How do you rate Ricky Hattons career?

[Horse]

His body punching was standout and all the Witter talk is pish , in his prime Ricky would have beaten him .

He should have fought him then.

[Horse]

Maybe he did. Can't remember if Witter was ever a mandatory for Hatton. Witter won the WBC at 140 and Hatton the IBF but I don't blame Ricky for chasing the dollars at that time, Witter just didn't sell tickets

If he'd have fought good opposition instead then I'd say fair enough, but most of Hatton's reign as champion was lacklustre.

A fight with Witter could have been the highlight.

[rd350lc]

His body punching was standout and all the Witter talk is pish , in his prime Ricky would have beaten him .

He should have fought him then.

More money to be made elsewhere at the time I would think .

Witter had very little following and I can't think it would have been a massive domestic showdown.

[Horse]

More money to be made elsewhere at the time I would think .

Witter had very little following and I can't think it would have been a massive domestic showdown.

Bigger than Maussa or Lazcano.

[Coco]

More money to be made elsewhere at the time I would think .

Witter had very little following and I can't think it would have been a massive domestic showdown.

Bigger than Maussa or Lazcano.

Hatton didn't want to give Witter the payday. He never avoided anyone and was one of Britains best fighters of his generation.
For me only Lewis, Hamed and JC rated better.

[SticknMove]

Exactly.

Amazes me that people still talk about Hatton ducking/avoiding Witter whilst facing p4p two of the best names in the sport.

Hatton genuinely disliked Witter and begrudged giving him a payday off his own popularity. Instead he chose bigger paydays against the best the sport had to offer.

In a day and age where top level boxers only fight a few times a year it is understandable.

His career is substantiated by beating Tzsyu and becoming a 2 weight champ.

[Boxerbeetle]

great fighter with a very good career. I think he paid the price for chasing mayweather up to welterweight. Lost a lot of a advantages doing so, should have stayed at LWW after the Tszyu fight. That said his KO of Castillo was one of his career highlights.

Was Cotto a LWW at that time? would have been a great fight.

At that time I fancied Hatton strongly against Cotto. Another good fight that got away unfortunately.

Same here, I thought Cotto was massively overrated at the time.

[Stuarty]

great fighter with a very good career. I think he paid the price for chasing mayweather up to welterweight. Lost a lot of a advantages doing so, should have stayed at LWW after the Tszyu fight. That said his KO of Castillo was one of his career highlights.

Was Cotto a LWW at that time? would have been a great fight.

At that time I fancied Hatton strongly against Cotto. Another good fight that got away unfortunately.

Same here, I thought Cotto was massively overrated at the time.

I think in 05/06 Hatton would've done him at 140. Not so sure about afterwards at 147. Cotto would've more than likely done Hatton then at Welter.

[Horse]

Hatton didn't want to give Witter the payday. He never avoided anyone and was one of Britains best fighters of his generation.
For me only Lewis, Hamed and JC rated better.

I guess most of the good fights wouldn't have made any money.

So, that's why he fought the big money makers like Lazcano and Urango even though they weren't very good.

[Horse]

Exactly.

Amazes me that people still talk about Hatton ducking/avoiding Witter whilst facing p4p two of the best names in the sport.

He took on the two best P4Pers in the world, in great risk vs reward fights, for loads of money. How brave!

Hatton genuinely disliked Witter and begrudged giving him a payday off his own popularity. Instead he chose bigger paydays against the best the sport had to offer.

In a day and age where top level boxers only fight a few times a year it is understandable.

His career is substantiated by beating Tzsyu and becoming a 2 weight champ.

Ricky Burns is a three weight world champ.

Hatton beat Collazo for his 2nd weight world title. Big whoop!

[Wales]

Exactly.

Amazes me that people still talk about Hatton ducking/avoiding Witter whilst facing p4p two of the best names in the sport.

Hatton genuinely disliked Witter and begrudged giving him a payday off his own popularity. Instead he chose bigger paydays against the best the sport had to offer.

In a day and age where top level boxers only fight a few times a year it is understandable.

His career is substantiated by beating Tzsyu and becoming a 2 weight champ.

It’s well documented Frank wazza advised him not to at the time because junior would ger far too much money compared to what he brought to the table. Hatton was a ticket seller junior wasn’t, Hatton was selling out the MEN getting 90% of the purse at almost zero risk. If you were Hattons promoter making big money off his fights would you advise him to fight a guy that brought more risk and less profit to the table.

[banjo]

Good.

