BoxRec

I hope this thread recieves a mature response and does not entice all the Hatton haters/lovers out of there rabbit holes! Its a legitimate question and not a thread intended to start a bitch brawl. If you are not mature enough to give a reasoned response then please post your Hatton drivel elsewhere!

It is my opinion that Hatton is not what he once was. I believe that the Hatton of 2004 would have boxed circles around Lazcano and would most probably have stopped him at somepoint. He won a lopsided decision, but it was not the Hatton we once knew fighting in there. But the question is, just how far has Hatton slipped?

Personally, i think Hatton is now about 60% of what he once was! That may seem drastic, but i really do feel he has slipped very far from his boxing peak. He obviously still has what it takes to remain at the very top of the 140lb'ers, but after watching him on Saturday night i dont see his fight with Malignagi as a foregone conclusion. If the Hatton of 2004 was set to fight Mallignigi now, i think he would give him an absolute pasting!

PS. i also think the Hatton of 2004 would have given Mayweather a real run for his money at 140lbs!

I think he's not the fighter he was. I tried to view Saturday's fight bearing in mind the psychological effects of the loss and believe that offers some mitigation, however 2 major things concerned me: physically I thought he looked gaunt (although he still maintained a cracking pace), and he was way too easy to hit (and hurt).

I think he's on the slide but can still be a major factor for a few more fights. I think Mayweather handles him much more easily if they were to meet again though.

Of course he's on the slide but he's still got a lot more to offer. I reckon he's the number one at 140lbs and would still beat Paulie, Torres, Bradley, Kotelnik and everyone else in my opinion. It would, of course, be naive to think that Hatton's at his peak as the Urango, Maussa and Collazo fights have shown us, but he's still won them all. He got stunned for a minute against Lazcano - big deal. Lazcano is a tough fighter and he stunned Castillo and Harris a few times - he's just not the bets finisher in the world. I reckon Hatton should go after Paulie at Madison Square Garden and then unify against Torres or Holt at Wembley - I'm sure he would neary fill that.

And then retire as one of the greats at 140lbs ever...

Matt W wrote:I think he's on the slide but can still be a major factor for a few more fights. I think Mayweather handles him much more easily if they were to meet again though.

Agreed, after watching Hatton/Lazcano, i think Mayweather would really hand it to him in a rematch.

Christ, i wish Hatton had fought Mayweather in 2004!

Hatton should have kept himself in the gym for 10 years instead of balloning up in weight. He would've stood a much better chance against Floyd because during their fight, Hatton seemed to wilt after the 6th round, whereas against Kostya he didn't stop and still looked strong at the end. Team Hatton should've tried to get the fight down at a catchweight of 144lbs and fornicate the WBC belt off, because then it would've been interesting. I remember 4/6 at the bookies for a Floyd win is probably the best bet ever - I just couldn't back against Ricky, so I knowingly lost a lot of money.

Hatton is on the slide but he wasn't that great in the first place!

I think hatton has just stepped up his competition since 2003-2004. I don't see what Hatton has lost, hes always fought the same way pretty much and hes always got caught by big flush counters as Tackie, Phillips and Magee can testify. Don't forget it nearly looked like Tackie was going to KO Ricky at the end and Tackie is as limited as they come.

I voted 90% but he maybe at his peak

He is 70% of what he was.. at 100% he was able to have toiugh fights with Collazo and Urango and they are not elite.


So, 70% of Hatton means that he gets mashed down sooner or later, PBF stops him in 5 and someone with a punch and chin tears him apart.

If at 100% he 'just' competed on an even level with the lower end of World Class, he should retire now he is at 70%.

Peter Hick wrote:Hatton is on the slide but he wasn't that great in the first place!

He is considered the number 1 at Light-welterweight. I think that means he was great.

I chose: Hatton is now 70% of what he once was!

His punch resistance looks dreadful now. That's my biggest worry with him. I don't think Malignaggi is too much worry to him, though, as I think Hatton hasn't slipped too much in other areas.

Partly on the slide, partly too predictable, partly stuck in a rut. Still the most aggressive 140lber out there and thus able to beat the rest.

On the slide - punch resistance is definitely looking worse, fitness in the championship rounds now looks worse and conditioning meant he closed the distance and held on in the last three rounds on saturday when he was doing much better at a distance but most of all FEET - they are just not doing they used to do and his balance is suffering as a result - thats when he gets whacked, lunging in and missing with his hooks completely off balance.

Too predictable - Everyone knows when and where to catch Hatton know. He hasn't altered his style to cope with it. At Hatton's level you have to assume that people will have detailed plans on how to exploit your weaknesses and modify accordingly. Ricky for too long has believed that the answer was training harder to do more of the same. In fact its training smarter to add little bits that are different.

Stuck in a rut - The training routine hasnt evolved enough to address the shortcomings. Ditch the body bag. Bring in different sparring partners. Modify the lifestyle. Add some tactical insight into the camp to shake things up. Hatton needs it for his own stimulation - he used to be a sharp analyst of his own style and now his thinking is blunted. Too much routine in his routine, too many yes-men around. His loyalty is his strength and his weakness. If he looked forward he still might have two or three really great wins in him, if he just counts back from his retirement then he has two or three struggles against lesser men and a slight question mark over his career.

I don't know what is the problem here. Hatton's been fairly easy to hit all his career with his wide hooks - it's just certain fighters that punch straight that catch him out a bit. If you look back Jono Thaxton, Eamon Magee, Vince Phillips, Albert Rios, Luis Collazo and Floyd Mayweather all got to Ricky by hitting him down the pipe when he jumped forward. I will agree that he's on the decline but if he's going to get knocked out fatigue is going to play a massive part on it, accompanied with being wide open for the right. If he led a healthy life style from day one instead of going on the kebab and bitter diet then he would've lasted the distance against Mayweather and not fell apart after the 7th round. And his punch resistance would be great again - it's not the Mayweather KO that has hurt Hatton, it's his stupid choice to bounce in weight that might lead to him being knocked out again. However, Paulie Malignaggi won't do it.

