Quote Originally Posted by Master View Post
Ricky could be rated higher than Joe Galzaghe, because he did not wait too long with Warren, who would have been happy for Ricky to defend his IBO title against journeyman fighters and make shed loads of money. There is no Sven Ottke in Ricky’s closet, Witter does not count and Cotto moved up in weight to allow the fight from coming off. Ricky took risks going up to welterweight and Joe did not until very late in his career. If Ricky manoeuvred his career more cautiously he could have retired undefeated too

I don't agree with a single thing you said there aside from the fact that Hatton jumped ship with Warren, which is indeed to his credit. Hatton was very good, but nowhere near as good as Calzaghe, nor did he achieve as much even despite much better management. You could easily assume that if Calzaghe had Hatton's marketability(why he didn't is beyond me), he would have also retired with a much higher profile in America. For Hatton to have retired undefeated he would've clearly had to avoid Mayweather and Pacquiao. Had he not fought those two men, even despite losing so badly, his legacy would pale even moreso in comparison with Calzaghes. It would have been no different than had Calzaghe not fought Kessler and Hopkins. Instead, the difference is that Joe won those fights
And to say that there is no Sven Ottke in Ricky's closet, and that Witter doesn't count is purely ludicrous. Witter was MUCH more of a threat to Hatton and a much more lucrative fight than Ottke to Calzaghe, obviously. That would have been easy as hell to make in the UK and Hatton could have taken almost the whole purse.