He pissed about a bit before he faced Tszyu when he could have fought guys like Mitchell, Corley, Gatti, Urkal, Julio etc. His reign wasn't brilliant but he did beat the recognised #1 in the 140lb division even if he was a bit long in the tooth(though people weren't saying that prior to the fight were they? ), should have fought Witter too, though I don't see that fight as that big a deal, Ricky beat Eamon Magee who in my opinion was just as good as Witter(who incidentally wouldn't fight Magee himself). In the world of internet forums Witter developed an unwarranted reputation as a killer based on his string of KO wins over nobodies post Judah, but once he stepped up into more quality opposition that power wasn't as evident.

Overall he was a very good fighter with a massive win on his record but overall his career was pretty ordinary considering he fought in a division which for a substantial amount of time had a lot of quality in it.

[lillywhite14]

Hatton was never going to have a career that went in to his mid-late thirties. Even ingoroing his lifestyle outside the ring, his style inside wasn’t made for two decades of professional boxing. He was relentless at his best.

Underrated skills that just couldn’t cut it against the elite. He had a great career and he is the main reason why we see so much success from Britain now, all the big nights and sold out arenas/stadiums. He was the best supported fighter to come out of Britain and Ireland.

Tszyu was a great win despite getting him st the right time. Castillo win was very, very impressive too.

Witter would have retreated up his own chad had the fight ever been made. He’d have been ultra negative and lost a lopsided decision.

Fvcking Catterall and Flanagan? They’d probably qualify as sparring partners for a prime Hatton!

[banjo]

I've heard that Hatton and Witter don't get along too badly these days, they not best buddies or anything like that though.

[PredatorHayds]

I've heard that Hatton and Witter don't get along too badly these days, they not best buddies or anything like that though.

True. Witters been in Hattons gym to spar some of his youngsters in the past.

[Horse]

I've heard that Hatton and Witter don't get along too badly these days, they not best buddies or anything like that though.

He should have fought Witter for his comeback.

Much better than a Senchenko fight.

[Coco]

Hatton didn't want to give Witter the payday. He never avoided anyone and was one of Britains best fighters of his generation.
For me only Lewis, Hamed and JC rated better.

I guess most of the good fights wouldn't have made any money.

So, that's why he fought the big money makers like Lazcano and Urango even though they weren't very good.

Same money, easier fighters and Witter was left fighting in leisure centers for chump change.

[Horse]

Same money, easier fighters and Witter was left fighting in leisure centers for chump change.

Yes, easier and far less interesting fights.

You use this as a defence of Hatton?

That he was a vindictive wiener, happy to fight chumps for easy money?

[banjo]

Same money, easier fighters and Witter was left fighting in leisure centers for chump change.

Yes, easier and far less interesting fights.

You use this as a defence of Hatton?

That he was a vindictive wiener, happy to fight chumps for easy money?

Nope his team were clever, boxing is about making money, you can go through all the champions in history, great or otherwise, there's always somebody they never fought.

[Horse]

Nope his team were clever, boxing is about making money, you can go through all the champions in history, great or otherwise, there's always somebody they never fought.

That's up to them, but I'm not going to pretend that I respect it.

A duck's a duck. Hatton ducked Witter, because he was too much of a risk.

That might have been good business, but he doesn't get to claim the high ground.

Witter is the moral winner against Hatton.

[SticknMove]

Oh no he isn't .

How about that for a pantomime horse

[banjo]

Nope his team were clever, boxing is about making money, you can go through all the champions in history, great or otherwise, there's always somebody they never fought.

That's up to them, but I'm not going to pretend that I respect it.

A duck's a duck. Hatton ducked Witter, because he was too much of a risk.

That might have been good business, but he doesn't get to claim the high ground.

Witter is the moral winner against Hatton.

Do you think Hatton cares? I know I wouldn't, I'd even log here and go "I might be a chicken, but I'm a rich chicken! trololololololol"

[REEVE]

Think about it like this lads .......

Ricky Hatton made enough money from boxing to live comfortably for the rest of his life ..... how many other British boxers can say that ?

Anyone who makes enough ££ to live the rest of their life on from boxing has been very successful imo !

[Horse]

Do you think Hatton cares? I know I wouldn't, I'd even log here and go "I might be a chicken, but I'm a rich chicken! trololololololol"

Money can only buy someone so much.

Is he happy?

Bragging about his money would not impress me and probably very few others on here either.

[Horse]

Think about it like this lads .......

Ricky Hatton made enough money from boxing to live comfortably for the rest of his life ..... how many other British boxers can say that ?

Anyone who makes enough ££ to live the rest of their life on from boxing has been very successful imo !

I don't care about his money, I care about his record.

We are meant to rate fighters based on how much money they made now?