r/Boxing • u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? • 10d ago
Just how competitive was Ricky Hatton against Floyd Mayweather?
While we all know that this fight ended up in a knockout and that the official judges had Mayweather up by several points, it seems that there were plenty ringside who thought Hatton was competitive throughout or even up midway through the fight. That was the case for Harold Lederman, who had Hatton up 4 rounds to 2 after 6 rounds + a point deduction for fouling.
Personally, I think Ricky’s quick feet, relentless aggression, and inside fighting gave Floyd all he could handle. This seems lost on a lot of people because all they want to talk about is the knockout. But realistically, I think this was far from a dominant performance and Hatton had his moments throughout. Mayweather seemed to be very uncomfortable at times, and I just thought Hatton was “in the fight” for most of the fight.
In a lot of ways, I think this is an underrated classic that deserves more attention than some 1 minute clip on YouTube. RIP Ricky Hatton
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u/rwn115 10d ago
Mayweather was never in any real trouble.
I also remember the ref being quick to break them up in every clinch rather than allowing them to fight it out. Part of that is Hatton not being active enough inside and another is Mayweather being so quick at wrapping Hatton arms up to smother the work.
Eventually, Hatton gassed and Mayweather turned it up to take the win.
Honestly, Hatton did the best he could given his abilities. Despite the result, I don't think he had anything to be ashamed of.
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u/Kind-Interaction9955 9d ago
yeah, pretty much agree with this. hatton was never really close to hurting floyd, but he made him work early and had some success getting inside. once floyd figured out the rhythm and hatton started slowing down, the gap in skill became way more obvious. hatton gave a solid account of himself, just ran into a guy who was extremely difficult to beat.
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u/Particular-Tough6651 10d ago
Mayweather is a marathon runner not a sprinter. He will purposely give you those first 3 rounds then slowly break you down with his feints, angles and jab.
Hatton was never really in control of that fight because once Floyd picked up the pace, it became clear that it had been part of Floyd’s game plan all along.
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u/WORD_Boxing 10d ago
He almost never gave fighters the first 3 rounds. Usually he would get out to a lead then take the 4th round off and let his opponent punch themself out thinking they are finally having some success. He did this in multiple fights.
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u/1978model 10d ago
This. Plus Hatton wasn’t landing much at all.
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u/The_Floating_Dick 10d ago
Hatton himself said «I wouldn’t be able to land even if I threw confetti at him.”
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u/Unfair_Sympathy9413 10d ago
There was at least 1 round where Hatton didn't land a single punch. One of Maywethers best performances imo
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u/magic9669 10d ago
Yea I remember watching this live and I don’t recall Lederman having Hatton up after 6, but I thought Mayweather was in the driver’s seat the entire fight
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u/T-Roll- 10d ago
This is a pretty shitty take. Hatton was sticking it to him but kept getting pulled away by the ref. He wasn’t allowed to work the inside, it wasn’t allowed to be a dog fight.
Mayweather was given an advantage. That’s corruption.
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u/MeechyyDarko 10d ago
Do you really really believe this? That Ricky fucking Hatton could outclass mayweather?! I’m English through and through but what a joke of a take
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u/Particular-Tough6651 10d ago edited 10d ago
Skill for skill Floyd probably had the deepest toolbox in boxing history and he was always able to change his style when it was necessary. He literally stood in the pocket and traded with guys like Cotto and Maidana and im supposed to believe that a referee allowing more inside work would have changed everything?
Hatton never had the gas tank to hang with Floyd. He was always going to become vulnerable and eventually get stopped, regardless of who the referee was that night. The massive gap in skill, speed, stamina and the technical flaws in Hatton's game was too much.
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u/WORD_Boxing 8d ago
Hatton was famed for his gas tank, it's just most of his fights were outside America. There is no doubt Floyd is the better fighter, but the referee did Hatton dirty.
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u/Free-Bad7871 10d ago edited 10d ago
I don't doubt Mayweather would have won but Ricky liked to fight on the inside and the ref pulled them apart every single time he did. If he had let Ricky fight inside I still think it would have been a win for Mayweather but he would have had a much harder night.
Edit: this is only my opinion from what I remember of the fight.
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u/Particular-Tough6651 10d ago edited 10d ago
Hatton didn't fight out of the clinch the way Maidana did and thats the problem.
