BBN Exclusive - Ricky Hatton - No Regrets by Terry Dooley Feb 19th 2008

Now the dust has settled on his loss against Floyd Mayweather Junior, Ricky Hatton has had to do what is new to him, but has been done by fighters the world over since time immemorial, namely coming back into the gym to dust himself off after a loss. No matter how long the winning streak, or how many titles won, a fighter will eventually, in most cases, taste defeat and they are then left pondering “what now? What comes next?”. Hatton's fall has been greater than most. For starters he took a huge winning record into the ring against Mayweather, a record that is now rendered a past statistic. Also thrown into the mix is the extent to which Hatton has fallen in the eyes of some boxing fans – his persona is coming under attack in some quarters, as well as his refusal to accommodate British light-welterweight rival Junior Witter. A wise man – well Batman's dad – once said that we fall in order to get-up and carry-on. Initial rumours suggested that Hatton might not take this step, instead opting to opt out of boxing and enjoy his money. When BBN caught-up with Hatton recently this seemed to be the last thing on his mind, he was training in the gym again for starters, and the fighter made it clear that he is now ready to take stock and take the step that most fighters have to tread in putting his first loss behind him. Firstly there was the small matter of coming back into the gym and getting back into the swing of things: Ricky Hatton: “I did a few days last week so I've already been in (the gym) a couple of times but now the date (of the next fight) is set (for May 24th) I'm back in. Nothing definite is signed yet but now I've got the date I'll get back into the swing of things slowly but surely.” With the date set there is now the small matter of selecting an opponent: RH: “(Ricardo) Torres, Kendall Holt who recently had a good win over Ben Tackie, another one is (Juan) Lazcano. These are all ranked light-welterweights looking for a chance so it is a case of getting the date and venue finalised. There is no point announcing an opponent until we've got those details sorted-out. I'm just excited about fighting (again) and don't have a preference about who I fight. I just want it to be signed. “(Paulie) Malignaggi is a strong possibility as well. He struggled against Ngoudjo but everyone can have a bad night. I had them against Vilches and Pedersen and you would never give me a prayer with Kostya Tszyu after those fights. Paulie can fight. He is one name in the pipeline (further down the line) as well. “At this point it is just about getting back into it [boxing] whoever I fight. As long as it is a ranked fighter who is quality. In my last 6 fights I've taken a title from Tszyu, taken a title from Maussa, taken a title from Collazo, and taken a title from Urango…then I beat Castillo and fought Floyd so I've been mixing in top class and want to carry on that run and get back into the swing of things.” That final step up in class – against Floyd Mayweather – proved to be a step too far for Hatton; he was stopped in the 10th round. Once the dust settled on the hype and the fight got underway it was hard to make a case for Hatton winning more than a round, two at best. There was an argument for the 1st round based on pressure, as well as a shot to the shoulder that made Floyd stumble, but for many the abiding image of the fight will be Hatton coming-on in straight lines then getting caught with right hands and the finishing left hook. There was always a chance that Floyd would show how strong he is in the fight with Hatton and it was proven to be so. Was that final step into elite class one that Hatton regretted: RH: “No regrets. I'm glad I took the fight, absolutely. Not many get a chance to test themselves against the best fighters in the world. I thought I did well at first. After the first 5 or 6 rounds I thought I was in the fight. I lost my composure. Lost my way and Floyd found the right punches. He is every bit as good a fighter as I thought he was.” Prior to the fight Hatton had felt that he would be the stronger fighter, in reality Floyd fought a committed fight, he was not afraid to engage Hatton in every department. Hatton came away from the fight with respect for the strength and power of Floyd: RH: “He did feel bigger and you do feel the difference. I realise now that welterweight is not my weight division. No regrets. I thought the tactics were right. I made the cardinal sin of losing my temper and losing my composure. Any youngster being taught boxing gets taught not to do that but I lost my composure a bit with the referee. Things worked for a few rounds but as I got more and more frustrated the fight ebbed away from me.” After the Tszyu fight Floyd had dismissed Hatton as a rough-and-tumble bruiser yet in their fight Floyd showed he could also fight rough if the occasion required it, he negated Hatton using strength and wiles: RH: “I knew Floyd would be tricky. I didn't expect him to stand toe-to-toe. He is very clever. He uses his arms and elbows to make room for himself, which is fair enough but I seemed to be the only one getting warned for stuff. Fair play if you can do it and get away with it. If I was doing it I'd say “fair play”. But you