- Ricky Hatton
Refimprove|date=October 2007Infobox Boxer
name=Ricky Hatton
realname=Richard Hatton
nickname=The Hitman
The Manchester Mexican
The Pride of Hyde
height=5 ft 6 in
reach=65 in
weight=Light Welterweight Welterweight
nationality= British [cite web|url=http://www.nouse.co.uk/2005/06/24/birth-of-a-british-champion-but-can-ricky-hatton-take-the-pressure-at-this-level/|title=Birth of a British champion, but can Ricky Hatton take the pressure at this level?|author=Anon|publisher=nouse.co.uk|date=2005-06-24|accessdate=2007-07-07] [cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2730405|title=Hatton finds Las Vegas stage is his calling|author=Kieran Mulvaney|publisher=sports.espn.go.com|date=2007-01-17|accessdate=2007-10-01 "It makes me proud to be British"]
birth_date=birth date and age|1978|10|6|
birth_place=Stockport ,Greater Manchester ,England
style=Orthodox
total=45
wins=44
KO=31
losses=1Richard "Ricky" Hatton MBE (born October 6, 1978, in
Stockport ,Greater Manchester ,England ), is a British boxer. He is seen by many as one of the most popular British fighters of all timeFact|date=July 2008. He is more commonly known as Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton. Hatton is a two-time IBF and IBOLight Welterweight Champion, having relinquished the IBF belt, only to step back down to the weight class and beatJuan Urango . He was the WBAWelterweight Champion, but relinquished this title on August 31, 2006.cite web
title=Hatton gives up welterweight belt
publisher=BBC Sport
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/5287038.stm
date=August 31, 2006
accessdate=2007-07-01] Hatton is also the former WBU, WBALight Welterweight Champion and WBC,WBA ,WBO Inter-Continental Light Welterweight Champion, and currentRing Magazine Light Welterweight Champion.Biography
Born in
Stockport ,Greater Manchester , Hatton was raised on theHattersley council estate inHyde, Greater Manchester and trained at the Sale West ABC on the Racecourse Estate. He was educated atAlder Community High School .Both his grandfather and father played for
Rochdale A.F.C. , and Ricky had a trial for the youth team. But Hatton found a local boxing club in Hyde, which he still trains at, and found he enjoyed the sport. Hatton's entrance music is the Manchester City club song "Blue Moon" as performed by the band "Supra." Aged 14, Hatton was taken by his uncles Ged and Paul to Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium to watch the second fight betweenNigel Benn andChris Eubank . Hatton joined the family carpet business on leaving school, but after he cut four of his fingers with a Stanley knife, his father made him a salesman to prevent him from losing his fingers. [cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1692484,00.html|title=Hatton-Mayweather: Pull No Punches|accessdate=2007-12-08|date=2007-12-07 |publisher=Time]Boxing career
Hatton's debut fight was on 10 September 1997 against Colin McAuley in
Widnes atKingsway Leisure Centre (he won by a KO in 1), while in his second fight Hatton boxed atMadison Square Garden inNew York .In 2000, Hatton overcame one of his toughest fights when he beat
Jon Thaxton on points. Hatton was cut badly early on in the fight, and some say the fight should have been stopped. Still, Hatton showed great heart to come through.On 5 June 2005 Hatton beat
Kostya Tszyu , then widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world by a technical knockout after theAustralia n failed to answer the bell for the 12th round. Hatton was a heavy underdog for this fight, and the victory announced his entry to the upper echelons of the world boxing scene. Prior to the fight the majority of boxing critics had given Hatton little or no chance and this victory was regarded as one of the best victories by an English boxer in the last 20 years. On 26 November 2005 Hatton won the WBA title when he defeatedCarlos Maussa in the ninth round of a unification bout. In December, Hatton was named the 2005Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year .Hatton relinquished his IBF belt on 29 March, 2006 after refusing to fulfil a mandatory defence against number one contender
Naoufel Ben Rabah , because he intended to move up to the welterweight class. Hatton signed a three fight contract with Dennis Hobson's fight academy after splitting from long time promoter Frank Warren. The three fights would take place in America.Moving to Welterweight
Hatton moved up a division to meet American
Luis Collazo for the WBA Welterweight crown which took place on 13 May 2006. Hatton won the WBA crown from Collazo but struggled with Collazo's slicksouth-paw style and the extra weight. Hatton started well, knocking Collazo down in the very first few seconds of the first round, but it turned out to be one of the toughest fights of his career, with some boxing analysts believing Collazo won the fight, although many also thought Hatton had done enough early on in the fight to secure victory, with the knock down a pivotal point in the fight. Hatton then moved back down to Light Welterweight to defeat Juan UrangoBack to Light Welterweight
