by Stuart Young – So, Ricky Hatton has announced he is not quite ready to join the pipe & slippers brigade just yet & plans at least one more fight before hanging up the gloves & enjoying his retirement.
He plans to begin training for his latest assault on the boxing world immediately after returning from holiday in Australia in a couple of weeks.
Admitting he was a “little bit heavier” than usual he said he expects to have two weeks shedding weight on his return from Oz before heading into a 12 week training camp designed to get him back to peak fitness & in fighting shape. It’s seems to me from the length of time Ricky is planning to spend dieting & training that he is more than likely targeting a return to his former stomping ground of light welterweight..
As an outsider looking in on the Hatton camp it does seem to me that the two weeks shedding weight & the 12 week training camp is a little bit excessive. Granted, he needs to shed a awful lot of weight at present but isn’t there a worry that he could over-train & be left feeling ‘deflated & empty’ come fight night after 14 weeks of preparation?
After years of abusing his body with his ‘good living / hard drinking-rockstar lifestyle’ it would surely be less demanding physically & better for the fighter mentally if he was to give himself a bit of ‘leeway’ & target a comeback in the welterweight division. It may also help reinvigorate his punch resistance that sadly seems to have all but deserted him in recent bouts if he were to campaign at a weight class 7lb north of his normal 140lb light welterweight limit.
Anyway, less of my personal opinion – lets stick to to what we know.
Hatton says he is targeting a summer comeback & if the schedule he outlined is to be believed then we are likely to see Hatton back in the ring again sometime around mid-to-late May.
Hatton also claimed he wanted to take on a genuine Top 10 pound-for-pounder or a current world champion. “It won’t be a nice, soft 10-rounder either. I don’t want people to say that I only had that fight so I could finish on a win. If I’m going to have one more fight, it is going to have to be against a top 10 pound-for-pound fighter or a world champion, otherwise I’m not interested. I want to finish at the top” remarked Hatton.
Whilst admiring Hatton’s gusto & his willingness to mix with the big boys straight away, it’s this type of bravado that could ultimately be his downfall, looking at The Ring magazines current top 10 P4P fighters that are in or around Hatton’s weight class, can you see Ricky coming out on top in bouts with a Floyd Mayweather, a Miguel Cotto or a Shane Mosley? No, me neither!
But baring Hatton’s words in mind, it’s not that hard to second guess his next move.
Juan Manuel Marquez is a real possibility, no ‘spring chicken’ himself at 35 Marquez could be the big name Ricky is looking for. I’m sure he would be more than willing to move up in weight to accommodate Hatton’s challenge whether it be at 140lb or above. If I was Hatton I’d try to get him to agree to a catchweight fight at 144lb or possibly higher, in fact the higher the better in my opinion, if you can get him at the welterweight limit Ricky – then do it!
Other than that, the other belt holders at light welterweight are domestic rival Amir Khan (WBA) & Timothy Bradley. (WBO)
Devon Alexander (WBC) faces off against former Hatton victim Juan Urango (IBF) in a unification battle in early March.
Alexander or Urango will hold two belts by the time Hatton is looking to return to the ring and neither man would turn down a fight with ‘The Hitman’ but you just wonder if either would be able to make the proposed summer bout so soon after fighting each other – I for one doubt it, when you take into account they will need at least a eight week training camp the timescale looks unworkable.
A clash with Amir Khan would no doubt be a mega fight in the UK pitting media darling Hatton against the pretender to his throne in young Khan, but with Frank Warren promoting Khan & Hatton refusing to deal with Warren due to a acrimonious split from his former promoter a few years back I thinks its safe to say this bout will have to be shelved & put on the back-burner – at least for the time being.
Timothy Bradley is an option although not a very wise one if you get my drift – Ricky’s comeback could be over before its even begun, neither a marquee name or a big draw financially ‘Desert Storm’ would prove too hot to handle for Hatton at this stage of his career.
Up at Welterweight we are soon to have a unified champion depending on the outcome of the Shane Mosley (WBA) Vs Andre Berto (WBC) clash at the end of this month & either of these would jump at the chance to face Hatton but they both look like stylistic nightmares for Ricky & he would be best advised to avoid both.
Manny Pacquiao currently holds the WBO title so that’s a no-go, which brings us to IBF champ, little known Jan Zaveck (aka Dejan Zavec).
Zaveck, a 33 year old who hails from Ptuj, Slovenia, has a career record of W28 (16 KO’s) L1. Standing exactly the same height as Hatton at 5ft 7In he mainly fights out of Germany but I doubt it would be too difficult to lure him over to fight in the UK.
Zaveck has one loss on his record to Polish journeyman Rafal Jackiewicz who himself has been beaten on 8 occasions, this bout shouldn’t be too strenuous for Ricky & offers him an ideal opportunity to win a world title & blow off a few cobwebs.
He ticks all the boxes & looks the perfect opponent to begin a comeback.
E-mail:- boxingchat121@hotmail.co.uk