By Christopher Roche, Brickcityboxing.com – Boxing Questions (and answers) – 1) Why is Ricky Hatton so Popular?
Ricky “Hitman” Hatton’s ability to mobilize 55,000 fans is nothing short of amazing. Next weekend, Memorial Day weekend here in America, I am happy to see the spectacle televised on the Versus Network. As an American, I am somewhat jealous that I cannot claim Hatton as one of ours. America has likely never had a boxer as proportionately popular as Hatton.
Hatton’s popularity defies conventional wisdom. He is not the most brilliant athlete, nor is he the biggest or strongest boxer in his class. However, he has what they refer to in the marketing industry as the “it” factor. Hatton has it, while most of the American boxers do not. Hatton connects with his fans as if he is one of them. In one moment, he might be banging away for twelve rounds with the likes of Juan Urango, but in the next breath, he could be sitting next to you in the pub enjoying a Guinness.
Hatton once said that most of his fans feel like they know him, and “they probably do”, he says. Hatton’s everyman quality is what makes him so popular, and he seems like the genuine bill of goods as a person. However, all of his personable qualities would be for naught, if he did not win.
Hatton fights extremely well, and despite the criticisms of the American media, his performance against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was not that bad. Hatton was holding his own for the first six rounds, despite a disgraceful job by the referee, and the main reason why he got stopped was that he went for broke in the tenth. Personally, I would rather see a fighter try to win and risk looking bad, then fight solely to survive. Carlos Baldomir and Oscar De La Hoya survived against Mayweather, and in retrospect, I would have rather watched my toenails grow.
Further, at the end of the Mayweather bout, the fans were still singing for Hatton. Mayweather had very few fans to back him up, and I felt as if he did not care as long as he “got paid”. Hatton, on the other hand, genuinely seems to care about the fans that pay his freight, and he tries to reward them both inside and outside of the ring.
Hatton is a true superstar in the eyes of his fans, and he will be a legend in British sports lore. I think it is about time the American boxing establishment recognizes Hatton as more than a curiosity who sells tons of tickets.
The man can fight, and although he was stopped by Mayweather, I would pay to see Hatton any day over De La Hoya, Baldomir or even another survivor of Mayweather’s, Zab Judah. Hatton combines the elements of showmanship, talent and genuine everyman quality into a winning formula of massive popularity and success. I hope he keeps it going for a few more years, because I am a late arrival on the bandwagon.
2) Will Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi hold up his end of the bargain next Saturday in Manchester?
2008 has been a year of massive upsets, and fighters like Nate Campbell and Carlos Quintana have delivered, when their backs were up against the wall. Lovemore N’dou is another fighter who is likely at the end of his rope in terms of title shots, and he will be very motivated to beat Paulie Malignaggi next Saturday on the undercard of Hatton vs. Lazcano.
Malignaggi, for his part, looked shaky in his first title defense over Herman Ngoudjo, and many fans think he is vulnerable. However, Malginaggi also has a bit of that “it” factor that Hatton possesses, and Malignaggi will likely rise to the occasion.
Like Hatton, Malignaggi is a man of the people. He is often seen around New York City, and he supports everything from local boxing clubs to the Golden Gloves Tournament. There is nothing too small for “Magic Man” to lend his name to, if it will help others. He is a genuine person and a fine athlete. However, his popularity has not risen any near the level of Hatton’s, and those reasons are two-fold. First, boxing is not very popular in mainstream America, and second, Malignaggi does not knock opponents out.
Despite Boxing’s down cycle in America, Malignaggi has sought out ways to market himself. Malignaggi adopted a brash public persona, and he enters the ring in wild costumes with crazy hairdos. He wants people to remember him, so he offers more than the standard athlete might.
