Thread: Some thoughts on Hatton.

I'm a huge Hatton fan. Have been for a long time, always will be. But recently there have been a few things bothering me. I have always disapprovd of Hatton's lifestyle choices; he is a gifted athlete and I feel he is abusing his natural abilities. His lifestyle has had a negative effect on his career in the past, which is as unprofessinal for a boxer as it is for any profession.

However, my primary concern is not with his issues outside of training it is the issues within the camp that concern me.
Matthew Macklin was a decent amateur boxer who prided himself on his skill. Having adopted the Phoenix gym as his gym he had a happy relationship there, getting on well with all the fighters and trainers. However, before his fight with Campas he left, because he was dissatisfied with the gym's mentality. It seems that Billy Graham has adopted a "physicality first" approach and subsequently neglecting boxing skill.

To relate this to hatton I must delve into objective history.
At the begininning of his career Hatton was a phenomenom. His speed, aggression and skill allowed him to scythe through Britains ranks and he became a domestic hero. When he went Internationl, he was equally effective, putting on marvellous performances against durable opposition like Ben Tackie and Eamonn Magee.
This trend continued until Hatton met Kostya Tszyu. In this fight he adjusted tactics, formulating a bold plan with trainer Billy Graham. To negate Tszyu's formidable power with physicality and muffle his right hand. This plan was perfect in defeating Kostya, but the issue lies in the adoption of this strategy in every fight.

Since the Tszyu fight many have felt that Hatton has digressed. I feel he has not digresseed he simply has adopted incorrect tactics. He has used the style he usd to beat Tszyu against younger more mobile opponents and as a reult has expended mounds of energy unnecessarily.
It seems to me Graham has fallen in love with this gunfight style and insists on it's implementation. However, in reality, Ricky would best be served returning to his slicker "aggresive counterpunching" style which he employed before Tszyu.

Ricky's a great guy and a great fighter, but he needs to adjust once more.
Malignaggi and Lazcano would be perfect fights in which to adjust. Two fightewrs he can out muscle and have no reservations about their power.
I want to se Ricky box again, I want to see him set himself up for his once famed body shots rather than simply muscling forward.

He is my favourite active fighter and will be until he retires, but I am very frustrated by this.

I must admit I've never been a big Ricky Hatton fan, not his fighting style at least anyway.

It's always easy to say a fighters skilla are eroding or they are losing what made them great but it also usually coincides with them stepping up in class.

Ricky fought a lot of jobbers and old formely decent fighters prior to Tyszu with one or two excepetions, Magee who floored him and gave him a tough fight, and Tackie who also gave him a hard fight.

I just think he was never an elite level fighter. He's very good but the reason he hasn't looked excellent in any fight since Tyszu is because he's not that much better than the fighters he's faced.

He's a very good fighter but not elite imo.

Well Bilbo, looks like it's just me n you on the board today!

I feel it's a common misconception that Hatton's style is what we see now.
Granted many fighters adjust when they reach the elite in order to cope with the huge jump in power and skill at the top, but Hatton has no problem dealing with these. Billy Graham merely sees the roughouse tactic as a good strtegy, when in reality it is not the best tactic for every fighter.

I'll be honest, if it were anyone but Ricky, I'DD BE DISRESPECTING THEIR STYLE, BUT IT'S ONLY BECAUSE i'VE SEEN FIRSTHAND OVER THE YEARS HIS CAPABILITIES AND i KNOW THAT HE IS ACTUALLY LIMITING HIMSELF USING THIS TACTIC.

Sorry about the Caps, the button is broken

Did you see him when interviewed at the fight the other night? He seemed half-pissed.. which i guess aint surprising anymore

Originally Posted by Fenster

Did you see him when interviewed at the fight the other night? He seemed half-pissed.. which i guess aint surprising anymore

I was sitting behind him

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Well Bilbo, looks like it's just me n you on the board today!

I feel it's a common misconception that Hatton's style is what we see now.
Granted many fighters adjust when they reach the elite in order to cope with the huge jump in power and skill at the top, but Hatton has no problem dealing with these. Billy Graham merely sees the roughouse tactic as a good strtegy, when in reality it is not the best tactic for every fighter.

I'll be honest, if it were anyone but Ricky, I'DD BE DISRESPECTING THEIR STYLE, BUT IT'S ONLY BECAUSE i'VE SEEN FIRSTHAND OVER THE YEARS HIS CAPABILITIES AND i KNOW THAT HE IS ACTUALLY LIMITING HIMSELF USING THIS TACTIC.

Sorry about the Caps, the button is broken

Yeah Kat was here briefly, I enjoyed a fleeting moment with her but she's gone again, probably not to appear for another week.

You probably know many times more about him than I do to be fair. I've never particularly followed him. Nice guy, but has never interested me in the ring.

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Originally Posted by Fenster

Did you see him when interviewed at the fight the other night? He seemed half-pissed.. which i guess aint surprising anymore

I was sitting behind him

Was Keiron Fallon there?

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Originally Posted by Fenster

Did you see him when interviewed at the fight the other night? He seemed half-pissed.. which i guess aint surprising anymore

I was sitting behind him

Lol bet you could smell it on him

I actually will claim this one. I know a fair bit about Hatton, and it has sadened me to see him neglect his talent lately.

I've met a fair few fighters and was never fazed.
I was nervous when I met Ricky, shows how far ahaead he is on my list of favourites I guess!

