How good was Rick Hatton?

[Dark Lord Al]

Credit to Hatton for getting into the ring against the two p4p fighters today. I just don't think his resume warranted getting those shots in the first place. I think it was more of a popularity issue that carried Hatton to those big paydays.

Where Hatton DID rub me the wrong way was when he dared to imply he was fighting for the world's p4p when he was going to face Pacquaio. The nerve. And just bypass all other, much better fighters than himself in the process? Sorry... that's not the way p4p works. You WORK your way toward a p4p fight by beating the top contenders out there. And convincingly... not the way he got the nod against Luis Collazo.

As it turns out, justice was made in the ring... and any talk of world's p4p disappeared with one vicious left cross from hell.

how does beating the worlds p4p champion not make you the new p4p champion ?

Are you suggesting that beating Pac would've made Hatton the world's p4p? I hope not. #1- He hadn't earned the shot. Just like he hadn't earned the shot at Mayweather. #2- There were lots of fighters more deserving of p4p than Hatton at that point in time. #3- Any fighter can have a bad night. Hatton has never come within sniffing distance of world's p4p. Fact.

I am not saying Hatton was p4p champion , im saying if he had beaten PAC the p4p champion at the time, what would that have made Hatton ?
Its a question aimed at you.

[Memphis]

Credit to Hatton for getting into the ring against the two p4p fighters today. I just don't think his resume warranted getting those shots in the first place. I think it was more of a popularity issue that carried Hatton to those big paydays.

Where Hatton DID rub me the wrong way was when he dared to imply he was fighting for the world's p4p when he was going to face Pacquaio. The nerve. And just bypass all other, much better fighters than himself in the process? Sorry... that's not the way p4p works. You WORK your way toward a p4p fight by beating the top contenders out there. And convincingly... not the way he got the nod against Luis Collazo.

As it turns out, justice was made in the ring... and any talk of world's p4p disappeared with one vicious left cross from hell.

how does beating the worlds p4p champion not make you the new p4p champion ?

Are you suggesting that beating Pac would've made Hatton the world's p4p? I hope not. #1- He hadn't earned the shot. Just like he hadn't earned the shot at Mayweather. #2- There were lots of fighters more deserving of p4p than Hatton at that point in time. #3- Any fighter can have a bad night. Hatton has never come within sniffing distance of world's p4p. Fact.

I am not saying Hatton was p4p champion , im saying if he had beaten PAC the p4p champion at the time, what would that have made Hatton ?
Its a question aimed at you.

Hard to disagree with either of you to be fair. If Hatton had beaten Manny at the same weight class and Manny is P4P Number 1, surely he's got a right to call himself the best P4P?

That said I wouldnt have considered him the best P4P and agree with Tito, it was for the best he got splatted, would have made an already complicated situation even worse

Glad he lost because the admin should he have won would have been terrible

[TitoFan]

Credit to Hatton for getting into the ring against the two p4p fighters today. I just don't think his resume warranted getting those shots in the first place. I think it was more of a popularity issue that carried Hatton to those big paydays.

Where Hatton DID rub me the wrong way was when he dared to imply he was fighting for the world's p4p when he was going to face Pacquaio. The nerve. And just bypass all other, much better fighters than himself in the process? Sorry... that's not the way p4p works. You WORK your way toward a p4p fight by beating the top contenders out there. And convincingly... not the way he got the nod against Luis Collazo.

As it turns out, justice was made in the ring... and any talk of world's p4p disappeared with one vicious left cross from hell.

how does beating the worlds p4p champion not make you the new p4p champion ?

Are you suggesting that beating Pac would've made Hatton the world's p4p? I hope not. #1- He hadn't earned the shot. Just like he hadn't earned the shot at Mayweather. #2- There were lots of fighters more deserving of p4p than Hatton at that point in time. #3- Any fighter can have a bad night. Hatton has never come within sniffing distance of world's p4p. Fact.

I am not saying Hatton was p4p champion , im saying if he had beaten PAC the p4p champion at the time, what would that have made Hatton ?
Its a question aimed at you.

Hard to disagree with either of you to be fair. If Hatton had beaten Manny at the same weight class and Manny is P4P Number 1, surely he's got a right to call himself the best P4P?

That said I wouldnt have considered him the best P4P and agree with Tito, it was for the best he got splatted, would have made an already complicated situation even worse

Glad he lost because the admin should he have won would have been terrible

To be clear, I'm not discrediting Hatton or his accomplishments. I'm just stating that he probably would have not gotten the shots against Mayweather and Pacquiao were it not for his inmense popularity. He had not beaten the necessary "stepping stones" to get to that point. So it's hard for me to swallow that some fluke victory (it happens) against Pacquiao would have made Hatton the world's p4p. Boxing is not arithmetic, where if A>B and B>C, then automatically A>C. Not even the most ardent Hatton fans would have felt in their hearts that Hatton was the world's #1 p4p.

