It was beautiful. By God, it was the most beautiful thing I've seen all year. The brash young New Yorker versus the pride of Manchester England. It was supposed to be a boxing clinic, an exhibition sure to send Ricky Hatton into early retirement and establish Paulie Malignaggi as the future king of the 140-lb division.
Apparently, Hatton didn't get the memo.
Hatton destroyed Malignaggi in front of a Las Vegas crowd, forcing Malignaggi's trainer (Buddy McGirt) to stop the fight in the 11th round as his fighter was taking massive body punishment and was headed for a canvas buffet. Malignaggi didn't like it, but he didn't spend any of the fight looking as if he was trying to win. Rather, he looked like he was merely trying to survive. Hatton was simply too much for him, and it reinvigorates the debate about whether Hatton is a Hall of Fame fighter. I believe he is, given his overall body of work, including even his defeat to Floyd Mayweather, a fight in which he hit Mayweather more than he's ever been hit before succumbing to a 10th round onslaught.
Hatton still has several fights left in him, and he should use them to clean out the 140-lb division. One potential fight is with Manny Pacquiao, and that would be a barn-burner. A victory over the Pac-Man would guarantee Hatton enshrinement in Canastota.
After his victory Saturday night, Hatton is sitting pretty, and rightfully so.
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