I saw otherwise. Debateable in my eyes. Deal with it.