Richard Hatton (MBE) (born October 6 1978 in Stockport) is an
English boxer raised on the Hattersley council estate in Hyde,
Greater Manchester. He was the WBA welterweight champion, but
relinquished this title on 31 August 2006. Hatton is also the
former WBU, WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion, in the
IBF's case the title being his first major world championship.
He is undefeated with a career record of 41 wins (30 by KO), 0
losses and 0 draws.
He is trained by Billy 'the Preacher' Graham, one of the most
respected trainers in England.
Style & Popularity
In the ring, Hatton is known for his busy, attack-focused (he is
a committed body puncher), and crowd-pleasing style. He has also
won fans for his 'down-to-earth' charisma, and is undisputedly
England's most popular boxer since Naseem Hamed.
Rise to Stardom
On 5 June 2005 Hatton beat Kostya Tszyu, who was widely regarded
as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world, by a
technical knockout after the Australian failed to answer the
bell for the 12th round. Hatton was a heavy underdog for this
fight, and the victory announced his entry to the upper echelon
of the world boxing scene. Prior to the fight the majority of
boxing critics had given Hatton little or no chance and this
victory was regarded as one of the best victories by an English
boxer in the last 20 years. Critics denigrate his generally
unimpressive level of opposition prior to the Kostya Tszyu bout
(Hatton's only notable win was over ex-champion Vincent
Phillips, who was years removed from his peak), but Hatton has
expressed desire to meet the most potent challengers and
establish a legacy.
On 26 November 2005 he won the WBA title when he defeated Carlos
Maussa in the ninth round of a unification bout.
In December 2005, Hatton was named the 2005 Ring Magazine
Fighter of the Year.
Ricky Hatton surrendered his IBF belt on 29 March 2006 after
refusing to fulfill a mandatory defence against number one
contender Naoufel Ben Rabah. This is because he intended to move
up to the welterweight class.
Hatton moved up a division to meet American Luis Collazo for
the WBA welterweight crown which took place on 13 May 2006.
Hatton defeated Collazo in a controversial 12-round unanimous
decision to become the new WBA welterweight champion. However,
Hatton relinquished this title on August 31, 2006.
After struggling in his first fight at welterweight, Hatton has
decided to step down one divison to win back the IBF title he
vacated in order to face Luis Collazo. His next fight will be
against current IBF Light Welterweight Champion Juan Urango on
January 20th, 2007 in Las Vegas. This move has caused critics to
question Hatton's desire for stiffer competition. However,
Hatton's promoter Dennis Hobson has stated that the impetus for
moving back down is to set up a fight with Jose Luis Castillo,
another fighter currently on the top ten pound-for-pound list.
Said Hobson, "We're after Ricky's old title. But the defining
fight we want is the one against Castillo. We have already
opened talks with Castillo's promoter Bob Arum and we are
confident we can make that fight for around April time. Ricky is
in a very lucrative position at the moment."
Many thanks Ricky
for your kind support, you are and will continue to be a great
role model to many youths. We all at the NSCFC wish you the very
best in your career.
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http://www.rickyhitmanhatton.com