Ricky Hatton to announce retirement from boxing

[MMA Guru]

Despite Richard Schaefer's idea to talk to Ricky Hatton about fighting Juan Manuel Marquez later this year, and his own rumored plans to stage a comeback fight this summer, the latest news is that Ricky "Hitman" Hatton will officially announce his retirement from professional boxing soon.

Hatton, 31, reportedly told friends and family this weekend that he would be hanging up the gloves, 10 months after a brutal second round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.

The move is both surprising and not very surprising at all. Hatton (45-2, 32 KO) had a fantastic run and became a massive international star in boxing, fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao in two of the bigger fights of the 2000s. But he is seen by almost everyone now as damaged goods. The brawling Mancunian has also damaged his own career by ballooning up in weight between fights, earning him the nickname "Ricky Fatton."

But like most things, Hatton took that mocking nickname in stride, and made a joke of it. It was that sort of everyman, laid-back, well-humored personality that made Hatton a major star. Unlike many in boxing, Ricky Hatton never did a lot of bragging about how tough he was, never really went on about kicking asses, never talked a ton of trash. He is a unique personality, one that has connected with a lot of people.

If Hatton does indeed retire, I'll miss him. He was the flagship star for a generation of British boxing, a rough-and-tough brawler who bashed his way past a true great in Kostya Tszyu, and put up the best fight he could against Mayweather later in his career. He beat a lot of good fighters, and he often beat the odds. When you look back at the pre-Tszyu version of Ricky Hatton, it's not all that easy to see how he would become the sort of sensation he did. But through a great rapport with fans and a willingness to fight the best, he became one of the biggest boxing stars of the decade.

http://www.badlefthook.com/2010/3/8/1363665/report-ricky-hatton-to-announce

[MMA Guru]

Sucks dude, I liked Hatton's style. Really too bad if he goes through with it but he's had a great career.

[Kimurafan]

Sucks dude, I liked Hatton's style. Really too bad if he goes through with it but he's had a great career.

Agreed Guru, Hatton's only lost to Floyd and Manny right? That's not to bad if you ask me! I remember sometime last year there was talk about Hitman making a transition to MMA. Randy Couture said in an interview that he'd love to help Ricky train for a career in MMA which I thought was pretty cool. Anybody else remember that?

[Davemal!]

not sure if hatton could take guys like GSP, thiago alves, matt hardy, matt serra because obviously he would go in as a welterweight sure he would give it 100% and probles good to see!

[MMA Guru]

I was figuring Hatton would be LW. Why WW, he's 160 isn't he?

[Davemal!]

where he is boxing at WW he fought as a LW then went WW then back to LW then back to WW and im guessing still is a WW so not sure!

[mmalaskan]

Ricky hatton is probably my least favorite boxer to watch of all time.

He got his ass kicked by Kosta Tszyu for the first 8 rounds of their fight, then only won due to tszyu gassing. Considering the reasons why he was so gassed (having fought only once in the two years before their fight, having had several bad injuries in a row, being 35, and having a career where he actually fought good boxers), and his performance up to that point...his 1 and only legitimate win...wasn't. He was down 5 fucking points, for god's sake.

Then his next legit opponent did the exact same thing...completely dominating him in every aspect of boxing, but in that fight, he couldn't depend on his opponent gassing, since Floyd wasn't an injury prone 35 year old. Which is why he got knocked the fuck out.

And Manny essentially raped him and knocked him out cold in less than 2 full rounds.

He was an over-protected club fighter who had slightly heavy hands, who depended on biased refs and his constant smothering clinching to win even against the many, many palookas he beat.

And on top of his lack of relevant wins, his style was boring as fuck...walk forward, throw lame outside punches that look like he's swatting a fly, and clinch when being outclassed in actual boxing.

Good riddance, hatton. I'm very happy I never have to hear that retarded fucking song your insane fans made for you.

[Boo Dillips]

Ricky hatton is probably my least favorite boxer to watch of all time.

He got his ass kicked by Kosta Tszyu for the first 8 rounds of their fight, then only won due to tszyu gassing. Considering the reasons why he was so gassed (having fought only once in the two years before their fight, having had several bad injuries in a row, being 35, and having a career where he actually fought good boxers), and his performance up to that point...his 1 and only legitimate win...wasn't. He was down 5 fucking points, for god's sake.

Then his next legit opponent did the exact same thing...completely dominating him in every aspect of boxing, but in that fight, he couldn't depend on his opponent gassing, since Floyd wasn't an injury prone 35 year old. Which is why he got knocked the fuck out.

And Manny essentially raped him and knocked him out cold in less than 2 full rounds.

He was an over-protected club fighter who had slightly heavy hands, who depended on biased refs and his constant smothering clinching to win even against the many, many palookas he beat.

And on top of his lack of relevant wins, his style was boring as fuck...walk forward, throw lame outside punches that look like he's swatting a fly, and clinch when being outclassed in actual boxing.

Good riddance, hatton. I'm very happy I never have to hear that retarded fucking song your insane fans made for you.

Dude,seriously? Was being beaten by Tszyu? Are you just lighting up that crack pipe? Put it down and go watch the fight again,he beat him into retirement,Tszyu....QUIT....QUIT....yes I said QUIT on his stool,he smashed him and he QUIT!!!

Biased refs also?That has gotta be the biggest load of shit I've ever heard. Joe Cortez was fucking brilliant when he fought Mayweather....'Hey no punching Ricky!' It's a fucking boxing match douche bag. Cortez should have been in Mayweathers corner between rounds!

