'I should've demanded tests', Ricky Hatton also doubts Pacquiao

A year after being knocked out by Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton British pug still swinging.
The National other day in an article that came out, Hatton said his biggest mistake against Pacquiao was not his lousy defense but his failure to demand blood testing.
“I could have had those rules, but I wasn’t bothered. Maybe in hindsight, I should have done,” said Hatton, who went down against Pacquiao like he was never to get up again.
But he did, after laying on the canvas for quite some time, and a year and a month after that night in Las Vegas he’s raising some doubts against the reigning pound for pound champion.
“I must admit, I fancied my chances against Manny,” he told The National.
And it’s only now that he’s claiming that Pacquiao, who had gone undefeated for over five years now, and had jumped five divisions higher, could be into some performance enhancing drugs.
“A few years ago he was getting knocked down by little men like [Juan Manuel] Marquez, then all of a sudden he is knocking out Oscar de la Hoya, myself and [Miguel] Cotto, who are powerhouses in comparison.
Ricky Hatton said,“It is a little bit . He could be on what Floyd (Mayweather) is accusing him of [performance-enhancing substances], or it could be that he is just a great fighter who has improved. We will never know”.
The Mayweathers have aired similar thoughts and was hurled by Pacquiao to court.
Hatton also said that if and when the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight pushed through, the undefeated American, the first one to deal Hatton a loss in the ring, should have the upperhand.
“I think Floyd is too good defensively. He is so hard to hit, and I think he might ultimately just have a few too many tricks up his sleeves for Manny,” said Hatton, who left some nice words for Pacquiao.
“I would like to think Manny would win, because I have a lot of time for him. He is a great man and a great person. I think they are both greats, no matter what they do now. Whoever won a fight between the two of them would become an all time great,” he added.
Hatton said he thinks that the fight everybody wants to see can be done.
“Floyd is of the opinion he may possibly be taking something illegal, and that is why he is asking for certain tests to be done. It is a grey area for people, and they are puzzled as to what is going on. They just want to see the fight.
“Manny will say Floyd is running scared of him, asking him to do certain tests, Floyd will say he is guilty. But I think it will happen eventually,” Hatton was quoted as saying.

Ricky Hatton: Learning the nurturing game

Ricky Hatton was back in the gym this week, but don’t expect him to be announcing a comeback yet. It is nearly five months since Hatton was knocked cold by Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas and while returning to the ring is the last thing on the former world light welterweight champion’s mind, he is about to take the longest step in his next career as a promoter.
Matthew Macklin faces Amin Asikainen, of Finland, for the vacant European middleweight title at Manchester Velodrome, tonight. It is a prestigious title for Hatton Promotions’ first televised show, a title formerly held by a host of the sport’s biggest names, from Marcel Cerdan through Laszlo Papp, Nino Benvenuti and Alan Minter, to Tony Sibson and Herol Graham. And the excitement is gripping Hatton.
“I don’t think anything can replace the thrill of getting in the ring, but the next best thing to being a champion is making one,” Hatton said. “Ricky Hatton without boxing in his life would be a bit of a lost man.
“I enjoy looking our prospects in the gym, watching them spar or go on the pads and passing on my experience.” Since setting up his promotional company earlier this year, Hatton has gone on a strict recruitment drive and staged small-hall shows across the country. Tonight is the first of an eight-show deal with Sky and Hatton hopes to make an impact.
“I suppose the dream would be to build a fighter to box at the City of Manchester stadium in front of 60,000,” he said. “I’m sure when Frank Warren and Golden Boy started out they dreamed of being the best and I’m no change.
“I’ve learnt a lot of things with all the promoters I have worked with, some good, some bad. The way I was brought through (by Warren) was absolutely perfect. The right fights at the right time, plenty of fights and staying busy.
“If I would have had my way, I would have fought Kostya Tszyu two years before I did. But that would have been the wrong thing to do, I wouldn’t have been ready. When I did fight him it was exactly the right time. That’s what I have to do for our young boxers, get them the right type of fights at the right time.”
At 27, Macklin believes his time is now. In March, he won the British title with an impressive three-round stoppage of Wayne Elcock and the Brummie, who sparred hundred of rounds with Hatton when they were both trained by Billy Graham, feels he is now ready to fulfil his potential after earlier disappointments.
Three years ago, Macklin challenged Jamie Moore for the British light-middleweight title but was viciously weight drained and was knocked unconscious in the tenth round after a vicious bout. Severe evaporation has been linked to serious injuries in boxing.
“I was kidding myself that I could make the weight when I had just outgrown the division,” Macklin said. “On the morning of the weigh-in I was 11st 5lb (5lb above the limit), I have no idea how I made the weight.
“At the end of the third round I was more tired than I’d ever been in my life, I fought every round like it was going to be my last. I remember being in the ambulance and having flashes of Michael Watson and Gerald McClellan.
“I will not do anything that stupid again. I am stronger at middleweight. Asikainen is rated No 6 by The Ring and has a win over Sebastian Sylvester, who just won the IBF title. If I win, Ricky thinks that fight can be made.”
As for Hatton’s own future, he has an open mind and was shown by the brilliant return of Floyd Mayweather Jr, his former opponent, that a period of inactivity is not necessarily a bad thing.
“When Floyd retired, I’m sure he meant it,” Hatton said. “For me, it’s only been four months. At the moment I don’t have the urge. You have got to want to do it. You have to have the urge to get up in the morning and do all the training and to make the weight. At the moment I don’t.
“What I need at the moment is have a rest. Maybe I will get the urge back. If I boxed again a year after the fight, you couldn’t call that a retirement. I’m just having a break.”

Cotto tough to beat, Pac Man

Manny Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach are expecting a tough fight for the WBO welterweight title against Miguel Cotto on November 14.
Pacquiao will enter the ring as favourite contempt being the naturally smaller man, although that hasn't stopped him beating Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in his last two fights.
However, the man currently rated the best pound-for-pounder in the world is taking nothing for granted against Cotto, who suffered the only licking of his career against Antonio Margarito last year.
"This will be my toughest test as a professional boxer," he said. "I know he is an brilliant, smart fighter and a great world champion.
"We also know that he is excellent in body punching and that he's strong so we have to study that, how to counter it and fight that in the ring.
"We also want to use our own advantage over Cotto. Everybody knows that I am faster than Cotto so how can I use that speed in the fight? I will do my best in this fight to capture my seventh title belt."
Roach, who correctly predicted Ricky Hatton would go down inside three rounds last time, expects this one to go the distance.
"It's going to be a much more tactical fight than people think because he (Cotto) is a very smart fighter," Roach said.
"It's who can apply their game plan and use it to the fullest advantage.
"I think this is going to be a 12 round fight, no knockout. This guy (Cotto) is very bounce. If a knockout comes, it comes but if you go out there looking for a knockout, you might get caught yourself. We have to be very tactical."

Muhammad Ali his wheelchair to meet Ricky Hatton

Muhammad Ali proved he can still float like a butterfly when he visited Ricky Hatton's gym yesterday.Despite being virtually confined to a wheelchair because of Parkinson's Disease, the Greatest affirmed on getting to his feet to meet Hatton at the Hitman's impressive new base in Hyde.Hatton was abashed by Ali's gesture and caressed his hero before showing him around his state-of-the art gym."I think he was going to come in a wheelchair initially," said the former light welterweight king."Then he said: 'I can't have Ricky Hatton meeting me in a wheelchair. I've got to walk in'."That's a boxer through and through. That's a boxer's mentality and that's a champion's mentality.

"Hatton, 30, presented Ali with a cake iced on top with the initials 'GOAT', which position for 'Greatest Of All Time', once they were inside his gym.It was his way of paying tribute to someone he cares as not just the wonderful fighter of all time, but one of the greatest people of all time.Hatton was blown away by meeting Ali and posed for footage outside his gym with the three time former world heavyweight champ."This is certainly sensational," said the Mancunian."I've been advantageous to meet some of the greatest stars of boxing during my career, but I'd never had the chance to meet the greatest of all."He's not just the greatest boxer of all time, he's one of the greatest men of all time."Even youngsters know Muhammad Ali. And I think his price of the gab has made the entertainment side of boxing what it is today."The 67-year old ring story was greeted by chants of "Ali, Ali" when he appeared at Hatton's gym and he is touring the British Isles to raise funds for his charity foundation, the Muhammad Ali Centre, in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky.Last night he was appearing at a £1,000-a-plate dinner in his honour at Old Trafford, frequented by some Manchester United players.And Ali has other fundraising events lined up, including one at Stoke's Britannia Stadium during what is wonted to be his final visit to Britain. He is also due to meet old opponant Sir Henry Cooper in the unlikely surroundings of Windsor Castle at the Alltech FEI European Jumping & Dressage Championships 2009. He then flies to Ireland next week.

Ricky Hatton was Boxing's dying

RICKY Hatton has launched on the state of boxing - claiming it risks being overtaken by Ultimate Fighting if it doesn't get its act together.
The Hitman believes boxing is becoming a real turn-off for fans, sick of seeing politics get in the way of big fights.Hatton is furious that his brother, Matthew, saw a high profile clash with former undisputed welterweight champion, Zab Judah, collapse for a second time this week.
Judah made a last minute stipulation for the bout to take place at 10st 3lbs, which effectively ruled out Matthew, who fights at 10st 7lbs.And Hatton, who is now a promoter, it is typical of the state of the sport.
I look at boxing from a different angle because this is a boxing risk not a common game now and it is dying a death compared to the fashionable Ultimate Fighting Challenge," he said.
Matthew was taking all the risks. He was prepared to go out to Las Vegas to fight in Zab Judah's backyard.
"Ricky Hatton was fighting at a level so much higher with against a former undisputed champion than he'd ever fought. He was taking all the chances”