The Ricky Hatton Lifestyle Myth

With the apparently imminent return of Ricky to the ring I have been seeing a lot of chatter on the forums. One thing that annoys me is the statement that Hatton's lifestyle was to blame for his early demise. This is rubbish IMO. It didn't help that he lived like crap between fights, and obviously in lower weights it's even worse to slip like this, but it wasn't the main factor.

This is it...

9From start to finish, he ate way too many punches. Hatton had a really good chin once upon a time, but fight after fight where he was tagged domestic and world opp) regularly meant he was never built to last too long. What we saw in the last years of his career was a brutal and career shortening beating from May and then a beasting from Pac where he ate more power shots in two rounds than I have ever counted.
Even Paulie tagged him loads in their fight, but Paulie has so little power he could do no damage.

The talk of his lifestyle being the thing that will stop him being competitive when he comes back is a bit rubbish IMO. What will hurt him is the rust, the fact his chin is way less sturdy than it was ten years ago and the way he eats shots. He always opened himself up front on whenever he threw that left hook, and that will never change.

The lifestyle talk is only an added ingredient to his issues. It's his style and chin that will do for him if he goes in against a puncher.

That said, he can beat a fair few fringe contenders in the mean time, although I wish he would stay retired.

I reckon wearing too many punches etc is a tosh argument. Would love to see some scientific evidence behind the phrase 'shot'.

A boxer losing his desire for the sport and athletic ability are both quantifiable.

In Hatton's case I believe he had lost the desire and confidence he had going in to the Tzsyu fight when he fought Pacquiao. This is probably due to the Mayweather payday and being totally outclassed by the bext boxer of a generation.

Against Lazcano he was unfit and undermotivated. Against Malignaggi he was excellent. The post development Hatton has only really been poor in 3 fights, Lazcano, Mayweather and Collazo.

I agree that this was part of it Sean, although having to shift so much between fights would have multipied the dimise of his punch resistance by 10x.

When you see the picture of him weighing in against Manny, he looks like he just left the cancer ward. His skin colour is so dull and he looks sick.

The reason he blew up in weight was because of the food and drink, so I think the punches he took added to ballooning up and deflating down so many times is the reason in a nutshell.

Fighters can only get away with cutting weight like that for so long before it catches up with them.

Chavez Jr is a classic case of someone who will self destruct due to trying to shift too much weight between fights.

Disagree with much of this to be honest SeanMichaels. Motivation only takes you so far, and once in the ring all fighters are motivated. He ate an obscene amount of punches throughout his career and that takes its toll on a fighter. He wasn't brilliant v Malignaggi either, he was eating loads of jabs from Paulie and had Paulie had a right hand and some power he would have been a nightmare for Hatton. As it was Hatton was able to just walk through him and rough him up.

Your argument suggests he just has to want it and he'll be ok. Rubbish. This is an argument that Hatton fans use to convince themselves he should come back. Also, check the punch stats v Pac Man, they are quantifiable and they prove how easy he was to hit, as do the May stats as do ...

Also, how are a boxer losing his passion and desire quantifiable? Quantifiable as what? Reasons for them losing badly... no. All you can do is surmise the would have done better had they had more desire and focus. They are the exact opposite of something that are quantifiable.

Reborn-DeeMcK-Reborn wrote:I agree that this was part of it Sean, although having to shift so much between fights would have multipied the dimise of his punch resistance by 10x.

When you see the picture of him weighing in against Manny, he looks like he just left the cancer ward. His skin colour is so dull and he looks sick.

The reason he blew up in weight was because of the food and drink, so I think the punches he took added to ballooning up and deflating down so many times is the reason in a nutshell.

Fighters can only get away with cutting weight like that for so long before it catches up with them.

Chavez Jr is a classic case of someone who will self destruct due to trying to shift too much weight between fights.

Agree with you here Dee. Talking sense. Eating shots didn't help either. Hs style was taylor made for the likes of May and Manny - always was

Ricky has eaten more shots than Solis has burgers.

He is shot, and needs to stay retired.

Will i watch his comeback though?

Of course i will.

Sykes like his dont tend to have long careers but to squash the idea that his lifestyle isnt the main regiment isn't true

Are you telling me that if Hatton fought malignaggi a couple months after pacquiao instead of now he would have the same chance. He would have beaten malignaggi as easily as before (maybe a little harder) despite the pacquiao loss

He was obese at one point and looked 40+ given he is still in his early 30's when he retired. Putting on a lot of weight very quickly really has a detrimental effect on anyone. Having to burn that much weight off in a short period is hard on your body an although in much better shape it doesn't mean he is fit enough to fight.

Hatton has been retired for 3+ years, and the way he lived those years its a 'long' 3 years. Boxers who are active and in their primes show evident lack of sharpness with layoffs as little as 12 months while keeping in shape for that time

Seanusarrilius wrote:Disagree with much of this to be honest SeanMichaels. Motivation only takes you so far, and once in the ring all fighters are motivated. He ate an obscene amount of punches throughout his career and that takes its toll on a fighter. He wasn't brilliant v Malignaggi either, he was eating loads of jabs from Paulie and had Paulie had a right hand and some power he would have been a nightmare for Hatton. As it was Hatton was able to just walk through him and rough him up.

