Ricky Hatton lost his unbeaten record and his pretensions to greatness following his tenth round TKO defeat to WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr over the weekend.
Some writers ? such as myself ? optimistically gave the Manchester hero a chance as the fight neared, vs the ?pound for pound? king. But between Mayweather?s counter punching skills and Joe Cortez?s overzealous ? some would say manic ? refereeing, ?The Hitman? never had a prayer.
Concerns raised before the bout was even signed were well founded, and before this writer got a little bit too high on the outstanding fortunes of British fighters in world title bouts this year, I issued a warning of my own.
That the mugging, brawling 140-pounder would not be effective up at 147-pounds, especially not against a stylist like Mayweather, the likes of which he?d never seen before. That Ricky should milk his popularity with clever matchmaking following a brutal KO of Jose Luis Castillo earlier in the year. That if there were no glamour fights at junior welterweight, he should look toward the excellent lightweight, Juan Diaz, in a bull vs bull fight.
You might guess that I finally thought myself a bit clever after Mayweather flummoxed and then flattened our Ricky after looking up an old article of mine, but rumours of the bout?s success would suggest that Ricky ?The Hitman? Hatton will be more popular than ever before. Britain?s tabloid newspaper The Sun revealed that the bout was a PPV hit, with close to 2 million buys between America and the UK and that Hatton pocketed up to ?20m.
That seems a bit optimistic, and I?ve learned long ago not to believe everything I read in that paper, but Mayweather carried huge momentum into the fight (beating the sport?s biggest star, Oscar de la Hoya last May). The UK hardly has a history of gaudy PPV numbers, but I wouldn?t be surprised if the previous record ? 750,000 for the Lewis-Tyson fight in 2002 ? were broken.
If Ricky has been humbled in defeat, his raised profile, self-depreciating humour and quick-wittedness ? which saw him joke, ?I slipped? commenting on the first knockdown ? that he had plenty of time to practise over a lengthy media tour and entertaining 24/7 series, suggest he can still be a big star.
Hatton?s gift of gab puts him way ahead of most of boxing?s high profilers, who cannot seem to rise above the usual garbled stream of expletives, especially in America.
Sympathy has always had a hand in Britain?s love affair with its boxers, ranging from Henry Cooper ? twice stopped by Clay/Ali ? and Frank Bruno ? twice battered by Mike Tyson. The relentless winners, like Ken Buchanan, John Conteh and more recently Lennox Lewis and Joe Calzaghe, all took longer to warm to, if at all in some cases.
That Hatton can win at world class, and that he already has a travelling army of fans, gives him one hell of a platform, despite being humbled in his last outing.
Already, super featherweight superstar Manny Pacquiao is said to be eyeing up the ?Hitman? in a 140-pound contest, proof of Ricky?s bourgeoning box office power.
Hopefully, he?s not too far past his best to enjoy all of this ? in recent bouts with Juan Urango and Luis Collazo, Hatton?s looked damaged goods, with his dad Ray and trainer Billy Graham hinting that he didn?t have many more fights in him and that we should ?enjoy him while you?ve got him.?
Many who?ve followed his career since the early days have been dismayed at the lack of combinations, wide punching and shortage of body punching. But Hatton, nearly 30, has an extra incentive to excel and to keep his body in better shape for important outings.
His frantic pace isn?t suited to a long career, and his prime may have been wasted from making no less than 14 defenses of the minor WBU belt in Manchester.
As such, the next few fights will have to be big ones ? the ones that count. Just keep him away from defensive masters and welterweights.
HOPKINS: BORING AND BOORISH
Despite the success of the ?Undefeated? card, a couple of controversies put a bit of a dampener on lucrative British-American relations. The British fans? booing of the American national anthem was in bad taste, leading Golden Boy Promotions? own Bernard Hopkins to declare he?d never fight in the UK because of that.
Whilst I agree the UK fans could have shown more tact, and that they may have cost Ricky some American support that night, Hopkins? post fight comments were a bit of a broken record, considering he doubled his purse at the last minute for a Calzaghe fight in 2002, set for the UK, in a big fight killer.
Hopkins was the centre of another controversy, last Friday. After meeting prospective foe Joe Calzaghe for the first time at the Mayweather-Hatton weigh-in, he declared he?d never lose to a white man. It was a classless comment from a man who should keep the chip on his shoulder to himself.
As a promoter, he should try to set a better example, and he should have the sense not to offend people who are making him rich by buying his desultory fights on PPV, a fair portion of whom I presume have fair skin.
Hopefully the atrocious refereeing on a Golden Boy show hasn?t put Calzaghe off from making the trip across the Atlantic.
WITTER WOES
For nearly a decade, British viewers have been itching to find out who the best light welter in the country is. Witter ? who knocked out Vivian Harris this year ? has always been eager to find out, but Hatton has never been accommodating.
It was presumed that Hatton would have to be knocked down a few pegs before swallowing his pride to take an all-British rivalry with Witter, the WBC champion. How ironic that after getting broken down by Mayweather ? hardly known as a big puncher ? Hatton is even less likely to give Witter his big day.
THE RISE OF KHAN
Few will argue against Amir Khan being a magnificent talent. Especially not after his one round blitz of the durable, hard-hitting Graham Earl, in a performance that proved his world class potential.
Around the time he pulverised Earl, a fight was signed between outstanding lightweight champion Juan Diaz and Aussie-Greek slugger Michael Katsidis.
Katsidis was dropped in a fight with Earl earlier this year, and had to throw the kitchen sink at the Brit battler to win one of the fights of the year. Should he do well vs Diaz, expect Khan?s stock to rise even further.
Hopefully Khan will face hard punching European champion Yuri Romanov next. Between the 21-year-old?s improving performances and impressive TV viewing figures (over 6m last Saturday on ITV), fans should expect the best fights.
Despite his outstanding natural talent and improving poise, he?s not yet an articulate or charismatic figure. Some time ago he remarked, ?My style is made for Graham Earl.?
Dodgy grammar aside, you can?t complain about his in-ring charisma: Khan boasts some of the quickest hands in the country and some excellent finishing skills and mobility.
JOE GETS BBC AWARD
PPV buys and terrestrial viewing figures aren?t the only gauge of boxing?s increasing popularity in the UK. The sport?s profile was raised by Joe Calzaghe?s BBC Sports Personality of the Year triumph, and his dad Enzo?s winning of the Coach of the Year prize, following Calzaghe?s superb win over Mikkel Kessler.
Given that the general public are the people who make the vote, how about the Beeb actually treating the boxing hungry viewers to some live coverage, and justifying their licence fee that we?re all lumbered with on these shores?
REPLAY TONIGHT
British viewers should look out for Wayne Elcock?s unsuccessful challenge to IBF middleweight titleholder Arthur Abraham on ITV4 at 9pm tonight. Scottish hope Craig McEwan?s eight round win over Alfredo Contreras (from the McKart-Ornelas II undercard, from Vegas last Friday) also gets some coverage