I have had the opportunity to meet Malignaggi, and I have spoken with him several times. I can attest that he is as genuine in person as Hatton seems to be (I have not met Hatton yet). Malignaggi also respects Hatton, as he does all of his opponents, and his trash talk is his effort to sell tickets and market himself. Despite his fine personal attributes, however, the reason why I take an interest in Malignaggi as an athlete is his tremendous heart and excellent skill. Malignaggi does not back down, and while he is not the most powerful fighter to ever live, he knows how to fight. I am looking forward to seeing his performance against N’Dou, which I think Malignaggi will win.
As a boxing observer, I am thrilled that our sport will deliver us two great events, from Manchester, England, and if Hatton and Malignaggi both win, maybe they will get together at Madison Square Garden in the fall.
Wouldn’t that be something?
Fight I Would like to See and Why
James Kirkland vs. Vernon Forrest (if Forrest beats Sergio Mora): Kirkland looked awesome this past weekend on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark”. He appears to have all of the goods, and his training regimen is becoming legendary. I thought he might be a bit chinny against Albert, since Kirkland was knocked down the last time I saw him, but I think that past knockdown was a fluke.
This young man needs a title shot.
Quote of the Week
“When Chris returned to the dressing room the doctors had to sedate him to pop his shoulder back in. The medicines were a bit overwhelming for his body and they couldn’t wake him. The result of that was they had to rush him by ambulance to the hospital and use other meds to counteract the ones given to him in the dressing room. It was very scary for his friends and family. But he came through. His shoulder is very sore but he is feeling better.
“Chris congratulates Shaun George on his victory and hopes he takes advantage of the opportunity of his victory to the fullest and continues to work hard. Shaun and his wife have a baby on the way and wishes them the best.”-Tracy Byrd, wife of Chris Byrd.
Chris Byrd’s career likely ended last Friday night. Shaun George inflicted a brutal TKO on the former heavyweight star. We will certainly miss Byrd. He is a classy individual, and it appears as though his wife Tracy shares the same level of class. We wish the Byrd family well.
Injustice of the Week
The injustice of the week is the stoppage in the Alfredo Angulo vs. Richar Guttierez fight. Angulo appeared to be hurt moments before he caught Guttierez. Guttierez was actually in the process of charging Angulo and throwing a punch when the fight was stopped.
While I realize that boxing is a brutal sport, and the contestants can get hurt, the pugilists are trained professionals. They work many weeks to prepare for one fight, and they know the risks before entering the ring. Guttierez had a right to earn his living, and in my opinion, the referee took it away by prematurely stopping the fight.
I wonder if the situation was reversed, would the referee have stepped in and waved off the favorite Angulo?
I suspect not, but I have been wrong before.
Non-Boxing Thoughts
Last week I saw Van Halen play to a near full house at the Izod Arena in New Jersey. David Lee Roth made his second appearance with the band in nearly 25 years. The crowd was an eclectic, curious bunch. Most of the songs had not been heard since 1984, and some of the attendees probably were not born when Roth last fronted Van Halen.
Roth looked like a sculpted cartoon character, as usual, and the band sounded good. The lone replacement was Wolfgang Van Halen (son of Eddie) on the bass instead of Mike Anthony, but to my untrained musical ear, I did not notice much of a difference.
Non-Boxing Thoughts II
This weekend marks the unofficial start of summer in America, and it is a massive sports weekend. We welcome in the gigantic INDY 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 auto races (not to mention the Grand Prix of Monaco).
This weekend is also Memorial Day Weekend. In between all of the madness of sports, and the backyard cookouts, we stop and remember all of those lost in war.
God Bless the fallen and those left behind.
Reader Submissions
I will be taking reader submissions and answering them in this space. Please e-mail me at chrisrockk@hotmail.com with questions and commentary, and we will include as many as we can. Please include your first name and hometown for publication and type the word “Column” in the subject line.
*This column is inspired by the premier novel of the twentieth century, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway spoke highly of the sport of boxing, and he participated as both a fighter and a referee. Every other week this column will humbly pay homage to the man who helped glorify the fight game back in its early stages. With a little hard work, the Sun Will Rise Again for Boxing, as together we can restore the sport to the top, one fan at a time. Thank You for reading the column.