How good was Rick Hatton?

[porkypara]

Britains most popular boxer ever but how good was he really in the ring?

Did we all get caught up in the hype and think he was better than he was?

[Hulk]

He was very good. Tenacious is the first word that comes to mind to describe Hatton. He would have had a tear up with Bradley, but beaten him. And I think he could have gotten to Khan as well. Hatton was a ferocious body puncher and dogmatic pressure fighter with a champion's heart. Those qualities led him to fight above what his talent otherwise would have afforded him to. His only losses are to the very best of the best in Mayweather and Pacquaio, although I think he lost to Collazo as well.

[imp]

Lets get this straight. Ricky would have been a 25% better fighter if he didnt ballon up in weight and get fat between fights but he still deserves much respect for having the heart of a lion, a great personality and the balls to fight maywether in his prime, at his weight.
No one can say ricky didnt fight the best but he was never the same after the mayweather fight but that didnt stop him racking up a few wins afterward and now is great promoter!
Being undefeated means nothing if you dont have the balls to step out of your comfort zone and fight the best.
Calzaghe could learn alot from ricky in fighting overseas early and taking more risks!
Either way, they are both great fighters and ricky did the right thing in hanging up the gloves.

[porkypara]

His 2 loses were agains the number 1 boxer in the world at the time.

He could have gone on for many more years if he had wanted but made the right choise to get out when he did.

Also he gave a good 5 or 6 years of great action for British fight fans.

[ross]

He beat Tszyu and Mayweather didnt

[Fenster]

Hatton was a proven great fighter for his day.

He was good enough to become the lineal lightwelter champion, P4P ranked by America's Ring Magazine, be paid millions by America's HBO TV company and be voted the "fighter of the year" by the boxing writers association of America.

How many foreigners achieve those accolades in America? Exactly. Fact.

[porkypara]

Hatton was a proven great fighter for his day.

He was good enough to become the lineal lightwelter champion, P4P ranked by America's Ring Magazine, be paid millions by America's HBO TV company and be voted the "fighter of the year" by the boxing writers association of America.

How many foreigners achieve those accolades in America? Exactly. Fact.

I think Hatton s 4 or 5 years at the top were a miny golden era for British boxing.

Never again will 30000 brits from all parts of the UK go to watch a british boxer in such numbers again.

[Mars_ax]

Britains most popular boxer ever but how good was he really in the ring?

Did we all get caught up in the hype and think he was better than he was?

I don't think you can compare him to any of the world's very best but he was a damn good fighter. Like a lot of pugs, when he stepped up to the elite level he lost, there's no shame in that, I respect Hatton for fighting the best. My guess is Ricky is headed for the IBHOF, not too shabby of a career if you ask me.

P.S. Hatton can laugh all the way to the bank, he made a shitload of coin from boxing.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Lets get this straight. Ricky would have been a 25% better fighter if he didnt ballon up in weight and get fat between fights but he still deserves much respect for having the heart of a lion, a great personality and the balls to fight maywether in his prime, at his weight.
No one can say ricky didnt fight the best but he was never the same after the mayweather fight but that didnt stop him racking up a few wins afterward and now is great promoter!
Being undefeated means nothing if you dont have the balls to step out of your comfort zone and fight the best.
Calzaghe could learn alot from ricky in fighting overseas early and taking more risks!
Either way, they are both great fighters and ricky did the right thing in hanging up the gloves.

Agreed. He didn't get the nickname 'Fatton' for nothing. He was a very good fighter, he just didn't help himself as much as he could've.

[uwey]

I really liked Hatton as a fighter. For a 3 to 4 year period, when he was at his peak of talent and hungry, he was a fuckin bulldog. If Mayweather and Pac are great then Hatton is a top of the level below Great in the last 20 years at 140lbs. That was his best weight. Not so much 147. A bulldog at 140.

[FinitoElDinamita]

He wasnt very good. Ricky was just a contender level fighter.

Only reason he was so popular was because of his charisma and frank warrens promoting ability.



ricky hatton was a boring fighter and he wasnt that good.

[TitoFan]

I think Hatton was a good fighter, but probably not as good as his loyal legions of fans thought him out to be. I think he had his moment in the sun at 140, and I think he got the benefit of a lot of factors coming together that night in England against Kostya. I also seriously think it was his popularity, as much as anything, that got him the fights against Mayweather and Pacquiao, and the disparity in talent was completely evident.

He's a very likable, down-to-Earth guy, which helped his popularity in his home country. But as soon as he started claiming to be fighting for the world's p4p against Pacquaio, he needed a "bring-him-back-down-to-Earth" moment. Pacquiao provided that moment.

[:::PSL:::]

Well. Let's just put it this way. Great in UK. Not so great in US.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Psl made a good point.. Americans dont think twice about hatton.

To americans..... Ricky hatton, Carlos Baldomir...... Same shit. Of lets not forget about juan urango and ponce deleon... They are all on the same league..

[Mark TKO]

A very very, very good fighter - brave, courageous and went for it. Knocked on the door of the elite but didn't have enough to get in.

I remember when the Mayweather fight was announced I reckoned he had a 30 % chance of winning. I was lucky enough to get a ticket however and by the time I had spent three days in Vegas surrounded by crazy fellow Brits (and that crazy weigh in !) I was 100% certain he was going to win by the time the bell rang. In fact I couldn't see Mayweather surviving the first round ! Seriously thats how I felt !

I can't see any other Brit in the future having that kind of support overseas. He is probably second to Big Frank in terms of most popular British fighter ever (then 'Enry).