Hatton boxer from Great Britain. Ricky Hatton: one of the best British boxers

Recently, boxers who come from European countries rarely surprise sports fans with serious achievements. Not so long ago, the glorious career of a real puncher ended - Briton Ricky Hatton, who dominated the professional ring in the early 2000s. It is about his life path and achievements that we will talk in the material presented.

early years

Ricky Hatton was born on October 6, 1978 in the English town of Stockport, located near Manchester. The father of the future boxer, Roy Hatton, was a professional boxer football team"Manchester city". Ricky himself dreamed of becoming a football player since childhood. However, at the age of 10, he watched several fights of Mike Tyson, which made a lasting impression on him. Soon the boy decided to sign up for boxing. Ricky Hatton began to regularly visit an amateur club in the city of Manchester.

In addition to football and boxing, the young man was also fond of playing darts. Dart throwing remains one of Hutton's favorite pastimes to this day, to which he devotes a large part of his free time.

Ricky made the final choice in favor of boxing at the age of 13. This was the victory of the guy in the school championship. It is noteworthy that Ricky Hatton knocked out all the opponents in the tournament already in the first round. The same thing happened the following year. Further, no one else had any desire to go out against him in duels. Thus, Hatton Ricky felt the first taste for victories and earned the respect of others.

Amateur career

Starting with participation in school and regional tournaments, Ricky Hatton rapidly rose in the ranking of non-professional boxers. The most significant achievement of an athlete in amateur career is winning a bronze medal at the junior championship, which took place in 1996 in Havana. In the semifinals, Hatton faced Russian boxer Timur Nagradze. Four judges gave preference to Ricky. However, one of them noted the advantage of Nagradze, and with a margin of as much as 16 points.

According to the summation of points, the victory went to the Russian boxer. Later, a thorough investigation was carried out on this fact, the results of which showed that the suspicious decision of one of the judges was related to the receipt of a bribe. As a result, several sports figures were deprived of their licenses. However, Ricky Hatton was left to be content with the bronze award.

Start of a professional career

Thanks to his success in the amateur ring, Hatton Ricky did not go unnoticed. The famous promoter Frank Warren laid eyes on the talented, promising boxer, who offered the guy the first professional contract in his life. Ricky happily accepted the offer.

Hatton had his first fight as a professional in September 1997. As often happens at the start of a career of promising fighters, he got a rather mediocre, already middle-aged boxer Kid McAulay as opponents. Ricky won the bout by knockout in the first round.

By 1999, Hatton had 10 wins and not a single defeat. In the next fight, the young boxer technically defeated the Englishman Tommy Peacock by knockout and won the title of champion of Great Britain. In the same year, Ricky defeated an opponent from Guyana, Dillon Carew, and received the title of Intercontinental Champion, according to the WBO version. In March 2001, the British champion defeated the experienced boxer from Canada, Tony Pep, and was awarded the WBU championship belt. Hutton managed to successfully defend the existing titles four times over the next year.

In 2002, the young boxer had the most difficult and dramatic fight at the start of his professional career. As opponents, he got the Irish champion named Terminator Eamon McGee. Already in the first round, Hatton was on the platform of the ring after an unexpected biting blow to the jaw. However, Ricky managed to regain consciousness and win on points.

Achievements

Throughout his professional career, Ricky Hatton had 47 fights. Of these, 44 times the boxer emerged victorious. The athlete has 31 knockout wins. At various times, Hatton had the world welterweight belts, according to the WBA and IBF versions.

The most significant fights

In 2005, Hatton first met with a truly serious opponent. The opponent of the British boxer was the IBF champion Konstantin Dzyu. In a rather messy encounter filled with rule violations and numerous tackles, Ricky scored a controversial victory. In the interval between the final rounds, Ju refused to continue the fight, citing an injury.

In 2007, a meeting of two previously undefeated boxers- British Hatton and American Floyd Mayweather. In the early rounds, no one had a clear advantage. However, towards the end, Mayweather began to dominate, throwing Hatton to the ropes and the platform of the ring. In the 10th round, the American began to openly finish off the opponent, which forced the referee to stop the meeting.

