Ricky Hatton Talks About Witter, Pacquiao, Malignaggi, Lazcano And More

© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Saddoboxing.com was fortunate to be sat with Ricky Hatton yesterday at the Phoenix Gym in Denton, Manchester, England as the IBO/Ring Magazine Light Welter Champion’s showdown with Juan Lazcano is just a week away at City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday, May 24.

Sitting on the edge of the ring canvas with a mug of tea, the Hitman talked about the time he was at Old Trafford as a young man. “I remember going to Old Trafford to watch Benn-Eubank and thinking ‘I wish this would be me one day,” he recalled. “There were 45,000 people at that fight and there will be more than 55,000 at my next fight – I just can’t comprehend it,” the likable Mancunian shakes his head.

When reminded that Oscar de La Hoya’s ‘Homecoming’ attracted 30,000 people, Hatton sighed, ”It makes me feel very very proud. Even pop concerts don’t sell out that quick [55,000 in less than 24 hours] – but I’ve never seen myself as a ‘Star’.”

Regarding what drives him now – Hatton quickly replied that of course motivation for him isn’t the money. “Financially, I’ve done quite well for myself,” he admitted.

“It’s [the Mayweather fight] my first fight I ever got knocked out. If every fighter in history threw the towel in after a defeat – there’d never be any all-time greats. You’re judged as an all-time great on how you come back from a defeat. People have said ‘well, maybe Rick should have a couple of fights now then retire and – well, maybe the weight’s caught up with him‘. You know, the ‘daggers are out for me’ a little bit.

“I’m stronger at 140, my natural weight is 10 stone [140 pounds]. I’ve been fighting at 10 stone since I was 17 years of age – and I’m 29 now! Welterweight is a struggle. My strength is one of my best attributes. At 10 stone 7 [147 pounds] I give up that advantage a little bit. With a fantastic team around me – I can ‘bulk’ up, change my diet, go on a weight programme – but it’s not done naturally.”

When Manny Pacquiao was suggested as a good match-up – the Hitman didn’t deny it was a good idea. “We’ve not been in talks but there’s been some approaches made in the past,” he said. “Although I’d like to think I’ve got my next three fights mapped out, should I win, obviously! – Lazcano, Malignaggi and we’re talking about Mayweather. I’d like it to be Mayweather obviously – but if not, Manny might be a fantastic second. I think it’s clear my intentions are to get back to winning tracks, get over to America and fight the best.”

When asked if he was surprised at Junior Witters’ recent defeat to Timothy Bradley – Hatton replied, “A little bit – I’d never heard of Bradley, but that doesn’t mean just because you haven’t heard of him that he can’t fight, and that certainly seems to be the case. He had a fantastic amateur pedigree and you can see why now – with his performance.

“I had him winning by about four rounds and I think Junior was unable to adapt, I think with his style and the Sheffield-style – switch-hitting and awkwardness…it’s worked very well over the years but I think once you can ‘suss it out’ – it’s very hard for them to change their game plan. Then, once Bradley had sussed him out, there was no way he [Witter] could change it unfortunately. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.”

Regarding how much of Juan Lazcano that Hatton has seen, Ricky replied, “Loads. He’s been in the top ten in the last 6-8 years. A very capable fighter, won 46 out of 49 – the last 2 defeats being for titles. He comes to fight, in your face, a body-puncher – which is always very important. I take it as a compliment that a lot of people say ‘ well you know, Lazcano’s an easy fight’….just look at my last six fights…It’s not going to be a tickling contest the way we both fight!

“Lazcano can back-off and box off the back-foot and I’ve shown in my fights that I can do that, but really we don’t like doing that, do we? And I think if one of us does back-off and try and box a little bit – it might not be too long before it starts ‘cutting up blood’. It’s important to me to keep the crowd entertained – it’s never a dull night at a Ricky Hatton fight! “

Asking about his training and how he felt now, the Hitman was enthusiastic, saying, “I feel fantastic! Never felt better and my sparring’s been great! Been working on different things and new things. I don’t think I needed a ‘kick up the backside’ so to speak, but sometimes when you do [get beat] – that’s what it tends to do – give you an extra ‘umph’ in your training camp – you look at things a little bit closer, try a little bit harder and you’re thinking about different things because you want to come back stronger. It could be a good thing! I think that’s why so many champions come back stronger from a defeat because you sit back, take time to reflect and you get that extra bit of ‘push’ on your training.”

When asked about the chest infection that was reported recently in the press, Ricky was reassuring, saying, “Me Dad’s jumping the gun again! I think me Dad’s done as any other worried parent would do. His son’s come off a knockout defeat and I got a little bit of a chest infection last week, which was not ideal, so I took a couple of days off and then I’m back ‘on fire’ again today as you can see. I’m a million-dollar sharp, explosive, fast and I think you can tell from the way I’m talking – there’s nothing wrong with me chest or anything.”

Regarding his current weight, Hatton said, “I’ve just been weighed [here in the gym] and I am 10 stone 6 lb [146 pounds], so I’ll just stay at that till maybe 2-3 days before [the fight] then ’whip it off’ and then ’whip it back on again’. Making the weight has never been a problem and as you get older it should get harder – but it gets easier for me. I understand people won’t believe that when they see me out of training – if you could see the size of me when I’m out of training – I’m like a beached whale!

“To be perfectly honest with you – it [the weight] always comes off. I’ve got a great team behind me and a good nutritionist and it always comes off. But as you can see today – I’m just 5-6 pounds off.”

Hatton admitted he thought that IBF Light Welter Champion Paulie Malignaggi is tougher than he looks. “He’s a good boxer, good movement, very fast, a big talker – he’s a great addition to the undercard. The fact that he’s on the undercard will hopefully show the intentions of my going back to America and fighting for world titles again! “

© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing