Ricky Hatton - the road to redemption by James Martin Mar 11th 2008

Ricky Hatton announced recently that his ‘homecoming' fight will take place in the City of Manchester stadium on 24 May against either of the American duo Juan Lazcano or Ricardo Torres (the WBO light welterweight champ). If Ray, his father and manager, is to be believed, Ricky has a two-year, five-fight plan before retirement (presumably at the end of 2009). With Lazcano (as revealed first on BBN) the seeming odds on favourite for this date, it seems that this is very much the kind of ‘clever' fight taken after a heavy, draining defeat. A respected, recognised (in the US) name but one that perhaps is not at the very top of his game and falls below the label of ‘genuine' world class (Lazcano has not fought since losing to Junior Witter victim Vivian Harris one year ago). Whilst Lazcano is still a live opponent and one Ricky should not be taking lightly, on paper a top form Hatton should come through the test with comparative ease and reputation re-enhanced. It is therefore worth looking past the 24 May bout and considering who Ricky should take on between now a retirement if he is to add further lustre and credibility to his career, presumably by taking on the best guys available in his weight class (which, let's face it, has to be 140lbs). Ricardo Torres The WBO holder at 140 has shown that he is the kind of hit-or-be-hit fighter who Hatton would both respect and relish taking on. It would be a fan-friendly match up, and one that wouldn't be hard to sell. Torres had Cotto (albeit a weight drained and more inexperienced version) down and almost out when they fought September 2005 and would represent a major threat. The IBF have refused to sanction Torres as an opponent for their belt, however Hatton has shown before that he'll happily drop a belt to fight the right guy. Whether Torres is that guy, remains to be seen. But he's respected in the US so should come into the equation sooner rather than later. VERDICT: A tasty looking ding-dong battle, and a win-win for both parties. Most definitely. Junior Witter The match up that all UK boxing fans want to see. This fight has everything – unification of belts, an intriguing clash of styles, national and local rivalry and plenty of ‘previous' between the two fighters. Ricky's protestations about not giving a guy who has ‘dissed' him a big payday seems to contravene about 100 years or more of boxing history, and should be dismissed immediately. As does the questioning of his opponents – N'dou, Kotelnik, Harris, Corley? It ain't bad! They would fill a football stadium for this one, and in my opinion it's a genuine 50-50 fight. Team Hatton's verbal put-downs of Junior probably mask the fact that they know he is too dangerous an opponent to take on immediately after the Mayweather fight, so expect the pressure to grow for this fight over the next few months. VERDICT: Please, please, please! Late '08 or early '09 before Ricky gets the message that this is a fight that MUST happen. Gavin Rees The slightly unlikely WBA champ who pulled off a major upset by claming the title from Souleymane M'Baye last time out. The Welshman is clearly on the up, no doubt helped by being part of the clearly brilliant Enzo Calzaghe stable. Whether he has enough pulling power to attract Hatton is another matter, despite the England-Wales element, he does have a belt but collecting those hasn't been Ricky's agenda for a long time. Rees is defending his belt against the dangerous Andreas Kotelnik on 22 March. If he comes through that then it's a possibility for later in 2008, but until Rees starts beating bigger name opponents I can't help think that the Hitman will be looking elsewhere for the time being. VERDICT: Unlikely. If Witter isn't a credible name, don't expect Rees to be getting the call any time soon. Manny Pacquiao This would fulfil all the criteria of a ‘super fight'. Two big names, regarded as the best in their division, with a massive fanatical following all over the world. Both love to come forward and have a tear-up. The TV companies and promoters would eat this one up. Can it be made? Well, for a start, would Manny be competitive at 140lbs? Remember, he's a former world champion at flyweight, super-bantamweight and featherweight, currently campaigning at the super-featherweight limit of 130lbs. He has had freakish power at all those weights, however Hatton is the strongest guy around at 140 and you get the feeling he might just walk through anything the Pac-man throws at him and manhandle him badly. Pacquiao is committed to a return bout with Juan Manuel Márquez in March, so this would be an option for later in the year or perhaps early next year assuming Pacquiao wants to try a few tune ups at a higher weight. The Filipino might be interested, if he beats Marquez there is little left for him in his current weight division so a challenge at a higher weight against a similarly-minded opponent might well appeal. VERDICT: great in theory, and the PPV would be off the scale; but is it really viable? Paul Malignaggi There's plenty in this fight which would work for the Hitman. The New Yorker is massively popular in his home town and a unification fight would fill up MSG, which is something Ricky has gone on record as saying is an ambition of his. Given Malignaggi's popularity both with HBO and US fight fans, a match up would also maintain Ricky's burgeoning profile Stateside. On paper it looks a good bet. Malignaggi has good boxing skills but does not hit hard, having not stopped an opponent in seven years. And if his last fight is anything to go by, Ricky should have little trouble catching and hurting the Magic Man, so this represents a fairly low risk, high reward option. Providing Malignaggi can hold onto his belt and reputation, this looks like a fight which will happen at some point. VERDICT: This one is a question of ‘when' rather than ‘if'; assuming the Magic Man doesn't lose in the meantime, that is. Juan Diaz Another big fight for US audiences (but less so for British fans), the recently beaten former WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight champion from Texas known as the “Baby Bull” would be quite a lucrative fight as the meeting of two recent ‘linear' champions in their respective weights. However, as Castillo-Hatton proved a top class lightweight does not make a top class light-welterweight. No-one knows how well Diaz would carry the extra weight, until that is discovered the jury should be out on the worth of a match up with the Hitman. VERDICT: A definite maybe. Floyd Mayweather Jnr (rematch) “It's a very difficult bitter pill for me to swallow losing my first fight. But I would fight him again, even though he knocked me out - just with a different referee." So said Ricky Hatton, at the launch of Sport Relief 2008 on 7 February, about the prospect of a fighting Floyd Mayweather. As serious as the Hitman may or may not be about a rematch with Pretty Boy, the chances of it happening again are remote to say the least. The decisiveness of the victory, plus the whisperings of Mayweather – De La Hoya 2 (which was a closer result) in the Autumn and Floyd's state of semi-retirement means he is unlikely to consider taking on Ricky again, certainly not in 2008. VERDICT: keep dreaming Ricky. That boat has sailed. The Rest The stars - Marquee names conspicuous by their absence from this list include the likes of Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya, Paul Williams and Antonio Margarito. This is done purely on the basis of size. All are large welterweights and would be too big and strong for Ricky to cope with; they should be avoided even if they were interested - and, frankly, you'd wonder why. Oscar's moved on now Ricky's lack of size above 140 has been shown up and is doing his own version of a homecoming after which he might rematch Mayweather or retire; Williams has just had a surprise loss so needs to rebuild and that's not against a guy half his height; Cotto wants Floyd and nobody else seemingly; and Mosley looks like he'll be fighting Zab Judah very soon. The unknowns – I read about names like Herman Ngoudjo and Kendall Holt being mentioned in dispatches. One question: Why? Ricky's got five fights, and at least five big name, crowd pleasing and exciting opponents out there for him. He's past giving these guys a shot, there's simply no reward in it for him and I'm sure he'll see it that way too. I get the impression Ricky's a guy who looks up and across, not down. Hatton fans, expect some more excitement before your man hangs ‘em up for good.

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