what would be your hypothetical career path for ricky hatton

To have done that he would of had to fight Witter.

The 10 year period between 95-2005 were a different time. WBU took presidence over the British title with the networks, promoters & fighters.

 

Good point De La Hoya would have been a massive fight here and abroad and a real money spinner. You forget that Oscar had a rematch pencilled in with Mayweather before he "retired" so he took Pac as a name opponent but was expected to walk through him and move onto a fight with Hatton or Cotto.

Its easy to see with hindsight but even on the slide I reckon he could have got Oscar and Khan on his record with the right timing and that would make his resume more impressive. I think however he was inevitably going to run into Pac though a big win over De La Hoya and Khan might have given him enough credibility for a rematch with Mayweather which would have been the same result everyday of the week.

 

DLH's first choice for that fight was Mayweather rematch. Mayweather turned it down as he couldn't get motivated for the fight (people tend to forget that when saying he is just after the cash).

Then they wanted Cotto, but he lost Margorito who he was never going to fight. So then they offered it to Hatton. Hatton's got obsessed with the idea of not fighting at 147lbs again so turned it down. Then they went for Pacquiao.

Hatton could have easially done.

De La Hoya Dec 08
Mallignaggi Apr 09
Khan Sep 09 in a stadium
Pacquiao Dec 09.

Would have another £30mil in the bank no problem.

 

At the time I thought he would have been better off looking at the top guys at Lightweight, Juan Diaz, Nate Campbell and Joel Casamayor. He wasn't the same fighter after the Mayweather defeat. After he struggled with Juan Lazcano I felt he needed to stick to smaller foe that he could bully, in the same way he did with Castillo.

That said at the time I didn't expect Pac to wipe him out the way he did, I thought it would be a good close fight (although I favoured Pac).

 

Subject to beating De La Hoya.

Hatton wouldn't stop Oscar in a million years (even at that stage) and would be in front of him all night long - part of the reason DLH struggled so badly is because of Pacquiao's footwork and handspeed.

Hatton's footwork was good, but his hands were pretty slow by then. A couple of lefts from Oscar would see Hatton seeing stars..... it's not out of the question that Ricky could outbox him to a decision..... but I wouldn't put anything on it.

Even though he was getting badly banged up and was seriously drained..... Pacquiao was teeing off on him at will but still couldn't knock him down. Definitely nothing wrong with his chin. Hatton never sparked a world class fighter - sure he wore a few down, but even that Oscar was a superior fighter to the Malignaggi that Hatton beat up.

If he hadn't got the Hatton fight Paulie would have had to face someone good in order to keep his name out there - as much as you always root for him when he's in there.... it's not great news for him!

 

No, he knew he'd still be on the low side of the offer, so figured it was better to look elsewhere. Mayweather is ALL about money, he's shown zero desire to prove himself as a great fighter.

 

Shouldn't have taken the Pac fight

That's so funny its untrue. Hatton's whole career was built around getting a couple of mega fights, particularly the one with Mayweather. Look at all the things they did with him. Fought tons of WBU defences for good money so that he was rich before he even had to do anything. At world class, he fought guys that were past it like Castillo, or neverbeens like Maussa and Urango while avoiding the likes of Cotto and Zab Judah that had speed and power and were established. He never took a risk once he was champion, they were ticking along, building his profile, building on his image, waiting for that chance to get Mayweather in the ring. He lost and then another massive opportunity to cash out came along. His career path was fairly transparent, to say he shouldn't have taken that fight is a gross misjudgment of what they were trying to achieve.

 

I think it's Floyd that says he is just after the cash.

 

the pacquiao fight is the smartest businees move for any boxer

 

Yeah that's it basically.

No doubt Hatton had a great career overall and his bank account certainly agrees but he was definitely better managed than he ever was as a boxer really.

Not to say that Ricky wouldn't have had any chance against someone like Judah or Cotto but the fact is he never fought either and just fought Maussa and Urango instead.

Hatton's career was managed perfectly in terms of making as much money, fame and leaving as best a legacy as possible behind. He's gonna make the already overcrowded hall of fame and is one of the most famous sportsmen in Britain over the past decade or so.

If he wasn't managed so well, he could quite easily be in the same position as the likes of Junior Witter right now. But boxing is all about timing and marketability and Hatton had both of those down to a tee.