by James Slater: Ricky Hatton, still arguably the most popular active fighter in the U.K, makes his very first comeback in just over two weeks time. Never having had to deal with a loss, “The Hitman” is looking to get himself back in the winning column when he faces the inactive (for 15 months) Juan Lazcano. With this fight proving, if not much else, that his fan base is as loyal as ever (over 50,00 tickets have long since been sold for the May 24th bout), Ricky is still seen by his followers as one of the best fighters in the world – even after his devastating TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather back in December.
In an article with Metro Sport newspaper, Hatton spoke of how down he initially was after losing for the very first time in his exciting career.
“It was very hard initially,” Hatton said when reflecting on his loss to Mayweather. “In the first few weeks I watched the fight and it was hard but I went away, had a rest and a holiday and watched it again. A lot of people said I lost convincingly but they can’t have known that much about boxing as that’s not what happened at all. For the first six or even rounds it was even-stevens but I lost my cool with a few of the [referee’s] decisions and got frustrated and allowed myself to get into the position where he was able to finish me off.”
Clearly then, from this interview at least, Ricky does in no way feel he was outclassed by Floyd. Yet while he may have something of an argument when he complains about the performance of ref Joe Cortez, most fans will likely disagree that the fight was as “even-stevens” (or close), as Hatton says it was. Still, the Manchester fighter had nothing to be ashamed of on December 8th, as he also said in the interview.
“Even though I went up a weight I was looking strong,” Hatton declared. “But I felt I had one hand tied behind my back with some of the decisions by the referee. Everything was going against me but even with that it was even until the 7th round. Maybe I can do better next time.”
While plans for a second fight with Mayweather have reportedly been discussed by the camps of both fighters, Hatton has two more immediate fights on his radar first. The Lazcanao bout comes next, of course, before an expected clash with Paulie Malignaggi later in the year. Then, assuming he has won both fights, Hatton will then very possibly get another go at Floyd. But is there anything Ricky can possibly do differently or better in a second fight with the unbeaten pound-for-pound king – should he get that far?
Ricky seems to think he was doing okay back in December, and maybe he was. But the way he was clinically taken out in round ten will no doubt convince many fight fans that a rematch will go along the same lines as fight number one did. You cannot fault Hatton’s fighter’s desire to try and get revenge, though, that must be said. Let’s see how he looks against Lazcano on the 24th and then we can judge if Hatton is in anyway a less formidable force now that he knows he can be knocked out.