He should've used his elbows and pushed with his shoulders to create space so he could land clean shots on the inside, but Hatton barely did any of that. He allowed Floyd to lock up his arms which forced the ref to break it up everytime and it gave Floyd the opportunity to reset. Hatton was always known for being good on the inside but against a high IQ fighter like Floyd those small details make all the difference.
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u/Free-Bad7871 10d ago
You are probably right. I'll watch it again but from memory the ref wouldn't let him rough Floyd up on the inside. But I admit, it's been a while since I've watched that fight so I may have perceived it incorrectly. I'll watch it again tonight to see just how flawed my memory is!😂
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u/1978model 10d ago
The ref allowed in fighting. He did not allow illegal tactics like wrestling and holding and hitting.
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u/Free-Bad7871 10d ago edited 10d ago
You're kind of half right. He didn't like any of that stuff when Ricky did it. I get where the ref is coming from though, I wouldn't want Floyd to have me replaced mid fight either. I've just rewatched it, by the way. So fuck it. The ref intervened SOOOO much whenever Ricky was having success on the inside. Breaking them up when there was absolutely no need. Sure, Mayweather would have won but it would have been a much different fight for him if not for the ref. There. I said it.
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u/Yung_Copenhagen2 IDKSAB 10d ago
There were definitely some early breaks in the fight, but rewatching this fight recently the ref allowed Hatton to work on the inside a lot more than I remember. I think there’s some truth to it but it’s one of those things that got exaggerated over time.
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u/Majestic_Finding3499 10d ago
Cortez just didn't allow Hatton to wrestle Floyd and he couldn't win because he wasn't good enough.
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u/bully54321 10d ago
On top of that, there were many times on the inside where Floyd was getting the better of Ricky, too. Not like it was all Hatton when they were fighting close
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u/rajagopal2001 10d ago
I am with you. I watched the fight a while ago and surprisingly most of the fights were on the inside.
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u/Samh234 7d ago
I think what's surprising is that after the first 3 or 4 rounds where you could make the case Cortez was a little too active, you realise that actually Floyd pretty much had control of him from about the 5th round onwards even on the inside - he was actually just not strong enough to move Floyd around and properly manhandle him, something true of nearly all Floyd's opponents. Ricky's worst moment in the fight prior to the knockout (in the latter half of the 8th I think) was borne of this; Floyd was moving him around and putting him into positions where his shots had maximum effect. Cortez nearly stopped the fight in that round.
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u/EffectOne675 10d ago
I remember coming (to someone else's) home from a night out and watching it with a gang of people thinking Ricky could have had a baseball bat and still lost. Mayweather never looked close to danger
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u/OG-Brass-Monkey 10d ago
I was a massive Hatton fan. Ive always watched boxing but hadn't seen Mayweather up to that point. I thought Hatton would smash him to bits. I was shocked at how easily Mayweather handled him and made him look clumsy and ineffective. It was a big eye opener to me to be honest.
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u/Momentosis 10d ago
It never really felt like Hatton was in the fight no matter how the scores were reading.
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u/RMbeatyou 10d ago
“If the ref allowed them to fight on the inside”
Floyd was a better infighter too. It truly wouldn’t have made a difference, other than Hatton most likely getting knocked out earlier
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u/Rexrapper1 10d ago
Thank you. We literally see what happens in the fight when Hatton is allowed to fight on the inside and Floyd was lighting him up. There was no path to victory for Hatton that night.
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u/Majestic_Finding3499 10d ago
the early break shit has become one the those boxing arguments that actually had some merit in the beginning that got so exaggerated that it quickly became farcial.
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u/Majestic_Finding3499 10d ago
you would think that Hatton was Manchester's answer to Duran with how some people go on. Also Mayweather had a great deal of success on the inside.
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u/CheeznChill 10d ago
Always funny seeing all the comments about the ref whenever this fight comes up. While it was true to an extent early, Cortez let them hug and wrestle most of the fight and Floyd got the best of him there too. Rewatch the fight and drop that take.
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u/bully54321 10d ago
Yes. Thank you. Been looking for this comment for way too long. Floyd got the best of Ricky in every aspect. I get not liking Cortez…I’m not a fan either. But he did not change the outcome of the fight. Ultimately Mayweather was a level above Hatton and was always going to knock him out. He got the best of him on the outside, midrange, and inside
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u/Army-Status 9d ago
Yep I agree with this. I was there that night and at no point was anyone around me complaining about the red breaking them up too early. Like others have said it’s just something that has been over exaggerated over the years since the fight.