In 2009 took place Pacquiao fight- Ricky Hatton. In the first round, the Philippine champion knocked down the Briton several times. However, Hutton managed to recover. At the end of the second round, there was a powerful side blow to Ricky's jaw, which led to a heavy knockout. Despite the opinion of numerous experts that the meeting will be equal, the fight between Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton was one-sided.

End of career

Hatton's heavy losses to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao became a moral shock not only for the British champion himself, but also some surprise for the entire boxing world. It was the fights against these opponents that put an end to Ricky's glorious career.

In 2012, Hatton decided to return to the professional ring. In the battle against the Ukrainian Vyacheslav Senchenko, the Englishman suffered another defeat. The meeting ended for Ricky with a knockout received in the 9th round. After such an unsuccessful return, the British champion decided to finally quit boxing.

"His Majesty Boxing" pleases millions of viewers around the world. And therefore it is not surprising that this tough sport has its own “stars”, a huge number of people want to watch their fights. One of these fighters, who became an idol for many martial arts fans on the planet, at one time was the Briton Ricky Hatton.

The birth

The future leader of the welterweight category was born on October 6, 1978 in the English town of Stockport. His father, Ray Hatton, was a former football player. As a child, Ricky Hatton began to practice kickboxing, but after he was pointed out to the short length of his legs, he made the final decision to switch to classical boxing.

Boxing path in amateurs

At the age of 18, Ricky wins the bronze medal of the world championship among juniors, having suffered only one defeat in the semifinal fight from the Russian Timur Nergadze. And already in 1997, the young English talent became the champion of Great Britain in the light welterweight among amateurs. In 1999, Ricky Hatton, according to the British Association of Journalists, was awarded the title of the best young boxer. And Frank Warren, who is the promoter of the Englishman, generally called him "the best boxer to appear in the British Isles since the era of "Prince" Naseem Hamed."

Experts know that blows to the body adorn boxing. Ricky Hatton, in turn, also adopted blows to the body, actively using them during fights. And therefore it is quite logical that the illustrious Panamanian has always been the idol of the British, for whom work on the body has always been a priority.

The beginning of a professional path

Ricky Hatton made his debut fight on September 11, 1997. It is noteworthy that his opponent could not stand even one round. And three months later, the “Hitler” (that was the nickname that Hatton had) boxed in the American and defeated Robert Alvarez in four rounds on points.

First title

In his thirteenth pro fight, Ricky defeats Dillon Carew to become WBO Intercontinental Light Welterweight Champion. After that, he holds 5 title defenses and in September 2000, he also takes the WBA International title into his own hands, defeating Giuseppe Lauri.

Weak sides

Hatton, despite all his punching power and power, still had one extremely unpleasant tendency for a professional boxer - getting deep cuts. In the fight with Thaxton, in which our hero turned out to be stronger, he was overtaken by an injury already at the beginning of the fight. After the fight, Hatton received 28 stitches over his left eye, as there was a severe cut there.

Dominant Champion

On March 26, 2001, Hatton defeated Canadian Pep and tried on the WBU light welterweight championship belt. A year later, the fight of the British was broadcast for the first time on the American channel Showtime. This was his third title defense against Mikhail Krivolapov.

First fall

In the fight with Aemonn Magee, already in the first round, Ricky was on the canvas, running into an oncoming right hook. And although in the end Hatton won by decision, this fight still showed that he is not an impenetrable fighter.

I see a purpose, but I do not see obstacles!

A brilliant series of victories of the representative of "Foggy Albion" contributed to the fact that on October 1, 2004, Hatton became a full-fledged participant in the qualifying match for the right to fight the IBF world welterweight champion, which at that time was owned by Russian Kostya Tszyu. Ricky's opponent was the American Michael Stewart. Already in the first round, Stewart was knocked down twice, and in the fifth round he finally lost technical knockout. As a result, on June 4, 2005, Hatton defeated Tszyu by technical knockout and took the title from him.

Defeats of the legend

Floyd Mayweather - Ricky Hatton. At the time of this championship fight(Mayweather did his first defense) Both fighters had over 80 wins between them and no losses. The fight as a whole was dictated by the American, and already in the 10th round Ricky first got knocked down, and after that his corner was forced to throw the towel into the ring, signaling a surrender. Thus Hatton received his first defeat.

