By Joe Barrett: Since his December knockout defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather, there has been plenty of speculation as to who Ricky Hatton (43-1, 31 KOs) will fight next. A mega fight with Oscar De La Hoya was potentially in the works, but with his defeat, interest from the Golden Boy now seems to have cooled. Since then, a whole host of names and scenario’s have been thrown up in the air, but with no noise coming from within the Hitman’s camp, his immediate future remains unclear..
What is almost certain is that Hatton will drop back down to the Junior Welterweight division, the division in which he is still recognized as the universal champion to continue his career. Even with his defeat, it has done nothing to dampen his market value and there will be no shortage of challengers ready to cash in when he finally makes his decision. So just who could Ricky be stepping into the ring with in ’08?
1.) Paulie Malignaggi offers Hatton probably the most lucrative and high profile bout over in America. It will no doubt allow the antics that occurred between Hatton and Mayweather to continue if these two should meet as Malignaggi is never short of an opinion. Similarly the style of the Magic Man replicates that of the Pretty Boy but in terms of class, he still has a long way to go before he reaches that level. This fight, apart from the money and coverage it should receive, could be very attractive to Hatton for other reasons as well. First of all Malignaggi holds the IBF title, and a victory in a championship bout would be a huge confidence boost and prove he is not a spent force after his defeat in Vegas. Secondly after seeing Paulie’s recent uninspiring victory over Herman Ngoudjo, the Hatton camp would have witnessed many weakness’ that they would feel confident about exposing. The problems that may arise could be that Hatton’s father and trainer may not want to jump right in at the deep end and may rather fight a tune up fight first. Also the location could be a problem, Hatton wants his next fight to be in Britain as a reward to his followers for the support, were as Malignaggi (and possibly American media) would prefer the fight to take place in America, probably at Madison Square Gardens. The possibility of this fight happening in ’08 is reasonably fair, but expect it to be in the second half of the year.
2.) Junior Witter offers Ricky the domestic showdown that all of the British boxing fans crave to see. This could be the perfect come back fight for Hatton, his biggest domestic rival in a sold-out MEN Arena with the prestigious WBC championship (a belt Hatton has failed to win) on the line. Both these men have been at each others throat for several years, but while Hatton has reached superstar status through his results in the ring, his rival has been somewhat left in the darkness (despite victories against top level fighters including Lauri, N’dou, Corley and Harris). If The Hitters boxing record was not enough to get the Hitman in the ring, he went down route B and tried to insult his way to a fight, but recently Hatton’s father has stated his son will not fight Witter while he continues his tirade in the media. What is really frustrating is that I personally believe this would be a great tear up of a fight, both would release anger and frustration on the other, while at the same time be able to show the class that got them to the top of their game. It seems that for the time being these to will not engage in battle, but this is boxing and nothing is impossible.
3.) Gavin Rees or Ricardo Torres offers the most probable options if Hatton does decide to come back in a championship fight. Rees, part of the highly successful Calzaghe stable, exploded on to scene last July when the rugged Welshman out hustled experienced campaigner Souleymane M’baye over twelve rounds to claim the WBA title. Rees’ come forward and throw punches style should male for a highly enjoyable fight but many would view this match-up as the easiest should Hatton sign up. If Rees’ is seen as the easiest option, the Torres is the wildcard. The hard punching, fast swinging Columbian may not be a huge name, but anyone who saw his 2005 dust up with Miguel Cotto (a fight in which Cotto was down and really hurt but came back to win by 7th round ko) knows that this guy can be as dangerous a puncher as anyone in the sport. Since that defeat he has gone on a four fight winning streak dispatching of good opponents including Arturo Moura and Kendall Holt and adding the WBO belt. This guy may be the unknown but will most likely offer the most explosive fight.
4.) Best of the Rest: Outside of the title holders, there are not many stellar names flooding the division. Hatton can either fight a tune up against an experienced campaigner such as Juan lazcano or Randall Bailey or go down the other route and take on one of the up and comers like Demetrius Hopkins or Lamont Peterson. One of these fights would be the more likely as Hatton’s team may be wary of putting him in with the top men straight after a defeat, and these fights can be seen as fights that are more than winnable but good confidence boosters.
Ricky Hatton’s future may not seem as clear, or prosperous, as it did before his defeat at the hands of the Pretty Boy, but don’t by any means be counting the Hitman out just yet. Should he continue to dominate at the light welterweight limit and stay in the top 10 of the pound 4 pound ratings, speculative future mega fights against Manny Pacquiao and Juan Diaz could still could to fruition. In a couple of years we may even see a Mayweather vs. Hatton rematch, because in boxing you never know what is round the corner.