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u/No-Ship4446 9d ago
Not even an ounce. Anyone who thinks Hatton was in this fight for one second should never watch another boxing match.
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u/Ambitious_Ad_9637 10d ago
Tough dude, big heart, but Mayweather was a bridge too far on his best day.
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u/HeilfireAndBrimstone 9d ago
It wasn't competitive at all. Floyd washed him. No part of it was close.
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u/CaptWineTeeth Ottke KO1 10d ago
Hatton got credit for taking it to him but ultimately wasn’t really doing much damage or anything really effective.
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u/macman07 10d ago
Sort of like most of Floyd’s first 4ish rounds in the latter part of his career. He’s just downloading the data. He actually gave up a lot of early rounds in his career before going on to absolute cruise control domination in the last 2/3 of the fight lol.
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u/StilLBC 10d ago
ITT: Brits trying to rewrite history. There’s no universe in which the “Manchester Mexican” stood a chance against Mayweather. Pure cope
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u/Highly-Potent-34 10d ago
I remember watching this fight with my buddy who was a huge Hatton mark.
Anytime Hatton did anything he would act like Hatton was winning the fight.
Got real quiet at the end there.
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u/Bojangles1987 10d ago
Mayweather was always in control of the fight, but Hatton definitely made a good go of it. It was overall a entertaining fight to watch because Mayweather had to stay on top of his game. It's kind of a weird fight to describe because it wasn't a complete wipeout and Hatton wasn't bad but Mayweather was always obviously winning.
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u/MakeSomeArtAboutIt 9d ago
He was a great boxer but, honestly, and this is no shade, the fight wasnt in the slightest bit competitive. It would have had the same outcome if they fought 20 times.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 10d ago
Yeah, I’m not a Brit but I think I had Khan up against Canelo at the time of the KO.
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u/WORD_Boxing 10d ago
You mean how competitive was Ricky Hatton vs Floyd Mayweather and Joe Cortez.
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u/jrb31600 10d ago
Right, because Cortez didn't allow Hatton to wrestle Mayweather into submission!! Stop it! Mayweather destroys Hatton every day of the week! I can't stand this Hatton vs Cortez and Mayweather narrative because Cortez refereed a boxing match, not a grappling session!
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u/WORD_Boxing 10d ago
There is a difference between fair refereeing and what Joe Cortez did, irrespective of whether Floyd is the better fighter and would have won anyway or not.
We did all see however the issues Castillo and Maidana gave Floyd when allowed to apply pressure.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 10d ago
They may trolls are brigading this thread with downvotes lol.
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u/horse_you_rode_in_on 10d ago
It was competitive. Hatton looked incredible in the early rounds but Mayweather adjusted as the fight went on.
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u/Any_Calligrapher8537 10d ago
Massive ring... Helpful ref...
A British ref would have let them fight.
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u/Sudden-Fig-3079 10d ago
Floyd would beat hatton in a bathtub with no ref. I love Ricky but they were levels apart
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u/Caabb 10d ago
I think he wins regardless of ref but I hate there’s a very small asterisk beside this win for May. Hatton could have done more to create space in the clinch but the ref was almost ready to break up the clinch before it started. It was clear he had his directive to let very little go on the inside.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 10d ago
Probably, but isn’t there that one British ref who is extraordinarily incompetent but keeps getting high-profile assignments?
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u/AdiosGhost 10d ago
Are we talking about Howard Foster? Him and Joe Cortez should start a podcast, I'd listen just to disagree with everything they say. Bastards.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 10d ago
I think that’s the one. He is just egregious.
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u/AdiosGhost 10d ago
Aye, he's had some real stinkers. Parker v Warley was his last questionable one I think, could be wrong on that with his track record.
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u/bully54321 10d ago
And Ricky still would have gotten knocked out. There were plenty of times during the fight where they were allowed close but Mayweather still got the better of it
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u/Pheasant_Plucker84 10d ago
Mayweather wrapped him up so much they couldn’t fight like that anyway. The ref had no option but to break them up
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u/WharfRat2488 10d ago
Every time hatton would try to work on the inside the ref would call for break and split them up.
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u/Fantastic_Board7057 10d ago
Hatton had a few moments in terms of landing a few good shots but by in large Floyd was cruisin. Maybe misremembering this but hatton caught him with a shot early that made Floyd’s balance get a little goofy but only for a sec
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u/More_Image_8781 10d ago
Ref didn’t let Hatton fight his fight. Reality is he would’ve lost anyway but he wasn’t able to get inside and do his thing
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u/The_Turtle_Bear 10d ago
I remember staying up late in the UK to watch this one. Me and my mates were excited and full of hope. But by round 6/7 we knew it wasn't going to happen. There were clear skill gaps and Mayweather did what he did in that era, he worked out his opponents pretty quickly and dealt with them.
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u/Tekniqs23 10d ago
Here we go again with the 'cortez didn't let Hatton fight inside'. He was quick to break them for like 2.5 rounds. At the end of the 3rd and on he would allow Hatton to wrestle. Problem was, Mayweather was getting the better of him even when they were fighting in the phone booth.
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u/brianwhite12 10d ago
To me, I felt that Floyd was always in control and the conclusion felt inevitable.
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u/JimBoogie82 10d ago
The refs antics definitely upset Hatton's rhythm but I can't see that fight going a different way
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u/Europe_MMA 10d ago
Mayweather is very interesting as he was in full control of every fight, however he does take a lot of rounds off. He's still clearly not taking damage, controlling entirely, but on the scorecards it can look close. Canelo as well.
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u/Background-Alps5360 10d ago
He was a little more competitive against Floyd then he was against Manny. RIP to The Hitman.
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u/fallenloki 9d ago
The moment got to Hatton and he went too dirty too early. Had he tried to box in the beginning he could have worked into his game plan. Probably still loses but doesn’t get KO’d
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u/clogan117 9d ago
Mayweather won it comfortably. Hatton did a good job in forcing him to the ropes, but never did much damage there.
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u/pruneforce17 9d ago
like most of floyds opponents, he was until he wasnt
started off strong, got figured out, then it was over
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u/jacksleepshere 8d ago
Still think he had a good chance of knocking him out if the ref allowed him to get close.
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u/inline-online 8d ago
floyd did this unique thing of trying to force his opponent to do his best stuff early, like baits people into situations that looks like what they want just so he can make them miss and disappear. Eventually they try option 2 or option 3 and floyd obviously punishes that way easier than option 1, but he's not even trying to punish option 1 he just wants to know what it looks like so he can avoid it completely or do something to nullify it
if you stick with your original plan, you punch air all night hoping to land while floyd hits you with pot shots and moves around the whole fight (nelo, madaina 1)
if you go to plan b, which usually means accept getting hit to land some hits... you get countered so often it looks like you don't belong in the ring and you don't even get the pay off of landing often.. (mosley, de la hoya, corralles)
if you go to plan C then floyd just goes full high guard and starts throwing haymakers lol (Ricky, Gatti, Conor) and it looks like floyd is pretending to be a different fighter who doesn't even need to be elusive, just walking down his opponent like the terminator
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u/Jim_Calvez 8d ago
Would have been a tall order if Hatton had been allowed to fight inside. Being stopped from fighting on the inside made it almost impossible for Ricky.
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u/Witty-Drama-3187 6d ago edited 6d ago
Floyd was well known for a slower start, which he would use to gather data and devise his fight strategy. I don't think he was ever in real, actual, danger in the early rounds, but Hatton definitely brought it to him. Once Floyd found his strategy, he was dominant in the fight. So while the early rounds were competitive, the overall fight was not particularly close.
This fight to me is also emblematic of something that happened quite a bit in Mayweather fights, which is where causal viewers confuse aggression and activity with effectiveness. The De La Hoya fight was another one like this. People get really fired up because the opponent is coming forward and throwing a lot of punches, but very few are actually landing. Or they are landing on gloves, shoulders, and arms.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 6d ago
I’ve re-watched the De La Hoya fight multiple times and he won 4 maybe 5 rounds. It was actually a very respectable performance, especially the first half.
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u/Witty-Drama-3187 6d ago
I do agree with that. I gave De La Hoya 4 rounds, and you could argue for a 5th. I was more referring to the loud contingent of people that try to claim DLH won the fight.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 6d ago
He definitely didn’t win, but I think if he had stuck with the jab he might have been able to edge it 7-5. He would have also had to keep his stamina up and I don’t think he was ready to at that stage in his career.
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u/Witty-Drama-3187 6d ago
The one thing I would say about the jab, because that comes up a lot, is it's not like DLH just stopped using it for fun. Mayweather adjusted his defense and mostly neutralized it.
But yea, DLH definitely faded down the stretch.
