Ricky Hatton, Vitali Klitschko, Ivan Calderon, Erik Morales, Winky Wright all added to Hall Of Fame ballot for 2018

Ricky Hatton, Vitali Klitschko, Ivan Calderon, Erik Morales, Winky Wright all added to Hall Of Fame ballot for 2018

The ballot sheets are out for the 2018 Hall of Fame, with voters having to make the agonising decision of picking just five fighters from the list of 32 – with just three of these fighters going through.

This, as ESPN writer Dan Rafael explains, means two of the above new additions on the ballot – Hatton, Klitshko, Calderon, Morales, Wright – will be left out. Each of the above five fighters is absolutely deserving of being enshrined at Canastota, and as Rafael says in a tweet, it will be “brutal” making his decision this year.

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Ricky Hatton “feels sorry” for Kell Brook, wishes him well against “punching machine” Golovkin

Ricky Hatton “feels sorry” for Kell Brook, wishes him well against “punching machine” Golovkin

British boxing hero Ricky Hatton, a fighting man who knows all about how special it feels to smash the odds, and, all about how it feels to be smashed when the odds against you are obeyed, is hoping his countryman Kell Brook can pull it off against Gennady Golovkin on September 10. But, in speaking with Ring Magazine, “Hitman” Hatton wasn’t about to betray his brutally honest nature and he had to admit how he feels Golovkin will prove too much for Brook.

Brook is of course moving up from 147 to challenge the feared middleweight destroyer, a destructive puncher nobody has thus far been able to go the full 12-rounds with, and it is this “punching machine” that Hatton feels will win in London in just over six week’s time. Hatton said Brook “cannot be blamed” for taking this, the ultimate of gambles, but the warrior who faced three pound-for-pound stars during his exciting career – Kostya Tszyu (a magnificent win), Floyd Mayweather (a spirited loss) and Manny Pacquiao (a brutal KO destruction) – can only hope that Brook will somehow prove him wrong and score a sensational upset win.

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The better fighter: Khan or Hatton? Magic Man Malignaggi says Khan

The better fighter: Khan or Hatton? Magic Man Malignaggi says Khan

Fight fans, perhaps more than fans of any other sport, love a debate – even if there can never, ever be one definitive answer to the argument. And former world champ Paulie Malignaggi has surely started a debate with his stated opinion that, out of Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton, Khan goes down as the better fighter.

Malignaggi – who is matching his ring accomplishments with the talent he is showing for commentary – spoke with Mail Online and the man who fought both Hatton and Khan (losing to both via 11th-round stoppage, the Hatton loss being a corner retirement decision) gave his arguments for ranking Khan above Hatton.

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