Can Hatton change his spots?
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
(will this be the scene Saturday for Ricky Hatton?)
We’ve all heard the expression a leopard doesn’t change his spots. We’re going to find out if that is true Saturday night.
One of Britain’s favorite sons, Ricky Hatton, looks to put himself back into the big money-making fights when he takes on Manny Pacquiao on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Strangely enough (and thankfully), this is the first PPV of the year for HBO after jamming ‘em down our throats the last couple of the years.
You know what you’re going to get with Hatton. A brawler who comes straight at you. He’ll get rough, he’ll get physical and make it as ugly as possible
….
Wait, you say that was the old Ricky Hatton?!? Under new trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., Hatton is trying to change his game extremely late in his career.
He’s trying to become a slick boxer while still keeping his intensity. Very interested to see how it turns out.
I’ve grown to appreciate Hatton more in the last few years. I still admit I was jumping up and down when Floyd Mayweather knocked him out in the 10th round, but I admire Hatton coming back.
He looked vulnerable in coming back vs. Juan Lazcano but did look good vs. Paulie Malignaggi with Mayweather in his corner.
Hatton says former trainer Billy Graham’s deteriorating health was a big reason for the change. That was a great relationship, and it sucks how relationships like that can be strained and ultimately destroyed. The two have barely talked since the falling out.
Against Malignaggi, Hatton tried to revert back to some basic skills like using the jab and working on his movement.
He’s not downplaying how big this fight is, and that is refreshing. Fighting someone like Pacquiao is not just another fight.
Not sure if Hatton has the tools necessary to beat Pacquiao. And would be even more shocked if the fight goes the distance.
These are two guys that go all-out, and that’s why we love them and that’s why their respective fan bases go ga-ga for them.
If Hatton can use his new plan of attack and be successful, then maybe Mayweather Sr. is the best trainer of all-time. Or as he would say: “not full-time, not part-time, not this time, but of all-time.”
It says a lot that a fight between a Brit (Hatton) and a Filipino (Pacquiao) is generating such interest. As I’ve said before, boxing in America isn’t what it once was but boxing globally is doing just fine.
Friday, a look at Pacquiao.
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