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Saturday, September 15, 2012

(Sport) Ricky Hatton Comeback: pride comes before the fall

There has been much lip service lended to the return of Ricky Hatton back to boxing and planned return to the ring on November 24^th, but one comment to Enzo Calzaghe distils all the chatter when he pointed quite simply that Hatton “can't be better than you were three years ago”[1]. Ricky Hatton cited in his comeback press conference (see below) that he wanted ‘redemption’ and his desire to get his pride back which would make sense if he wasn’t a two weight champion in two of the most competitive weights in boxing.

The competition at these weights is as fierce if not more as it was three years ago with the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao still active and fellow Brits Kell Brook and Amir Khan with ambitions to be champions. Hatton seems to be suffering from warrior syndrome where his other attempts to flourish after boxing have not gone as well as hoped. Sky sports have recently dropped Hatton boxing shows from its roster citing that they were “focusing on quality rather than quantity” citing their desire to cut the number of their televised fight nights in half[2].

What’s interesting about Hatton’s reaction to Sky Sports decision was how he expressed his disappointment by citing his achievements with Sky Sports as a boxer before his success as a promoter as he cited that he “gave them their biggest Box Office successes ever and helped make them millions of pounds” before stating that had realized his goals as a promoter to ‘produce champions’ by “producing many British, Commonwealth, European and International champions, and world title challengers”[3].

While it would be crude to suggest this is a play for money, it is clear to everybody, especially Hatton, that his return to the ring will put bums on seats in record time. You only have listen to the crowd during his bout with Floyd Mayweather to realise the love and admiration Ricky Hatton has among his fans and the boxing world to suggest his comeback would be more than welcome, however their concerns are palpable. According to a taken by Telegraph, 70.29 percent of their readers thought that “Ricky (Hatton) should stay out of ring and not risk a serious injury” compared to 29.71 percent who disagreed[4].

In sum, Ricky Hatton comeback to boxing is good move for reasons outside the ring than in it as no one can fill a stadium quicker than a Hatton bout, but with the competition as it is in the welterweight division, fans set to turn up and watch Hatton return to greatness or watch a car crash in action are sure to get a bit of both.