There's Only One Ricky Hatton...but is that good or bad?

"There's only One Ricky Hatton
One Ricky Hatton.
Walking along.
Singing this song.
Walking in a Hatton Wonderland."
(Sang to the tune of Winter Wonderland)

Ricky Hatton, Manchester's beloved brawler, is not quite ready to hang 'em up after his vicious KO loss to Manny Pacquiao. Hatton, says he plans on having a return bout against "a top 10 pound for pound fighter, or a champion of some sort." There is no doubt that Richards punch resistance is not what it used to be after the Mayweather/Pacquiao knockouts but, he is still young at only 31 years old, may have one last hurrah left in him.

If Hatton makes his full return to the ring this year as planned, it needs to be very well thought out by his keepers. You cant go throwing him in the ring with a vicious puncher in the first fight. You have to find a feather fisted fighter who can't hurt him but still has a name, problem is he already used Malignaggi once. Also, Hatton being known for throwing on around 40 extra pounds after fights(Ricky Fatton), you want to make sure he sheds the weight slowly so hes not gassed out come fight night. Finally, they have to make sure Ricky is confident in himself with whoever he is entering the ring with and against. I believe that Hatton's former trainer, Billy Graham, knew how to prepare Ricky for a fight mentally.

Hatton has bean speaking of a rematch with Juan Urango. I don't know how smart of a idea this really is for The Hitman. If Urango can do anything, he can punch, it would be winning by knockout (17 of his 22 wins came before the final bell). Hatton outpointed Urango in the previous bout between the 2, but I feel like this is a different Hatton then before.

If I were handling this for Ricky I would be looking at 2 different fighters for the comeback, Juan Diaz, or Hatton's countryman Paul McCloskey. Hatton vs. Diaz could get a nice crowd in the States and possibly be a lower priced PPV. I think McCloskey would be a great choice for a fight in his homeland. McCloskey is undefeated 20-0(with 10 KO's against lesser opposition), and the fight could be billed up very well in England. It could be promoted as a changing of the guard type of fight. McCloskey the hungry young fighter with the undefeated record going, up against the most beloved British boxer ever in a comeback attempt. That could definitely put some butts in seats in England.

Hatton has beaten Kosta Tszyu, Luis Collazo(debatable), Juan Urango, Jose Luis Castillo, Paul Malignaggi, and of course, Delawares own Micheal "No Joke" Stewart. Outside of Stewart, all B+ or A level fighters, those are quality wins that any Welter or Light Welterweight would like to have on their record. Are the other 39 wins on his record against lesser competition? Yeah, sure they are, but name any fighter who doesn't have a padded record up to his 20-25th fight?

This is where I want to take a look at whether or not it is good that there is only 1 Ricky Hatton. A lot of fans are saying "he is boring", "hes overrated", "he is shot, his chin is cracked", or "he was never that good, a glorified club fighter". Ya know what? That all may be very true and I agree with some of it...BUT, how many other fighters would have 25,000 people travel 5,000+ miles to watch him fight? None. Vegas was flooded with Brits for his fights with Mayweather and Pac-Man. If you saw the weigh-in you know that 4,500 of them attended just to see him stand on a scale! During the fight with Floyd, the MGM Grand Garden Arena sounded like a soccer stadium in Europe with constant chanting. He even has a band that follows him from fight to fight that are never without a tune. It is amazing the way his fans support him come hell or high water....or airplane. (Below is a picture from the Hatton vs Pac weigh-in of the Hatton supporter section)


Though with his recent losses he did lose a smaller amount of drawing power, he still is the most faithfully followed fighter in the game outside of Pacquiao. He has the drawing power that a sport that is struggling to stay relevant in the public eye needs to help its cause. Before we all write Hatton off on his comeback, let us remember what he can do financially and publicly for the sport. So until someone else comes along with the same kind of fan base and revenue generating power...

There's only one Ricky Hatton....