Hatton's first fight back at Light Welterweight was against the current IBF Light Welterweight Champion
Juan Urango on January 20, 2007 inLas Vegas, Nevada . Hatton's promoter Dennis Hobson stated that the impetus for moving back down was to set up a fight withJose Luis Castillo , a fighter who nearly beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. at Lightweight in 2002.Hatton ended up winning a 12 round unanimous decision against Urango, to re-capture the unified IBF and IBO Light Welterweight titles. He won all but one round on all three judges' scorecards. Castillo, who was on the undercard, also won (via split decision), setting up their long-awaited fight.Hatton was forced to relinquish his IBF title again on 10 February, to be able to fight Castillo. The fight was held on Saturday, June 23, 2007, at the
Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. In round four, Hatton landed a "perfect" left hook to the liver, which put Castillo to the canvas. Ricky later claimed that 4 of Castillo's ribs were broken with this one punch. Unable to stand up, Castillo was counted out for the first time in his career. Hatton retained the IBO Light Welterweight championship, with his record now standing at 43 fights, 43 wins, with 31 coming by way of knockout.Return to Welterweight
Hatton vs. Mayweather Jr.
Hatton agreed to terms on Friday July 27, for a December 8, 2007 welterweight fight with
Floyd Mayweather Jr [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/6920484.stm BBC online: "Hatton seals bout with Mayweather"] ] which was considered to be the biggest welterweight fight since the 1999 clash betweenOscar de la Hoya and Puerto Rican legendFelix 'Tito' Trinidad . TheMGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas was announced as the venue on August 17, 2007. The fight was agreed to less than three months after Mayweather had said he planned to retire following a victory overOscar De La Hoya .Hatton was able to bring the fight to Mayweather in the early rounds. In the 1st round Hatton caught Mayweather with a left jab which knocked Mayweather off balance. His constant pressure appeared to make Mayweather uncomfortable at first. In round six, referee
Joe Cortez took a point away from Hatton after he appeared to hit Mayweather on the back of the head while Mayweather was rested between the ropes. However, the punch was revealed to have hit the rope rather than Mayweather's head but Hatton was warned for punching behind the head on numerous occasions before the deduction. Hatton became angry at the referee's decision to deduct a point from him and turned his back on him in frustration. Hatton would later claim that he had became angry by the referee and that had caused him to lose his calm and contributed to his downfall. [ [http://www.sportingo.com/Boxing/a8057_second-Mayweather-beating-one-miss-HitMan-Hatton A second Mayweather beating is one to miss for Hit-Man Hatton] ] Hatton was able to hold his own, until round eight, when Mayweather began to adapt to Hatton and started counterattacking. Mayweather knocked Hatton to the mat in Round 10. Hatton got up, but Mayweather quickly resumed his attack, resulting in Joe Cortez putting a stop to the fight, and Hatton's corner threw in the towel. Mayweather commented post-match that "Ricky Hatton is one tough fighter. He is still a champion in my eyes and I'd love to see him fight again. "Ricky Hatton is probably one of toughest competitors I've faced. I hit him with some big ones but he kept coming and I can see why they call him the 'Hitman'." [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/othersports.html?in_page_id=1781&in_article_id=500749 Daily Mail:- "Mayweather hails 'brave' Hatton - then hints he may quit boxing"] ] The fight received large amounts of publicity, with both fighters promoting the fight heavily.Back at Light Welterweight
Hatton vs. Lazcano
On 24 May 2008, Hatton beat Mexican
Juan Lazcano by unanimous decision with scores of 120-110, 120-108 and 118-110 in front of his home crowd of 55,000 (a post-World War II record for a boxing match in Britain) atCity of Manchester Stadium to retain "The Ring Magazine" and IBO light welterweight titles.cite web
last =Doogan
first =Brian
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Hatton delights fans in shaky return to the ring
work =
publisher =ESPN.com
date =2008-05-25
url =http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3411419
format =
doi =