expect warnings to come on both sides. It never seemed to be that way with the referee as I saw it.” Despite the comprehensive nature of the loss there was some consternation over the way referee Joe Cortez handled the fight. Cortez was fairly fussy in the fight; he also took the unusual step of giving Hatton a running commentary of how Joe was seeing the fight. Being served notice that the referee is thinking of pulling you out, admittedly after Hatton had a torrid 8th-round, is distracting in the extreme: RH: “It was just very strange. I have a lot of respect for Joe Cortez. He reffed the Castillo fight and allowed close-quarter work, grappling and holding, and you never even knew he was there. You never saw him – he was that good in the fight. In the Mayweather fight he was in there every few minutes. Everyone is entitled to a bad night. Just a pity that Joe had one that night. “It messed with my mind. Before the fight I hoped he would allow me to fight my type of fight. From the first 30-seconds he was on me. Slowly but surely it got to me and (it) topped it all off when he took the point away for nothing. (But) if you lose it like a kid when fighting a guy like the Floyd Mayweather the end result is what happened.” In this writer's eyes it had seemed that Hatton fought the wrong tactics against Floyd. The pressure was there but it came in straight lines and provided Floyd with all the steam he needed to counterpunch masterfully. Hatton, though, feels that he was getting some change from Floyd using those tactics: RH: “I thought the tactics were working a little bit. I'd be subtler in my approach (in a rematch). More head movement, more sideways movement, and staying tucked-up on the way in. It worked to a degree for a few rounds but things just fell apart.” Prior the fight there had been a subtle role-reversal culminating in a weigh-in in which Hatton was the one making grand gestures and verbally abusing his opponent. For his part Floyd – possibly thinking he had played his part in shifting tickets – seemed to sit back, perhaps thinking to himself “work on my poison, work”. After the fight was over both men showed the obligatory respect towards one another: RH: “It was fantastic. Fair play to Floyd as well. Before the fight I thought he was a dickhead to say the least but he had a lot of kind words after (the fight). “He said I was a great fighter. He said he was nervous in the early rounds until he found the gaps. He said my support had been great and he would love to have support like that. He's even kept in touch since and we've sent a few texts. We arranged to meet but never got a chance to but we'll hook-up in Vegas next time I'm there. “It may be while before I go to Vegas though. I love Vegas but I feel that I was never destined to win that fight. All the judges had me losing by a landslide after 6-rounds. HBO and Sky TV had it different but the judges had me losing by a mile and the referee was on my case. I don't think I was meant to win that fight.” Despite this Hatton had no regrets about his 3-fight Vegas adventure: RH: “Without a shadow of a doubt I'd recommend the Vegas experience to British boxers coming-up. I'm sure I‘ll box there again. I just feel a little bit cheated by the experience…but the better man won. I just wanted to come home for a bit (and) then go back and try again in the future.” Hatton had chased the Mayweather fight for years so to lose it must have been a hard-blow. Questions over his opponents have dogged him since the Tszyu fight and we do not need an exhaustive breakdown of why certain fights were taken at a certain time, the culmination was Mayweather and that fight rendered those quibbles moot. Hatton is now facing a rebuilding process but said he intends to fight the best fighters available to him: RH: “That is what I've done recently. People used to say I was avoiding this or that guy but I've been in with a few decent guys in my last 6 fights. A few bigger guys and the best fighter in the world. Kostya was ranked #2 pound-for-pound and Floyd was ranked #1 pound-for-pound. I went on a long unbeaten run and took a massive fight and got beat. All I've done in my recent fights is fight world champions…(I've) not just sat back and defended belts I've tried to win them. I think that says a lot about me.” To be a boxer you have to take risks. People can criticise this or that choice but most boxers have made an underpinning choice, they want to risk all for the glory, or even a sniff of the glory. In reality Hatton could have sat-back on the Tszyu win for longer, clearly his support, in terms of bums on seats, is always going to be strong. In going for the fight with Mayweather Hatton went for his ultimate boxing goal. Ample money has been made in the process but the goal remained a win over Floyd. That goal is now even further away than it was last year, had Hatton thought about quitting the sport after the fight: RH “Not really no. Well maybe a little bit. You sit back and chill out on a few holidays and see where you go from here. I wouldn't want to go out of my career on my back and having my last fight with people seeing me go out on my back. “I think I was still improving in my training camps. I've still got a lot left. You find out how good a fighter and a man you are by coming