[Beanz]

Credit to Hatton for getting into the ring against the two p4p fighters today. I just don't think his resume warranted getting those shots in the first place. I think it was more of a popularity issue that carried Hatton to those big paydays.

Where Hatton DID rub me the wrong way was when he dared to imply he was fighting for the world's p4p when he was going to face Pacquaio. The nerve. And just bypass all other, much better fighters than himself in the process? Sorry... that's not the way p4p works. You WORK your way toward a p4p fight by beating the top contenders out there. And convincingly... not the way he got the nod against Luis Collazo.

As it turns out, justice was made in the ring... and any talk of world's p4p disappeared with one vicious left cross from hell.

how does beating the worlds p4p champion not make you the new p4p champion ?

Are you suggesting that beating Pac would've made Hatton the world's p4p? I hope not. #1- He hadn't earned the shot. Just like he hadn't earned the shot at Mayweather. #2- There were lots of fighters more deserving of p4p than Hatton at that point in time. #3- Any fighter can have a bad night. Hatton has never come within sniffing distance of world's p4p. Fact.

I am not saying Hatton was p4p champion , im saying if he had beaten PAC the p4p champion at the time, what would that have made Hatton ?
Its a question aimed at you.

Hard to disagree with either of you to be fair. If Hatton had beaten Manny at the same weight class and Manny is P4P Number 1, surely he's got a right to call himself the best P4P?

That said I wouldnt have considered him the best P4P and agree with Tito, it was for the best he got splatted, would have made an already complicated situation even worse

Glad he lost because the admin should he have won would have been terrible

To be clear, I'm not discrediting Hatton or his accomplishments. I'm just stating that he probably would have not gotten the shots against Mayweather and Pacquiao were it not for his inmense popularity. He had not beaten the necessary "stepping stones" to get to that point. So it's hard for me to swallow that some fluke victory (it happens) against Pacquiao would have made Hatton the world's p4p. Boxing is not arithmetic, where if A>B and B>C, then automatically A>C. Not even the most ardent Hatton fans would have felt in their hearts that Hatton was the world's #1 p4p.

Many,many of both Pacquiao and Mayweathers opponents have not fought fighters whom you would no doubt class as necessary stepping stones.

[Gandalf]

If Hatton had beaten Floyd then he would have been the best fighter in the world. Floyd was the best and asked Hatton to go to a weight he wasn't proven at. If Hatton had somehow done that then at least for a time he would have been the best. Same with the Pac fight. If Hatton had done that then he was indeed great, but he did fall short and because of it people go hell for leather on bringing the man down. Hatton was a bloody good fighter and declined at the top for various reasons. I don't think he was well as could be seen with all the between fight shenanigans and it took it's toll. He no longer was as good as he once was.

Screw all the people that bring Hatton down. He was better than most and only a few of his contemporaries could shine greater and they ultimately were the greatest of his generation.

[TitoFan]

Well.... then good thing this useless debate didn't even get off the ground (no pun intended).

[Dark Lord Al]

Well.... then good thing this useless debate didn't even get off the ground (no pun intended).

You didnt answer my earlier question

[shza]

Credit to Hatton for getting into the ring against the two p4p fighters today. I just don't think his resume warranted getting those shots in the first place. I think it was more of a popularity issue that carried Hatton to those big paydays.

Where Hatton DID rub me the wrong way was when he dared to imply he was fighting for the world's p4p when he was going to face Pacquaio. The nerve. And just bypass all other, much better fighters than himself in the process? Sorry... that's not the way p4p works. You WORK your way toward a p4p fight by beating the top contenders out there. And convincingly... not the way he got the nod against Luis Collazo.

As it turns out, justice was made in the ring... and any talk of world's p4p disappeared with one vicious left cross from hell.

how does beating the worlds p4p champion not make you the new p4p champion ?

Are you suggesting that beating Pac would've made Hatton the world's p4p? I hope not. #1- He hadn't earned the shot. Just like he hadn't earned the shot at Mayweather. #2- There were lots of fighters more deserving of p4p than Hatton at that point in time. #3- Any fighter can have a bad night. Hatton has never come within sniffing distance of world's p4p. Fact.

I am not saying Hatton was p4p champion , im saying if he had beaten PAC the p4p champion at the time, what would that have made Hatton ?
Its a question aimed at you.