accessdate =2008-05-25] Hatton did well when he boxed and controlled the range, utilizing his jab and dominating a lot of the early exchanges. In round eight, Hatton absorbed a left hook to the chin that wobbled him, and in round ten, Hatton was hurt again by a left hook. [cite web
last =Aranda
first =Ramon
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =411's Hatton vs. Lazcano Report 05.24.08
work =
publisher =411mania.com
date =2008-05-24
url =http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3411419
format =
doi =
accessdate =2008-05-25] Despite that, Hatton outworked Lazcano to win a large majority of the rounds.Hatton vs. Malignaggi
Ricky Hatton will fight
Paulie Malignaggi of the United States at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas on November 22 of this year for Hatton'sIBO Light Welterweight title. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7426345.stm BBC SPORT | Boxing | Malignaggi test next for Hatton ] ] . He will be trained for this fight byFloyd Mayweather, Sr. Outside the ring
Hatton is a passionate supporter of Manchester City Football Club, with strong links to the club via his father and grandfather, who are both former players. Ricky also once had a trial at City for the youth team. His entrance music is the club's song "Blue Moon" as performed by the band "Supra". Good friend
Wayne Rooney , who plays for arch rivalsManchester United , has been with Hatton in his dressing room before a bout and carried one of his belts to the ring. Ricky's best friend is Lee Rawsthorne, who regularly carries Ricky's belt into the ring. Hatton is also good friends with another footballer,Joey Barton , [cite web|url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/8699/Ricky+backs+Barton+to+be+a+hit|accessdate=2007-07-10 |title=Ricky backs Barton to be a hit | first=Greg | last=Makin | publisher=Daily Express] a former Manchester City player. Ricky also follows the non-league football club Hyde United and often attends home matches. [cite web|url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFATrophy/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2002/11/32611.htm|accessdate=2007-12-14|title=Boxing Champ dreams of title double|publisher=The FA] In a recent appearance on "Al Murray's Happy Hour " he admitted that if he could hit one celebrity, it would beCristiano Ronaldo who plays for Manchester United.Regarding his nickname, Ricky said, "I've always been a fan of
Tommy Hearns , and everybody associates that that's where I got it from, but everybody's a Tommy Hearns fan. I got the nickname the first day I walked in the gym. I was 10 years old and put a pair of gloves on and started walloping the bag, and my amateur coach said, 'Look at him, look how evil he is. He's a little Hitman.'"Hatton is sometimes referred to by boxing fans as "Ricky Fatton" because he's been known to allow himself to weigh as much as 175 to 180 pounds (35 to 40 pounds over his fight weight) when he's not in training for a fight. Ever since Hatton turned professional, he has always opted to eat a full
English breakfast before fights - his favourite place in Hyde is The Butty Box in Mottram Road, where he was interviewed byGaby Logan for "Inside Sport;" and he is known to drinkGuinness on Thursday night when he playsdarts for the New Inn. Hatton defends his diet, citing that he plans to retire within the next four major bouts - experts have used his ill-balanced diet, akin toJake La Motta 's ballooning up between fights, to explain his poor performances in recent fights, and nature to tire towards the end of fights. Hatton also appeared on ITV1's daytime showLoose Women in August 2007, stating that the reason why he puts on weight between fights is because "I have a lot on my plate at the moment".Hatton appeared on the
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show in March 2007. When the host, Ross placed some pads on his hands and gave Hatton gloves to hit them with, he knocked a pad clean off Ross's hand with a powerful left hook. Interviewed onITV1 's "Parkinson" on October 13 2007, at the beginning of the interview, Hatton handedMichael Parkinson a custom made pair of boxing shorts with 'Mike' and 'Parky' written on them, the shorts had theBarnsley FC emblem on them and were coloured red and blue, Barnsley FC's colours, because Parkinson supports Barnsley FC. While talking about Floyd Mayweather's arrogance, Hatton said "if there was such a thing as re-incarnation, Floyd would come back as himself".Hatton received the award of
MBE for services to sport in the 2007New Year's Honours List .Hatton has recently started hosting his own live chat show called Ricky Speaks [http://nuts.tv/editorial/fights/Ricky-Speaks.htm] on Sunday 11pm on Nuts.TV(sky guide 196 / freeview 42).
Family
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