Yeah fly swatting...ask Carlos Maussa who he fly swatted out cold. Clinching when your getting a few digs is what your told when your training,I've trained boxing for 5 years and I've been told that by every coach,Mayweather also did a fair bit of that against Hatton and got his ass saved when Hatton was doing his work inside!!!

He got KO'd by the worlds two best P4P? Shame in that? Yeah if you say so!!!

Talking of good riddance,good riddance to your last post because it was the biggest load of incohearant gash I've heard....ever!!!

[mmalaskan]

XD

Kosta was up by 5 points when he couldn't continue. Hatton didn't beat him, father time did. Like I said, he was coming off bad injuries, his age caugt up with him, and he had boxed ONCE in 2 years when he boxed hatton. He was clearly slower, and his stamina was terrible. Still, for time before his age and rust got to him, he put a clinic on hatton.

And as for losing to manny and mayweather, of course that isn't embarassing for him, they are second and first P4P, respectively.

I didn't mention them to mock his losing to them, I mentioned them because they were two of the three fighters that hatton boxed that were anything other than cans and hand-picked opponents.

That's being gentle, too. Beating a 35 year old coming off a HUGE lay off and injuries after injuries kind of detracts from the victory, but I counted it anyway.

To reiterate: his record against actual boxers instead of cans: 1-2.

The win being over a washed up boxer that was ahead of him by 5 points when the fight was stopped (between rounds, which somewhat indicates it had less to do with hatton's vicious hugging game), and the two losses being one-sided ass kickings in which he was finished in both.

And I know how to box, almost definitely a lot better than you. I know that clinching is a good way to get yourself out of queer street. Problem is, clinching is about 90% of hatton's strategy in fights. It wasn't like he got tagged and grabbed people to recollect himself, he genuinely had novice boxng skills. His manner of boxing was what 5 year olds do. He had no skill, no finess, and he had only one good victory in his entire career, and that win was basically only 1/2 a win.

Oh, and double lol@you trying to pretend hatton did anything to floyd besides hug him. You know what the scores were before mayweather put hatton out of his misery? 89-81, 89-81, and 88-82. Hatton got his first real test, and he flunked the shit out of it.

http://i13.tinypic.com/7y3bvuv.gif


But wait, floyd was a bit too big, despite the fact that hatton out-weighed him in the fight itself. He just needs to stick with his...

http://i41.tinypic.com/2rc38ef.gif

BOOM. Second test flunked.

Losing to either isn't embarrassing in and of itself, but getting destroyed 2 out of the 2 times you box a legit, prime boxer is. Hatton had no relevant wins, a very limited skill set, and he was incredibly boring to watch.

I know you're british, but just because he happened to have been born in the same land mass as you doesn't mean he's better than he is.

And I'm not doing it to hate on any other english people...despite the fact that I am openly a bisping hater, and see hatton as being one of the biggest con jobs ever pulled on people, them being english is just a coincidence. I was always a fan of eubank, and if you want a knockout artist, nigel benn was both a better boxer than hatton and a harder hitter than hatton.

I understand he's huge over there, but come on...what other wins can you think of that were in any way relevant to his being highly ranked? He had, at best, 1.

[Dirty Daley]

he really should try his hand in mma,it aint going to taKE AWAY HIS BOXING CAREER HOWEVER HE DOES IN MMA. ufc i think would sign him at 155,he would find it hard there but if they put him against a maynard he would be in trouble.

[mmalaskan]

yeah, losing in MMA wouldn't ruin his status as a boxer.

Win or lose, he will still be a mediocre sweet scientist.

[Boo Dillips]

Vince Phillips,Ben Tackie,Carlos Maussa,Juan Urango,Jose Luis Castilla,Paulie Malignaggi,Juan Lazcano and Luis Collazo,that enough? All genuine title challengers and tough bastards!!!#

As for Hatton transitioning into MMA,I don't see it being a good move,especially to 155. He walks around at about 175-180 when he's not in training and has admitted himself recently that he's finding it hard to cut weight. He enjoys a pint and a pie too much

[mmalaskan]

XD, you forgot Pascal Montulet, colin mcAuley and Dillon Carew.

top ranked boxers, every one. Ricky's hit list is legendary, his oustandingly padded record of has beens and never wasses is unmatched by all by the most slightly above average or better boxers around.

Let me guarantee you of something: If Hatton wasn't english, he wouldn't be noteworthy, and nobody would mistakenly consider him to be good despite never having proven it against legit opponents.

Sad but true, which sucks because there are some legitimately talented english boxers out there. Hatton just isn't one now and never was.

Any boxer with more than an average skill level would have beaten all of the guy's that hatton beat, and that includes his one good win over an over the hill champion who, again, was dominating the younger, bigger hatton until his old age and ring rust caught up to him.

That win was exactly as relevant as Berbick's win over Ali. Hatton has exactly 0 important/relevant wins, and he has proven that he doesn't belong with the true greats of the sport 100% of the time he stepped in the ring with them.

Losing to PBF and manny isn't embarrassing, but his having been 100% destroyed by both without ever doing anything effective somewhat discredits any notion that he's even deserving to be in the same ring as true champions.

He had the first two important tests of his career, and he failed them. I've been saying for a long time that he is an overrated clubfighter with a padded record and an almost complete lack of tangible advantages.