Graphic: Malignaggi
v Hatton
Ricky Hatton says that he is in the closing stretch of his career, but there
may be a few twists and turns ahead yet. In the early hours of tomorrow, he
faces Paulie Malignaggi at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here in another
defining night in a career chock full of highlights. But Hatton is not ready
to hang up his gloves, he is ready for a new beginning.
Little less than a year ago, in the same ring, Hatton’s unbeaten record went
as he crumbled in front of the accurate fists of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Then,
in May, against Juan Lazcano in front of 58,000 fans at the City of
Manchester Stadium, there were definite signs of wear and tear. This will be
the definitive test of what he has left.
According to Hatton, there is plenty. When he turned 30 last month, Hatton
admitted that he could be retired in a year’s time. Now no such thoughts
cloud his mind. Five weeks under the tutelage of Floyd Mayweather Sr, the
estranged father of the man who defeated him, have revitalised Hatton.
“With the performance I expect to put on, why should I turn around and say,
one more fight, or two more, or three?” Hatton said. “All the people who
said I was past it might say, ‘Wooah, you go for it, son.’
“I don’t want to retire, I love having a fight. I’m only 30, I know people go
on about the way I live and being up and down in weight, but if I put on a
performance, using my jab, moving my head, using angles — the performance I
think that’s in me — why would I say only two more?”
Hatton has spent much of the past year on the defensive. The defeat by
Mayweather was conclusive and showed he was some way below the very elite of
the sport. The finish, too, was brutal, Hatton collapsing away from
Mayweather’s onslaught, as Joe Cortez, the referee, held back the American
from what would have been a crushing final punch.
He got back to winning ways against Lazcano, a classy boxer but one who had
seen better days and lacked devastating power. Yet the Mexican hurt Hatton,
twice rocking him to his boots and briefly raising fears in the tenth round
that he might stop. The most worrying aspect was that it appeared Hatton’s
punch resistance, so crucial in a boxer with such an aggressive style, was
on the wane.
“You’ve got to be honest with yourself,” Hatton said. “In the Lazcano fight, I
looked like I was past it. But there were reasons. I had a terrible chest
infection, my sparring partners went home early. In the gym, I would do six
rounds and then have to have a break. I had never been as nervous before a
fight as I was then.
“I was delighted to just get through it with the win. I’m aware of the fact
that if I don’t do it against Malignaggi, they will think I haven’t still
got it. If I had boxed like that and I wasn’t coming back off a knockout
defeat and I hadn’t had the chest infection and I had done all my training,
I would have been hanging my gloves up.”
There is a contrast with the career of Joe Calzaghe, Hatton’s friend and
fellow champion. Calzaghe is 6½ years older and after beating Roy Jones Jr a
fortnight ago — a victory Hatton described as exceptional — he has no
obvious contenders. A win against Malignaggi in a contest for the IBO and
Ring magazine light-welterweight titles, could set up Hatton for a meeting
with the winner of the megabout next month between Oscar De La Hoya and
Manny Pacquiao.
Hatton is making plans for his retirement. In Hyde, Greater Manchester, his
home town, the future headquarters of Hatton Promotions are being built,
which will feature a boxing gym, health club, offices, a beauty salon and a
restaurant — “No, it’s not going to be fish and chips, it’s in a health
club.” A clothing brand and range of drinks are also planned for next year.
“It’s my job now to set the wheels in motion for after retirement,” Hatton
said. “I’ve got my promoter’s and manager’s licence, I’ve got the
facilities. Once I do retire, I think the best thing I can do to fill the
gap is to bring on a champion and still be involved working with fighters.”
Such a time now seems farther away than it did a month ago. Mayweather Sr’s
involvement has given Hatton a fresh perspective. Billy Graham had trained
Hatton since he was an 18-year-old turning professional, but there were
signs before the bout against Mayweather that things had gone stale. Fresh
ideas, a fresh viewpoint, and Hatton is buzzing again.
“Training is fun again,” Hatton said. “I’ve always been a student of the game
but I felt lately I had just been going into the gym and working my b*****ks
off with no real purpose and no massive amount of thought as to what I was
doing.
“My confidence was at an all-time low. Going into the training camp, those bad
thoughts and demons were still in the back of my mind. It was only as we
went on I started to think, ‘I’ve got a lot back here, there’s plenty in the
tank.’ ”
He has spent five weeks working with Mayweather Sr in Las Vegas, longer than
for any of his previous trips. Hatton has been running in the mountains that
push up out of the desert outside Las Vegas. But he has also been having fun
and Mayweather Sr says that he has been impressed by what he has seen.
The question, though, has never been whether or not Hatton can box, but
whether, in the heat of battle, he will. Hatton says that he will revert to
boxing his way in, not merely use the strong-arm tactics that he has become
known for. But it is a promise he has made before, yet each time the red
mist has descended.
This was most punishingly exposed against Mayweather Jr. Malignaggi, a brash
New Yorker who will be 28 tomorrow, is a sleek, clever operator who lacks
power. It remains to be seen whether Hatton will have the patience to stick
with his tactics if things are tough early on.
“I have not changed my style, I am the usual aggressive Ricky Hatton but I
have just tweaked it,” he said. “I’m aware of the punches coming back at me,
not just what I am throwing. I am too long in the tooth to change my style
completely.
“I’d be a liar if I didn’t think I could stop Paulie. I don’t like making
predictions and putting pressure on myself, but the only thing I can
guarantee is the win. If my strength is anything to go by, a stoppage would
not surprise me.”
Late last night, Hatton weighed in right on the 10st limit in front of 2,500
raucous British fans. He took the microphone, thanked them for their support
and said: “I’m going to make you proud again.”
Hatton should have too much for Malignaggi, but he needs an impressive
performance aside from the win. The future remains bright, but it is up to
Hatton to grab it.
American fears fix to facilitate promoter’s plans
Paulie Malignaggi is afraid that he will not get a fair result from the judges
when he faces Ricky Hatton, despite boxing in his home country. The New
Yorker believes that Golden Boy, the promoter, wants to set up a clash
between Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy’s head.
“Ricky has signed with Oscar and they want the in-house promotion, Oscar v
Ricky,” Malignaggi said. “I could ruin those plans. The only negative thing
is, will I be allowed?
“I remember when De La Hoya was going to fight Bernard Hopkins and they had a
double-header on the same show and Felix Sturm beat the s*** out of De La
Hoya. And they robbed him \ because they wanted so bad to make De La
Hoya-Hopkins.
“Now I have to be careful with the same situation because they want to make De
La Hoya-Hatton. I have to take care of business on Saturday night and make
sure the fight isn’t even close because if it’s close, I’ve got a feeling
they aren’t going to give it to me. Only in this country would an American be
fighting a foreigner and be worried about being robbed.”
However, Malignaggi has a chance to line up some big matches should he win. “I
would love to get a crack at Oscar or Manny Pacquiao,” he said. “But I am
not looking past Ricky.”
******
Gary Stretch will be in charge in Amir Khan’s corner against Oisin Fagan on
December 6. Stretch, the former British light-middleweight champion, moved
to Hollywood in the Nineties and has built a career in films. He has
assisted Freddie Roach with Khan’s training, but the bout at ExCeL, in
London’s Docklands, clashes with Roach’s duties with Manny Pacquiao, the WBC
lightweight champion, who faces Oscar De La Hoya that night. Khan, the
Commonwealth lightweight champion, has been training in Roach’s Hollywood
gym. He turned to the trainer after a first-round knockout against Breidis
Prescott in September.
