BoxRec

So what happens if Hatton loses this one, what would be his next move:-

a) Leave the game - retire (If he loses he may be dejected & think he may never be world class)
b) Fight bums for the rest of his career - similar to the opposition he has already faced
c) Go in to another big fight straight away - Gatti, Mayweather, Tszyu, Mitchell, Witter, Cotto, Pinto, Spadafora etc etc
d) Have a few warm up fights (6-8 months) then go for the big boys again (Only problem here is he may get stuck in the routine of fighting nobodies again - and he has already had 36 warm up fights)

Any idea's or suggestions ???

Big foghts will still be avaliable cos he's exciting, and guys will fancy their chances. Not sure if Warren will throw him back into a world class fight, or bring himback slowly. Probabbly the latter.

Maybe he'll fight Spadafora and then move back up to fight someone who may actually beat him?

THing is, if he wins, he'll probably still only fight bums until he gives Frankie another ultimatum.

He'll leave SN if he loses, for sure. He's now having a pop at Warren for announcing the fight prematurely...

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/sport ... dlers.html

If he leaves Sports Network surely the only option can be to go to America, what other options does he have over in the UK (not many)

I don't think a loss is a nail in the coffin for Hatton, he's still going to be an exciting fighter no matter what. He could move to America, but I don't know that switching trainers would suit Hatton, and I cannot see Graham moving to the states with him. The sparring would suit hatton out there, but I feel he likes to be near home to train, though I certainly believe him when he says he will fight anywhere.

I find it amazing that Hatton wasn't even consulted about this fight.

Hatton got his fight and I'm sure he'll get well paid. Yes Warren should have discussed money first but Hatton put so much pressure on him no wonder he just signed up. Fact is Hatton has earned a fortune and in most cases he has been fighting very limited opposition, if he gets a bit less but a crack at the belt so be it.

Can see him losing and then setting up a fight with Witter either at the end of the year, or beginning of next year.

Unless he gets KO'd badly, in which case he'll go back to fighting bums as warm up fights. Then it will be Hatton wanting to fight Witter and not the other way round.

if he loses,i think the manner of defeat could decide what level he continues fighting at,if he"s outclassed completely the he"s a european title or wbo level fighter ,but win or lose there will be plenty of challengers for him

Yes, If Harris batters him from pillar to post, then I think it will be clear that Ricky is sub-world class, however if it's a close points loss, or Hatton loses on cuts after a good display, then there's no great loss there.

This fight is a win-win situation for Hatton, If he loses but puts up a good fight then there are all sorts of fights out there for him, If he wins he is the world champion.

Yes, I agree - Hatton is too young to write off should he lose. His wins over Tackie, Magee and Phillips already show will always be on the fringes of world class even if he loses against Harries. He's still a massive star in the UK and will always sell tickets. I think he could work is way back to world title contention (maybe a different route, but still better than the WBO) within the year.

Like others have already stated I think the manner of the lose is the important thing. I tight points, or cuts lose should not effect his career to much, but if Harris outclasses him then it's back to fighting lower level opponents for at leats the next 12 months to a still well attended MEN arena.

Hatton is young enough and I assume hungary enough to come back well from a 'debatable' lose.

Having said that I think Hatton beat Harris.

Ben Keilty wrote:This fight is a win-win situation for Hatton, If he loses but puts up a good fight then there are all sorts of fights out there for him, If he wins he is the world champion.

that will still be Tszyu.

Does anybody actually want Hatton to win?

I used to like him. If he had of stepped up a few years earlier I'd be one of his biggest fans, but watching him beat the likes of Smith, Vilches and Rios while shortchanging the fans and conning the public has made me salivatating at the prospect of seeing him Ko'd. So much so that I am planning to be there when it happens.

IMO I think Hatton is the first true world class fighter to come out of Britian in a long time. Hatton is a very strong fighter and a good boxer with a very high work rate I think he would cause problems for any fighter in the division. I do however think he appears to lack some confidence in himself, so he may have big problems with a very slick very confident boxer like Mayweather. But if he keeps his head together and trains correctly I believe he will beat Harris. He should then look for Gatti.
Probably best for him to stay away from the likes of Mayweather and tsyzu for now.

