Despite suffering one of the most brutal KO losses in recent memory, Ricky Hatton retains his place atop the British ‘pound-for-pound’ tree this month. But in the light of his shocking loss to Manny Pacquiao it looks a case of when and not if the ‘Hitman’ is knocked off his perch.
Hatton may only be 30 but there are a lot of miles on the clock and after suffering his second heavy stoppage defeat in his last four fights (albeit at the very top level), most observers are asking him to call it a day.
He looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights against the mercurial Pacquiao as he was dropped twice in the opening stanza before being laid out for the count in round two.
As defeats go this one was about as comprehensive as they come and while there is no shame in losing to a fighter of Pacquiao’s calibre, one wonders just how much Hatton now has left in the tank and indeed whether there would be any mileage in trying to regroup and carry on?
No doubt the likes of Amir Khan and Junior Witter would love for Hatton to keep going and share a ring with them (and an inevitably a huge purse) down the line but most impartial observers feel Ricky would be better served following former ‘pound-for-pound’ top dog Joe Calzaghe’s lead and turning it in.
The all-action buzzsaw who has illuminated the game in this country for the past 10 years is no more and as better men than Hatton have proved down the years, when it’s gone it’s gone it doesn’t tend to come back.
Considering his achievements (Hatton is a two-weight world champion and multi-belt holder) and the fact that both his losses have come against the best two fighters in the sport it would be harsh to demote Hatton from the top spot at this time, but if he does carry on and ends up on his back again then a slip down the rankings looks inevitable.
One fighter who could end up taking his place is Carl Froch. ‘The Cobra’ produced a breathtaking come-from-behind victory to KO Jermain Taylor with less than a minute to go in Connecticut last month and while his overall performance wasn’t great the result certainly was. Taylor of course is a man who has twice beaten world ‘pound-for-pound’ star Bernard Hopkins and so to flatten the former undisputed middleweight champion on his home patch was a major, major achievement.
There are definite weaknesses in Froch’s armour and things he needs to work on. He is far too open to the right hand because of that languid, hands-low style and his porous defence can look downright amateurish at times.
However, like ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed before him, Froch does plenty wrong but it always ends up right by virtue of the fact he punches with tremendous authority.
He is Britain’s only recognised ‘big four’ world champion and it’s refreshing to hear him say that he only wants big fights from here on in.
There is talk of a possible meeting with Hopkins but it’s more likely that Carl will go for a unification fight with Lucien Bute next. The IBF champion is a gifted athlete but that’s a fight I fancy Carl to win as Bute can be hurt and nailed and Froch has the tools to blast him out.
A fight with Kelly Pavlik has also been mooted and if Froch could beat a marquee name like ‘THe Ghost’ after wins against Taylor and Jean Pascal then he will surely be knocking on the door to be ranked ‘pound-for-pound’ number one on these shores.
However he could be beaten to it by David Haye, who faces his own acid test against Wladimir Klitschko in Germany next month.
There is a case for Froch usurping Haye on our current list after his Taylor win but for me Haye has still achieved more after unifying the cruiserweight division with those outstanding wins against Jean-Marc Mormeck and Enzo Maccarinelli. He also looked good against Monte Barrett and if he can beat Klitschko, and do so in spectacular fashion, you would have to give him a good shout of topping Hatton for top spot.
Further down the list Jamie Moore makes a welcome return to the top 10 after two solid wins in 2009. The Salford star smashed the normally durable Michele Piccirillo to defeat in three rounds back in March and followed that up the other week with a two-round destruction of Roman Dzuman. Moore is now rated at six by the WBC and a big-money fight against a top name such as Vernon Forrest or Sergio Martinez might be next on his agenda. Moore has been blighted by injury and illness in recent years but has looked as good as ever this year and fully warrants a spot in our latest ratings.
Maccarinelli drops out of the top 10 after falling apart against the unheralded Ola Afolabi. ‘Big Macc’ was stopped in nine rounds and his team now have a job on their hands rebuilding his career.
It’s swings and roundabouts however because the man who replaces Maccarinelli this month is another Frank Warren fighter, Kell Brook.
There has been tremendous buzz regarding Brook for some time now and it seems the Sheffield man is now delivering on his early promise in the grand manner.
He destroyed Kevin McIntyre in a round late last year and followed that up by stopping Stuart Elwell in two earlier this year. The switch-hitting welterweight has been compared to Naseem Hamed and while such comparisons are a little unfair I wouldn’t rule out Brook eventually becoming a world champion.
The aforementioned Khan is another fighter on the move and the Bolton boy moves up two places on our latest list after his recent win over faded legend Marco Antonio Barrera.
If the ending was unsatisfactory (Barrera was pulled out because of a cut in the fifth round) then Khan’s performance certainly wasn’t. He used his superior speed to dazzle the Mexican modern great and for me didn’t lose a round at the MEN.
In less than a year Khan has turned his career around after that shocking loss to Breidis Prescott and he will next box Andreas Kotelnik for the latter’s WBA light-welterweight title.
If he wins that there will inevitably be calls for a meeting with Hatton, but while I feel Khan is still a little green at present to be mixing it with the ‘Hitman’ if that fight becomes a reality in 2010 he certainly wouldn’t be without hope.
Sportinglife.com pound-for-pound British top 10:
1 – Ricky Hatton
2 – David Haye
3 – Carl Froch
4 – Junior Witter
5 – John Murray
6 – Amir Khan
7 – Kevin Mitchell
8 – Nicky Cook
9 – Jamie Moore
10 – Kell Brook
