Ricky Hatton

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Statistics
Ricky Hatton
Real name	Richard Hatton
Nickname	The Hitman
Weight	Welterweight
Nationality	English
Birth date	October 6, 1978
Birth place	Stockport, England
Style	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	41
Wins	41
Wins by KO	30
Losses	0
Draws	0
No contests	0

Richard Hatton (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 ^[1]. 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 was promoted by Frank Warren until August 2005 when Ricky Hatton left Sports Network, Warren's promotional group, and was sued by Warren. He is trained by Billy 'the Preacher' Graham, one of the most respected trainers in England.

1 Style and popularity
2 Rise to stardom
- 2.1 Moving to Welterweight
- 2.2 Back to Light Welter
3 Outside the ring
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Style and 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Moving to Welterweight

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.

[edit] Back to Light Welter

After struggling in his first fight at welterweight, Hatton has decided to step down one division 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 20, 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." ^[2]

[edit] Outside the ring

Ricky Hatton is also a passionate supporter of Manchester City football club, with strong links to the club via his father, a former player. His entrance music is the club song "Blue Moon" as performed by the band "Supra".

Hatton is also a supporter of 'The Village News', Haughton Green's (in Denton, Manchester) local newspaper made by children, all in aid of Willow Wood Hospice (in Ashton-under-Lyne). He supported them at a charity auction by appearing and signing boxing gloves to be auctioned. The evening raised £1600 for charity.

Ricky was also recently a special guest speaker for The Toby Henderson Trust at a sportsmans dinner at the Gosforth Marriott Hotel. Thanks to Ricky's help via donations and a highly successful auction, a lot of money was raised for the Centre for Autism Development.