Former WBA welterweight and IBF light welterweight champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton announced Wednesday that he plans to likely fight one more time before he officially retires from the sport of boxing.
Hatton (45-2, 32 KOs) last fought in May when he lost his IBO light welterweight and Ring Magazine junior welterweight titles to Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) by a vicious second round knockout in Las Vegas, Nev.
“As a fighter, you don’t want your last fight to be like that,” said Hatton, 31, the 2005 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year. “I want to finish at the top and I know my last training camp could have been better, so those are the reasons I’m giving it one more go.
Hatton won the IBF and IBO light welterweight crowns when he defeated Juan “Iron Twin” Urango (22-2-1, 17 KOs) by unanimous decision in January 2007.
Despite his previous triumph over Urango, Hatton mentioned the “Iron Twin” as a possible opponent for his swan song.
“We’re looking at the IBF champion, Juan Urango, who I’ve already fought and beaten,” said Hatton. “It’s got to be a top-ranked, pound-for-pound fighter or a world champion of some sort.”
Hatton has only been trumped professionally by brilliant pugilists Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs).
Nevertheless, Hatton is one of the more overrated boxers in recent history.
“The Hitman” has great stamina and he certainly has power in both of his fists.
Still, Hatton is simply not an elite fighter and it is ridiculous that he has garnered so much attention in the ring.
“You can see I’ve set the wheels in motion for retirement,” said Hatton, whose only impressive victory came when he captured the IBF light welterweight championship from Kostya Tszyu (31-2, 25 KOs) by TKO in June 2005.
“I’ve got my promotional company now, got my health and fitness, got my clothing brand. I’m not going to have too many more fights. At the minute, I’m definitely just going to have one more.”
Hatton initially gained extreme popularity after he prevailed as an underdog vs. Tszyu.
Many analysts hailed Hatton’s upset victory over Tszyu as one of the biggest wins by an English boxer in the last 20 years.
Already celebrated in his hometown of Greater Manchester, Hatton subsequently became something of a beloved folk hero throughout his native country of England.
Legions of Hatton supporters traveled with him and followed his every move.
Hatton’s annoying fans even established an inane chant to pay homage to their favorite scrapper.
There’s only one Ricky Hatton,
One Ricky Hatton,
Walking along,
Singing this song,
Walking in a Hatton wonderland.
At only 31, Hatton is relatively young to quit being a prizefighter.
However, Hatton is in no way a dominant boxer and he will never “finish at the top.”
So, now is as good a time as any for Hatton to hang up his gloves and walk away from the ring.
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