Ricky Hatton's Career Is So Similar To Naseem Hamed's Career.

[hairymadness6]

To a point they were similar. Both were protected most of their careers (not that they're alone in that respect). Both built a rep beating hyped up nobodies.

But here's where they diverge. Hatton padded his resume, but then stepped up. He fought a few decent guys, but then he fought Tszyu. Over the hill or not, Hatton took on the best and beat him. He then moved up in weight and took on a tough Collozo. He beat him, beat a HOFer in Castillo and then had the guts to challenge the best. He lost soundly, but has fought on. He'll still do some great things in boxing. Now he's talking about fighting the best from the weight under his. (Pac).

Naz, really fought no one. Wayne McCullogh and Kevin Kelly, 2 B-/C+ fighters. He avoided the numerous callouts he had at guys from 122 to 130. There were literally a dozen big fights he could've had. He fights avery tough Bererra and gets embarrassed. He fights once more and realizes he is a complete fraud and calls it quits. I laughed when he finally fought Berrara. I was hoping he would've been beaten down by so many other guys from 122, 126 and 130 back then. As a purest and a guy who's been in the ring, Hamed was offensive to everything I hold sacred about boxing. He did everything completely wrong and got away with against bums. When Bererra toyed with him and then slammed his head into the corner it was one of the most satisfying moments in boxing to me.

This from one American fan: Hatton has guts and earns respect. To compare him to that side show Hamed is an insult to Ricky. Not in the same league as fighters or in guts. Hamed was a total joke. Hatton is a fighter.

Hamed was a legitimately GOOD fighter who ran into a better one. I have the Barrera fight on DVD and let me tell ya, Hamed just would never have been able to beat him. I don't think it's a stretch to say that he's lucky he never ran into Morales. Because of their different styles Naz would've gotten it much worse. I'd be happy to expound on this but I'm sure the point would be granted.

Sorry to be doctor negative but Hatton was a legitimately GOOD fighter who beat Kostya Tszyu and did little before or since to merit his status.

[Shamrock]

Both Naz and Hatton have styles that are not built for longevity - Hattons lifestyle will further accelerate the end of his.

I think Hatton will cope better with defeat than Naz - towards the end Naz actually started to believe that he could not lose - Hatton I think was sensible enough to realise that almost all fighters lose at some point and so his first loss will not have the same impact on him mentally.

Early version Naz - the mover and multiple punch thrower - would have given Barrera alll sorrts of problems. I would see Naz catching MAB much like Poison did when he fought him. By the time Naz fought MAB he was already mentally 'gone' and his main physical attribute - his reflexes - were on the way too. I'm not taking anything away from MAB - what a great fighter he is and what action he has given us. Styles make fights though and early Naz would have caused him issues.

I'm not to proud or patriotic to admit that British fighters suffer from the level of sparring they get - the depth of quality in America is so great that American fighters seem more prepared when it comes to the 'big' fights in their career.