back from adversity. My life was very easy and I was going along well but you find out what kind of a man you are by coming back and overcoming obstacles. Fighters who have lost in the past – like Barrera, Gatti and guys like that – become better after the defeat.” The biggest problem faced when overcoming a defeat is acknowledging what went wrong within you, without making excuses about what went against you. Hatton now has to sit-down and analyse what he can learn from this experience: RH: “I'm well up on my boxing knowledge so I can look at what I did wrong and put it right. Prince Naseem Hamed was one of the greatest fighters we've ever had but after he lost to Barrera he disappeared…that is a shame because he (Hamed) was brilliant. I'd rather remember him doing what he did (over) his whole career rather than the way he bowed out of boxing.” One thing Hatton has learned is that, in Mayweather, he faced a mercurial fighter who is also one tough son of a gun: RH: “Floyd is very clever. He turns his shoulder across and gets his forearm in place and stops you getting the shots in. He turns away a lot and I'd like to have seen him get one warning for doing it because I got warnings galore. I got a point took off because I turned him (and) put him on the ropes (then) threw a shot that missed. I couldn't believe it.” This point deduction was a red-rag to a fading bull. It did not affect the outcome of the fight but there is a chance that it made Hatton chase the fight a little more, bringing forward the finish with his eagerness. On the other hand Hatton's assertion that he thought he was in the fight probably means he would have carried on pouring forwards and the outcome would have been the same. The dust has now completely settled on December's events. Contrary to ridiculous rumour Hatton has not ditched trainer Billy Graham. The fighter also seems to have retained of his desire, after training he came into the office to show the few people there that his muscle definition was still visible. Hatton claimed that “The Christmas tree (of back muscles) is gone but I'm not that bad. It's me face!”. If the desire is to prove himself anew Hatton will now do so in front of his British fans: RH: “I owe it to my British fans to give them a fight for all the support they've given me over in Vegas. I think it can be a great homecoming if I can get the right opponent.” One name not yet in the frame is that of WBC light-welterweight titleholder Junior Witter. Witter is riding the crest of a big win over Vivian Harris in December. Witter's name has been linked with Hatton's for years. For a while the absurdity of shouting for Hatton-Witter whilst Hatton-Mayweather was an ongoing concern had been acknowledged, now, however, the call is coming for Hatton and Witter to finally square off. I asked Hatton if thoughts of this nature had started to creep into his mind post-Mayweather: RH: “No I'm not really thinking about him (Witter). You can never say never but he is not really in our plans. I have an ambition to fight at MSG and Witter is not in that frame. No one can argue with what I've done. I'm not saying I'll never fight him but he is not on the radar at the minute.” With that said there was still the question of gaining personal satisfaction by fighting Witter. Hatton has long stated his dislike of Witter, as well as his belief that Witter went beyond the pale in denigrating Hatton's every achievement. Revenge is a dish best served with the fists, Hatton is in a sport where you can get paid for fighting a person you dislike, with the added bonus being that you can knock that person out: RH: “I'd love to knock him (Witter) out and think I would. Witter is fighting well at the minute. He looks good but I'm not in the business of giving a big cheque and a profile to someone who has been slagging me off for years.” With that said the position in regards to Witter is becoming increasingly untenable. However, if Hatton's plans have to take into account HBO backing the likely scenario is that a fight at MSG against Paulie Malignaggi has already been drawn on the page, and the route towards it may not include Junior. Certainly, a fight with Witter straight after the KO loss to Floyd would be crazy; instead the onus is on Witter to continue his remarkable run of form. With his next fight a possibility for US TV Junior's profile will be raised to the extent that the fight with Hatton becomes a must for the American, as well as British, networks, and the fans will put out the call. After a great 2007 British fans are talking about how much the domestic game has improved in terms of profile, success, and stature in recent years. Whatever your thoughts on the respective fighters that is down to the likes of Calzaghe, Hatton, and Haye, with guys such as Witter and Enzo Maccarinelli leading the rearguard. If Junior presses his claims on US TV (the last frontier for Junior) the fight with Hatton takes on global significance and becomes more than a provincial grudge match. This should be what British boxing fans want most of all, two of our best fighting at the highest level before the eyes of the world. An impressive win apiece and this will become the only option left to both Hatton and Witter.

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