Originally Posted by Bilbo

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Originally Posted by Fenster

Did you see him when interviewed at the fight the other night? He seemed half-pissed.. which i guess aint surprising anymore

I was sitting behind him

Lol bet you could smell it on him

Heineken


Fenster:
I didn't actually see Keiron there, may have been

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

I'm a huge Hatton fan. Have been for a long time, always will be. But recently there have been a few things bothering me. I have always disapprovd of Hatton's lifestyle choices; he is a gifted athlete and I feel he is abusing his natural abilities. His lifestyle has had a negative effect on his career in the past, which is as unprofessinal for a boxer as it is for any profession.

However, my primary concern is not with his issues outside of training it is the issues within the camp that concern me.
Matthew Macklin was a decent amateur boxer who prided himself on his skill. Having adopted the Phoenix gym as his gym he had a happy relationship there, getting on well with all the fighters and trainers. However, before his fight with Campas he left, because he was dissatisfied with the gym's mentality. It seems that Billy Graham has adopted a "physicality first" approach and subsequently neglecting boxing skill.

To relate this to hatton I must delve into objective history.
At the begininning of his career Hatton was a phenomenom. His speed, aggression and skill allowed him to scythe through Britains ranks and he became a domestic hero. When he went Internationl, he was equally effective, putting on marvellous performances against durable opposition like Ben Tackie and Eamonn Magee.
This trend continued until Hatton met Kostya Tszyu. In this fight he adjusted tactics, formulating a bold plan with trainer Billy Graham. To negate Tszyu's formidable power with physicality and muffle his right hand. This plan was perfect in defeating Kostya, but the issue lies in the adoption of this strategy in every fight.

Since the Tszyu fight many have felt that Hatton has digressed. I feel he has not digresseed he simply has adopted incorrect tactics. He has used the style he usd to beat Tszyu against younger more mobile opponents and as a reult has expended mounds of energy unnecessarily.
It seems to me Graham has fallen in love with this gunfight style and insists on it's implementation. However, in reality, Ricky would best be served returning to his slicker "aggresive counterpunching" style which he employed before Tszyu.

Ricky's a great guy and a great fighter, but he needs to adjust once more.
Malignaggi and Lazcano would be perfect fights in which to adjust. Two fightewrs he can out muscle and have no reservations about their power.
I want to se Ricky box again, I want to see him set himself up for his once famed body shots rather than simply muscling forward.

He is my favourite active fighter and will be until he retires, but I am very frustrated by this.

I agree with that about falling in love with the style used to beat Kostya. I thought when Macklin lost to Moore he was fighting like a crazy Hatton clone too.

Although I do believe Hatton has "lost" it.. so you'll never get the "old" Hatton back and you wont see any major improvements.

Smashing Lazcano around the ring will help convince many he's "back"...

It's a definite possbility at his age

However, I feel he could actually elongate his career by returning to his old style.

The mugging style does not work against everybody and I feel it could actually be exploited by Malignaggi

The best i have seen Hatton (since the Kostya fight) was the 1st 6 rounds against Urango.

That's how he used to fight. He was very good. Ok Urango is limited but he was the champion and he was dangerous with his strength and power.

I just feel that he has been weary of his opponents power at world class level. That's why he has altered his style.

He's just closed the distance as quickly as possible which has led to a lot of tying up and holding.

This is for 2 reasons i believe

A) He doesn't want to stand off against more skilled fighters (collazo, mayweather)

B) He's wary of his opponents power and doesn't want them to get any leverage on their punches (Tszyu, Urango, Castillo)


While he's still fighting world class fighters, we won't see the old Hitman which is a shame because the old Hitman was a better fighter imo.

I agree about the first six rounds Ono.

I believe however, they've adopted the new strategy saying "it worked against Tszyu."
However styles make fights and this means the tactic will have varying levels of usefullness in each fight with each unique opponent.

I can't tell you how happy I was during the Urango fight "Yes Rickys back on form!" but then he dredged it out in the trenches

What I'm not sure Graham realises is that with that style, the physical demands are greater as he uses every ounce of muscle he has, and he is also shortening Hatton's career

Originally Posted by ono

The best i have seen Hatton (since the Kostya fight) was the 1st 6 rounds against Urango.

That's how he used to fight. He was very good. Ok Urango is limited but he was the champion and he was dangerous with his strength and power.

I just feel that he has been weary of his opponents power at world class level. That's why he has altered his style.

He's just closed the distance as quickly as possible which has led to a lot of tying up and holding.

This is for 2 reasons i believe

A) He doesn't want to stand off against more skilled fighters (collazo, mayweather)

B) He's wary of his opponents power and doesn't want them to get any leverage on their punches (Tszyu, Urango, Castillo)


While he's still fighting world class fighters, we won't see the old Hitman which is a shame because the old Hitman was a better fighter imo.

I agree that Hatton looked wonderful in the first 6. He was boxing beautifully. Nice combinations, not looking to mug his way on the inside. The Kostya fight was great but very ugly. It was a case of it being the right fight for that situation though. Hatton has blown cold more often than not since Kostya. It could have been much better with the correct approach ie self discipline and realising that a boxing career is finite and there is plenty of time to eat bacon butties when its over! Of course, he trained hard for Floyd, but I dont think the strategy was there at all really....on reflection.

Reflection should be a key aspect to any comeback off of a knockout loss. And I hope Ricky is able to do that. Of course, I will support Ricky in his fights and this is one he should win with ease. It would be nice to see an evolution or development of some sort though because any step back into the big time afterwards will demand it.