Remind me -- did Pac/Hatton happen at the time that Floyd was "retired" and therefore not rated at all? Otherwise, I don't think you could legitimately have Hatton leapfrog a guy to whom he just lost. (And personally, I never had Pac ahead of Mayweather -- during any time they were both active, anyway.)

More generally: sometimes beating a guy who's ranked #1 just proves that the #1 rating wasn't justified -- not that the new guy is #1.

[Andre]

Tszyu was tailor made for Ricky right at the stage that it happened at.
Tszyus mind was set as to how the fight would go already, as he wanted a tough fight for the fans, no pretty boxing match.
Head to head the toughest man won that event and thats how good a fighter Ricky was.

Boxer? Thats another question.

If Floyd or Pac had fought a stand in front of him style of fight they could of made a mistake too, but when you make angles and force someone like Ricky to turn into you you can catch them harder and cleaner over a distance the frustration builds which depletes even more of the boxing skill.

[Dia bando]

Hatton was a good fighter, he had a very good fan base people liked Ricky because he had the common touch he gave his all in the ring.
Ricky had that do or die style of fighting and people like that, what more do you want he gave people
entertainment not saying he was a great fighter, but he was a very good one.

[El Kabong]

Looking back on things Hatton vs Berto & Ortiz would have been interesting. I always ALWAYS wanted to see Gatti vs Hatton, Morales vs Hatton, & Corrales vs Hatton, but those never came to fruition for various reasons. Also Hatton vs Judah would have been nice as well.


Ricky was a very solid fighter....his style wasn't meant to last though. Pressure fighters age out rather quickly.

[0james0]

The Hatton vs Floyd fight had one of the biggest build ups from recent years, it was two unbeaten fighters with long winning streaks, that was to decide who was the best in the world.

It was certainly billed that way and I 100% got sucked in by all the hype!

[Master]

The Hatton vs Floyd fight had one of the biggest build ups from recent years, it was two unbeaten fighters with long winning streaks, that was to decide who was the best in the world.

It was certainly billed that way and I 100% got sucked in by all the hype!

Don't believe the hype. Cotto will beat Mayweather though 24/7 says so.

[El Kabong]

The Hatton vs Floyd fight had one of the biggest build ups from recent years, it was two unbeaten fighters with long winning streaks, that was to decide who was the best in the world.

It was certainly billed that way and I 100% got sucked in by all the hype!

Don't believe the hype. Cotto will beat Mayweather though 24/7 says so.

Woah there cowboy....before Ricky's fight with Floyd, Ricky had dominated good fighters at 140 he didn't fight everyone but hell that's neither here nor there. When Ricky initially stepped up to 147 to try and force Floyd's hand and he fought Collazo everyone saw that Ricky just wasn't as effective at 147, so he returned to 140 proceeded to look less than stellar vs Urango and fought a half hearted Jose Luis Castillo. After those fights Floyd accepted the challenge but at 147 where Ricky had previously been....well GIFTED a decision.

You look at Cotto and the guy was winning round after round vs Margarito before getting bloodied up by loaded gloves. Cotto didn't have a trainer and was weight drained when he fought Pacquiao and he STILL nearly made it the distance. Cotto is a solid boxer, decent power in both hands, can switch stances effectively and is fighting at a good natural weight for him.

[Master]

The Hatton vs Floyd fight had one of the biggest build ups from recent years, it was two unbeaten fighters with long winning streaks, that was to decide who was the best in the world.

It was certainly billed that way and I 100% got sucked in by all the hype!

Don't believe the hype. Cotto will beat Mayweather though 24/7 says so.

Woah there cowboy....before Ricky's fight with Floyd, Ricky had dominated good fighters at 140 he didn't fight everyone but hell that's neither here nor there. When Ricky initially stepped up to 147 to try and force Floyd's hand and he fought Collazo everyone saw that Ricky just wasn't as effective at 147, so he returned to 140 proceeded to look less than stellar vs Urango and fought a half hearted Jose Luis Castillo. After those fights Floyd accepted the challenge but at 147 where Ricky had previously been....well GIFTED a decision.

You look at Cotto and the guy was winning round after round vs Margarito before getting bloodied up by loaded gloves. Cotto didn't have a trainer and was weight drained when he fought Pacquiao and he STILL nearly made it the distance. Cotto is a solid boxer, decent power in both hands, can switch stances effectively and is fighting at a good natural weight for him.

I love the case you have made for Cotto and I have too. I hope and pray it will be true. Closer the day comes the more the realistation that Floyd will out box Cotto with his speed and maybe even stop him late. I really wish I am wrong and will stay up for this fight.