I HATE to say it but Ricky Hatton?s sickening second-round KO loss against Manny Pacquiao at the weekend was an accident waiting to happen.
As I?ve insisted for months, Hatton shouldn?t have taken the fight and was always likely to lose.
He made a big thing about bringing in Floyd Mayweather Snr as his trainer ? but by the time the fight came around the pair were barely speaking to each other.
Mayweather said ?You can?t hit what you can?t see?. Unfortunately for Hatton, he was fighting Pacquiao not Stevie Wonder.
But it was obvious to anybody that, after nearly 50 professional fights, Hatton does not have the capacity to change to Mayweather?s defensive style.
In fact he did everything wrong, and nothing right, in the six minutes the fight lasted.
He may have been a world champion inside the ring, but Hatton?s also been a champion outside it as well ? a champion at abusing his body by piling on the pounds between fights and binge drinking.
Although I believed he would lose against Pacquiao, I was surprised it happened so quickly.
But Manny beat Hatton in every department ? his speed, footwork and power were superb.
The knockout was a frightening one and reminded me of the devastating defeats two Brits ? Dave Boy Green and Herol Graham ? had at world level.
I don?t think Ricky has looked the same since he beat Kostya Tszyu in Manchester four years ago, which remains for me the highlight ? and high point ? of his career.
Thousands of fans travelled to Las Vegas to see him fight at the weekend but I?d be surprised if any of them would be upset if Hatton now called it quits. His family should also urge him to retire.
When he fought for me, Hatton banked around ?8million and he?s earned big money since then as well, so he?s not short of a pound or two. It wasn?t like he needed to fight Pacquiao for the money.
But if he fights on, he runs the risk of not remembering which bank he?s got his cash in.
His father says he needs two weeks to decide what to do ? it should take less than 10 minutes. Ray should make Ricky watch the first round of the fight. If that doesn?t do it watch the second round, if he still needs convincing he should look at the awful sight of himself out unconscious on his back for three minutes.
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Hatton Snr also said Ricky was perfectly all right, not a mark on him. Externally that may have been the case but it is the internal damage that should concern him.
Forget the cheerleaders. If I was his father and he didn?t listen I?d creep into his bedroom at night and break his hands to ensure he didn?t fight again.
You can bet Hatton won?t want to go out on a loss. But if he fights on, he?s liable to be knocked out by anyone.
He said he took heart from his performance against Paul Malignaggi last year but you can?t judge anything on that fight.
Malignaggi cannot punch and isn?t an elite-level fighter. I said at the time that win meant nothing.
I can remember years ago meeting Hatton in a London hotel with journalist John Rawling and asking him to cut back on the boozing.
I told him everyone likes a drink but for a boxer it had to be a one-off rather than a habit. Unfortunately the advice fell on deaf ears.
I cannot believe some people in the game think sinking 12 pints plus a night makes you a good bloke and one of the boys.
What message does that send out to young fighters? If he was a star footballer he’d get slagged off.
I just hope that in retirement he doesn’t hit the bottle even harder, because it would be sad to see him waddling around at 16 stone, battling a drink problem.
Now the fight that everyone wants to see is Pacquiao against Floyd Mayweather and if the Pretty Boy beats Juan Manuel Marquez later this year, it will happen.
Yet it will be far harder for Pacquiao against Mayweather than it was against Hatton.