Your argument suggests he just has to want it and he'll be ok. Rubbish. This is an argument that Hatton fans use to convince themselves he should come back. Also, check the punch stats v Pac Man, they are quantifiable and they prove how easy he was to hit, as do the May stats as do ...

Also, how are a boxer losing his passion and desire quantifiable? Quantifiable as what? Reasons for them losing badly... no. All you can do is surmise the would have done better had they had more desire and focus. They are the exact opposite of something that are quantifiable.

I never said all he has to do is 'want'. Desire in boxing terms is doing the road work, doing the sparring, not adding 30% bodymass between fights, not drinking 12 pints of Guinness. If he does that for a period of 12-18 months then there is no reason why he can't turn up in decent fighting shape (add a few easy fights to get rid of the rust).

I was reading an article about David millar the cyclist. Having been caught doping his life imploded and he ended up being an alcoholic for a period of 12-24 months. He is now back in cycling and one of the fittest athletes in the world.

Lifestyle didn't help, not arguing that.

But he shipped loads and loads of punishment at every level of his career. Has that nothing to do with it?

Seanusarrilius wrote:Lifestyle didn't help, not arguing that.

But he shipped loads and loads of punishment at every level of his career. Has that nothing to do with it?

I am not saying it doesn't, it is just incredibly hard to say without scientific evidence.

At the chance of being mocked (can't be arsed to source the stats), I'd point to the Jimmy Braddock as an example. Now I've only seen the film but there is no question he took a few kickings in his time. Yet once things began to work out for him and he could afford the time to train, he was able to put a run together and win the world title.

scientific evidence? Jeeze man, go out and get whacked in the head 5000 times and then see if you disagree with the notion that he is shot.

Nothing about Hattons style in the ring or outside the ring suggests he could be a fighter who ages well like Hopkins or Mayweather. Hatton overachieved with his limited ability and was aided by the fact that he was pretty massive at 140lbs. When he went up to 147 he looked totally ineffective as he couldn't use his size to bully people like he could at 140, you'll see a similar thing with Rios when he moves up and the same with Maidana. A comeback is a truly terrible idea for Ricky who has been great for British boxing and got out at the right time, although he might have been better leaving the sport 6 minutes sooner. Really hope he stays retired.

davidemore wrote:scientific evidence? Jeeze man, go out and get whacked in the head 5000 times and then see if you disagree with the notion that he is shot.

like ollie mccall, tyson's ex sparring partner?

And the man now weeps mid-fight and refuses to come out of his bedroom. Terrible example... next!

True but we can also offer up Bowe vs Golota as a direct example - had seven shades of Poopie beaten out of him. He had a similar lifestyle to ricky and what about Meldrick taylor? Braddock, kept fit by working on the docks (also going by the film) and didnt spend his time blowing up and cutting down.

shahenshah whose side are you on?

davidemore wrote:And the man now weeps mid-fight and refuses to come out of his bedroom. Terrible example... next!

So you're a psychologist as well as a laureate? Should your hero Froch quit? He's shipped more punches in his last 7 fights than Hatton did in his career.

seanmichaels wrote:

davidemore wrote:And the man now weeps mid-fight and refuses to come out of his bedroom. Terrible example... next!

So you're a psychologist as well as a laureate? Should your hero Froch quit? He's shipped more punches in his last 7 fights than Hatton did in his career.

Froch is much tougher than Hatton.

seanmichaels wrote:

davidemore wrote:And the man now weeps mid-fight and refuses to come out of his bedroom. Terrible example... next!

So you're a psychologist as well as a laureate? Should your hero Froch quit? He's shipped more punches in his last 7 fights than Hatton did in his career.

Froch is fit 365 days of the year. He doesn't balloon between fights and takes care of himself. His lifestyle leads to a long career.

azania wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:

davidemore wrote:And the man now weeps mid-fight and refuses to come out of his bedroom. Terrible example... next!

So you're a psychologist as well as a laureate? Should your hero Froch quit? He's shipped more punches in his last 7 fights than Hatton did in his career.

Froch is fit 365 days of the year. He doesn't balloon between fights and takes care of himself. His lifestyle leads to a long career.

So you agree it is his lifestyle rather than taking too many punches?

Its probably a bit of both, but I would say his lifestyle would be slightly more significant. I am no expert on human physiology but surely that kind of ballooning in weight must take a horrific toll on your body, and lets face it, there must literally be hundreds of examples of boxers taking punishment throughout their career and still gone on to greatness. I don't think him shipping lots of punishment is as significant as him living a pretty appalling lifestyle out of training camp.

Its a bit of a myth that Hattons chin deteriorated that much over time anyway. He was hurt much earlier in his career than people seem to think. Magee hurt him badly on one occasion and put him down on another. Vince Phillips hurt him badly with a right hand. Tsyzu and Collazo both hurt him as well. He had a solid chin, don't get me wrong, but he had certainly been badly hurt well before Mayweather and Pacquiao knocked him out.

I loved watching him and have fond memories, but I hope they stay as memories.

100% agree Tino with everything ohter than whether he comes back.

I do feel the rest, and a prolonged period of healthy living / training, could perhaps mean we see the old Ricky Hatton and even a better Hatton. At 33 he should still have the physical faculties he displayed as a 27/28 year old.