I dont think think he will be another Naz(ie. dominant at domestic level but not quite good enough at world level) he can only improve if he works hard and keeps his head together.

Shit, Naz was a true world class fighter and that cannot be disputed. Probably greater than Ricky will ever be. Watch the documentary following the training for the Barrera fight and it partly explains his performance. Even the Barrera fight was only won by a few points, everyone likes to make out that Naz was utterly dominated when he won a good lot of rounds, this despite completely awful preparation. Naz was the featherweight of the 90s.

I think Tszyu's done. He cannot be called the best in the division anymore, the guys just too inactive and injured. Who even knows if he's still the same fighter anymore. He was having trouble making the limit before the injuries, he's now even older and its gonna be even harder. He should beat Mitchell then move to welter, thats if his hunger is still there. Tszyu does blow up a lot in between fights.

I've watched the program you are talking about and it seems like Naz's training was in a mess. And when I say hes not world class I mean he stops short only at the very highest level. For me Naz didn't acheive enough at world level. I have watched his fight with Barrera a few times and I just cant see how he could beat Barrera, He was just pawing with jabs and trying to land with his hard right hand which wasn't successful. He didn't win any rounds clearly and was only given most of the rounds that he won by having a higher work rate than Barrera. Barrera was very cautious and when he did mix it with Naz, he came out on top every time rocking Naz.

I really liked watching Naz and would have liked him to have beaten Barrera, but if was a true legend he would have been more prepared for Barrera or at least would have went looking for revenge; instead he disapointed his fans by disapearing after all his talk of becoming a legend and moving up weights etc. Because of this he has never convinced me that he had what it took at the highest level.

I believe Hatton has the ability to become a true british legend though. Just my opinion :)

I watched that fight several times, and Naz was awarded several rounds for doing fornicate all. That was a totally one sided fight, and Naz hardly landed a meaningful shot on Barrera all night. Barrera as rightly pointed out, gave some rounds away by fighting extremely cautiously, but I still would have given him most of those rounds as Naz was trying but failing to hit him.

lirva33 wrote:Does anybody actually want Hatton to win?

I do.

But would have liked it even more if Hatton had upped the opposition about 18 months ago.

thats a daft question (no offence) of course I do, Id support british fighters as a matter of course. the only one i wont is herbie hide.

Well I definitely want to see Hatton win, can't imagine too many in England who don't? As a boxing fan in the UK, we can use all the stars we can get - it's good for the future of the game over here after all.
With Hatton, we might just have a genuine world champ on our hands ( assuming Mr Tszyu walks/limps off into the sunset ). Then again, maybe we'll find out he's not good enough to live with the Vivian Harris' of this world - but you know he's gonna give it a very good shot, so it'll be fun while it lasts.

I happen to like Harris as a fighter too - but the way he's trash talking at the moment makes me want to see Hatton beat him even more

"I want to go over there and fight Ricky Hatton cause his punk ass doesn’t want to come here. Keep talking, cause I’m going to have the last word after this fight. Keep talking cause I’m going to beat him in his mouth."

The trash talk in the lead up to the fight is going to add to it I think. It will make me look foward to it even more, by the time they get in the ring the could be some real fire between the two. Rickys fans will get wind of what Harris has been saying and it will get them into it even more.

MightyWarrior wrote:
"I want to go over there and fight Ricky Hatton cause his punk ass doesn’t want to come here. Keep talking, cause I’m going to have the last word after this fight. Keep talking cause I’m going to beat him in his mouth."

Some peolpe always have to bring bottoms into it, don't they.

This is one of the biggest mysteries in boxing to me...the protection of the golden '0' in the loss column.

Naz has been mentioned and if he had wanted to, talked the talk and all that bullshit, the rematch would have grossed more than the first.

A loss can often open up a lot of previously closed doors for a fighter though. Others think they'll pick the bones and big fights happen.

Look at how many greats in the past have had more than the odd loss and still gone on to achieve marvellous things!