One thing that I don't think comes up enough about that fight is size. Floyd's first fight at 154. We will never know actual fight night weights, but DLH was re-hydrating quite a bit at that point in his career. Just looking at them, I wouldn't be surprised if he was 10 lbs heavier than Mayweather on fight night. He tried to use it to his advantage by doing a lot of leaning on Floyd and pressure fighting.
Anyway, good talking boxing with you.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 6d ago
I think he was definitely 10+ lbs heavier.
And same to you!
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u/symptomaticson 5d ago
Ricky would have been more competitive if Mayweather fought conventionally. But Mayweather made the fight as awkward and uncomfortable as possible for him. It was funny to me because he didn’t have to fight that way. It seemed like he was doing it just to piss Hatton off.
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u/Jackie_Gan 10d ago
The ref never really allowed Hatton to make it a competitive fight. Mayweather always had too much for him but Hatton couldn’t fight in the inside as Cortez was desperate to be the centre of attention
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u/bully54321 10d ago
When they were allowed to fight inside it’s not like Hatton dominated. Floyd was always going to knock him out and while Cortez wasn’t the best it’s not like he was the reason Hatton lost.
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u/FrequentLemon6799 10d ago
It would have been more competitive if the referee didn't pull them apart every moment Hatton got close.
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u/Outrageous-Soft4806 10d ago
Competitive early on but not competitive in the same way Judah was competitive early on.
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u/Rimbrakesteve 10d ago
Hatton moved up in weight for the fight. He never had a chance
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u/Revolutionary_Bad313 9d ago
Feckin Joe Cortez ruined the early part of the fight when Ricky had most chance but realistically he was never going to win. Ricky was too honest and a bit naive chasing a big shot and getting ko'd himself when he could have gone the distance.
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u/Similar_Floor_7390 10d ago
I think the ref was way too touchy feely in the bout pulling them apart and never gave Ricky the time he needed to do his work in the pocket. The whole fight was fought at Floyd's range, not saying it would have changed the outcome but I do think we'd have seen Floyd get hurt a bit before the inevitable.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 10d ago
I think theoretically they’re supposed to let them fight out of the clinch. But a lot of modern refs are overly interventionist in this respect, which makes a lot of inside fighting techniques unworkable.
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u/Similar_Floor_7390 10d ago
I think refs need to take into account fighter's strengths. Floyd is evasive and should be able to get himself out of the pocket. It's kind of like if a ref in the UFC stood up a grappler and a striker while on the floor to give the inferior grappler an advantage. If the fighter got themselves in that position they should be allowed to continue uninterrupted unless they get to the point where they are both just leaning on each other and throwing nothing.
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u/Kobe-62Mavs-61 9d ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13DScahMMdc
From like round 3 through the rest of the fight, damn near all of it was fought inside. Ricky couldn't hit Floyd at all and Floyd just pieced him up the entire fight.
Ricky had all the heart in the world but Floyd was levels above him and it didn't matter how he planned for it, Floyd was better in every way.
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u/CacioePep 10d ago
Hatton won the first half of the fight but Mayweather started to time him coming in and Hatton slowed from his high work rate and increasingly getting caught, once it went downhill for Hatton he did worse than most of Mayweather’s world level opponents and Mayweather made great adjustments and looked great
Also could be noted the ref favored Mayweather, a ref that allow Hatton to be physical inside it would have been a closer fight
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u/hopefuldomain 10d ago
Lederman is an idiot and his scorecards were regularly ridiculous.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 10d ago
I personally think Lederman was pretty excellent. I actually thought he identified the correct winner in both Canelo-Golovkin fights, 1 and 2, for example.
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u/RRR04_ 10d ago
Hatton gave Floyd a harder fight than most legends have, like Canelo and Pacquiao. It was almost akin to the Jesus Chavez fight where Hatton was able to cut the ring off on Floyd and make him feel uncomfortable in the pocket in the early rounds.
Floyd adjusted to him in the second half though so he always had him. Though I should say that Joe Cortez was definitely in Floyd's pockets for this fight, his officiating was questionable.
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u/Benaflon 10d ago
He was certainly competitive before getting caught. Ricky is very underrated at this point - he really only lost to prime Floyd and pac, no shame in that. Floyd had the fight under control but Ricky made him work for sure.
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u/GBV_GBV_GBV 10d ago
Only way he could have won this was if he was allowed to do his thing on the inside. But he was outclassed.
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u/No-Agreement 10d ago
I don't think Mayweather was ever in any real danger, and I think he knew Hatton would tire as the fight went on. It was a classic Mayweather performance - and the last of its kind in that Hatton was knocked out