Is Hatton on the slide? You decide!

Blimey, with this kind of power on our side we can do anything!


After we decide if Hatton is on the slide, should we decide if Bin Laden gets captured? or some such?

Surely a better use of our powers?

Its a tough one. Hatton certainly looked very weight drained, dry cracked lips showing the dehyrdration he was suffering, and almost skeletal in the face after the weigh in. Plus there was the chest infection a couple of weeks before the fight which may have had an impact. Also his first fight back from defeat, in front of a massive home crowd, was a big hurdle to get over.

What concerned me was he actually looked hurt a few times, something he hasn't before. The body punch in the 8th really hurt him, but to be fair he tied Lazcano up and fought back well. Lazcano had an almost indestructable air about him and maybe most fighters would have struggled to stop him that night.

Colin Harts comments in the Sun were stupid that being hit by Lazcano was the same as a ball of cotton wool hitting you, what an idiot. Lazcano is a solid puncher and capable of hurting anyone he hits.

I think I need to see Hatton fight again to make my mind up. There are certainly points you could raise to show Hattons slide, but then he was never the hardest fight to hit and nerves played a big part, as well as Lazcano fighting out of his skin.

Hatton has lost a lot of lateral and head movement. He is far easier to hit these days.

His Awful Lifestyle Out of the Ring and Out of Training is beginning to take Major effect now IMO. Could be Wrong, but surely the more he destroys himself like this, the more his Boxing Skills will Diminish.

I don't think he's ever going to get over what Mayweather did to him.

Oh well, never mind!

WildWaylon wrote:Hatton has lost a lot of lateral and head movement. He is far easier to hit these days.

I agree with this, Hatton doesn't box at the standard he used to - I can see the point that he is now boxing at higher level, but you'd have to be blind not to notice that he now relies on strength to walk through what the opponent is putting there.

People mention Tackie, Phillips and Magee, but he dominated all 3 fights, even with Magee having him all over the shop and nearly out of there, he still went on to win the next 10 rounds, and that is because he used his boxing ability.

He's most definitely neglecting some of his other attributes, but at least he works hard for a win, unlike a certain other light welter from these shores.

Twinkle Toes wrote:

WildWaylon wrote:Hatton has lost a lot of lateral and head movement. He is far easier to hit these days.

I agree with this, Hatton doesn't box at the standard he used to - I can see the point that he is now boxing at higher level, but you'd have to be blind not to notice that he now relies on strength to walk through what the opponent is putting there.

People mention Tackie, Phillips and Magee, but he dominated all 3 fights, even with Magee having him all over the shop and nearly out of there, he still went on to win the next 10 rounds, and that is because he used his boxing ability.

He's most definitely neglecting some of his other attributes, but at least he works hard for a win, unlike a certain other light welter from these shores.

I fail to see how Lazcanno is a worse opponent than Tackie, Phillips, Magee and I don't think Hatton performed better. I just watched a few old fights taking some time out this morning, Lets look:

Tackie - telegraphed slow shots and had zero defense. Lost every round against an aging Shamba Mitchell around the time Ndou got jobbed against Mitchell. Tackie hadnt fought in a year and wasnt top10 in any fair rankings

Hatton boxed nicely early on but it was Ben Tackie he was doing it against who was easy to hit. I agree with you here he used his jab and footwork better but it was an easy target to do that against. And the defense still saw Hatton getting tagged by rights often despite them being telegraphed, slow and easy to figure out

Phillips - In his prime excellent but 39yo semi-retired fighter who was a recovering crack addict and had flown in the day before the fight. Came to survive and pick up a cheque but still landed the big clean right hand plenty of times shaking Hatton up

Magee - Magee landed time and again but was overwhelmed not having the stamina/speed/workrate, Magee never had the best stamina himself and would lose widely Ukral (who he also floored). Magee won about 4-5rounds but was solidly outworked in the other rounds. Again Hatton wasn't winning this 1 on defense/boxing but more on his natural speed and phenomenal workrate

No when it comes to defense and boxing lets not forget the words of Billy Graham before the Tyszu fight 'I think Defense is overrated'

"I think Defense is overrated"

Top trainer my ass

The biggest change I've seen in Hatton after watching his old fights is the amount of muscle hes added to his physique. It looks like a different body he has today, far harder, far more muscular. Kerry Kayes has slapped muscle onto his physique with the bodybuilding routine, supplements and diet it looks like hes carrying 10lbs more muscle, with less bodyfat.

Hatton has never trained for defense or jabbing his way in, he trains with the human bodybag, does cardio and hits the weights - this brings his physical game upto a very high level. But it doesn't give him defensive or boxing ability because throwing hell to leather for spam against a target that doesnt fire back simply doesn't prepare you to bob and weave or make it necessary for you to jab or fire sneaky shots

Fighters fight to their advantages and Hattons biggest advantage is strength and workrate. if he trys to outjab the fighters hes fighting now, he'll come off second best against most. Remember John Ruiz wasn't a jab and grab fighter earlier in his career, he was more of a fleet footed jab and mover, after getting destroyed by Tua he changed his style to the boring but effective jab and grab.

The fact is Hatton maybe at his peak in some ways (strength/power) and he may never have had the boxing defense or attributes some are saying he had when he was getting cut up against gatekeepers. Yes he has boxing attributes now and did then too, just not elite level in this area.