Manny Pacquiao - Ricky Hatton. It was this confrontation that led to the brutal knockout of the Briton. May 2, 2009 on last seconds of the second round, the Filipino with the most powerful left side “puts out the light” in the eyes of Hatton and takes the IBO belt for himself. By the way, it was after this fight that the Briton begins to drink heavily, use drugs and generally lead an unbridled lifestyle. However, after a while, he still pulls himself together and returns to boxing. He chooses Ukrainian Vyacheslav Senchenko as a victim. But, as time has shown, completely in vain. On November 24, 2012, the result of the battle for the Briton was sad. Hatton was knocked out after a missed blow to the liver. The 20,000-strong arena of spectators in Manchester turned out to be disappointed, because the "victim" proved to be exclusively a predator, which contributed to the speedy end of their pet's career.

In conclusion, we note that Ricky Hatton, whose knockouts were due to his own fault, should be grateful to the Ukrainian opponent. Who knows how the Briton's career would have developed further if he had won against Senchenko. After all, most likely Ricky, in his usual manner, would have gone further on the way to the top, and probably broke his teeth on someone more serious. But, as you know, history does not like the subjunctive mood. And therefore, we will pay tribute to this great English boxer, who has always delighted the public with his fights.

October 6, 1978 was born one of the best british boxers, an amazing and adored by the audience puncher - Ricky Hatton(45-3, 32 KOs). The world welterweight champion has always guaranteed great emotions in the ring for his aggressive and spectacular fighting style throughout his 15 years of professional career.

Ricky was born in Stockport, and from an early age, like most of his peers, he was fond of football. The future storm of the rings took an example, probably, from his grandfather and father, who were professional players in the past. Young Hutton was so good that, playing in small local groups, children's, he was once invited by a coach at Manchester City, and it seemed that football career stands open before him. However, soon, unfortunately for football, Ricky discovered a new passion - boxing. And he loved her with all his heart. Despite this, football still plays a big role in his life. Ricky continues to play in amateur teams in his spare time, in addition, he is a loyal and ardent fan of the Blues, and his official song, which always led him to the ring before fights, was the Manchester City anthem "Blue Moon".

As a result of regular boxing training, he quickly made progress, and, interestingly, already at the age of 10 he received his well-known and very appropriate nickname for his face - "The Hired Killer".

I've always been a big fan of Tommy Hearns and everyone thinks I got my nickname from him. But when I first entered the boxing gym I was 10 years old, and wearing gloves, I began to beat the bag furiously. Seeing this, my trainer said, “Look at him, see what kind of devil he will be.” This is a little killer, - recalls Hutton with a smile.

He competed as an amateur in 1997 and achieved, among other things, seven national junior welterweight titles, and also represented England in 1996. youth championship peace.

He became a professional at the age of 18 and made his debut in September 1997. He received his first serious title three years later, defeating John Texton(34-11, 19 KOs) and got the prestigious belt of the champion of Great Britain in the British Isles. In 2001, he became the world champion in the little-known version of the WBU (World Boxing Union), the title of which he successfully defended 15 times, most of these triumphs took place at the beloved M. E. N. Arena in Manchester.

It was there that in June 2005 he made history by winning ahead of schedule against one of best fighters those years, without division into weight categories, outstanding Kostya Tszyu (31-2, 25 KOs). The "hit man" fought the then IBF champion as if he were fighting for his life and, as a result, won at the end of this great fight, and ultimately forced the Russian-born Konstantin to surrender after the eleventh round. After this defeat, living on a permanent basis in Australia and bearing the eloquent nickname "Thunder from Down Under" Tszyu ended his sports career.

The king is dead, long live the new king. Now it is the star Hatton, which lit up with great brilliance. Five months after that resounding triumph, the "Hitman" from Manchester added the WBA belt to his collection, knocking out the Colombian in the ninth round Carlos Mauss(20-5, 18 KOs). The next victims of the Briton were such stars as a points victory over the then WBA welterweight champion, Luis Collazo(37-7, 20 KOs), always insanely dangerous Colombian Juan Urango(24-3-1, 19 KOs), then comes hard as steel, whom Hatton knocked out in the fourth round, a wonderful Mexican warrior - Jose Luis Castillo(66-13-1, 57 KOs).

Unfortunately, as is usually the case in life, beauty does not last forever. With a very popular all over the world, Ricky was brutally dealt with by the one and only Floyd Mayweather Jr(50-0, 27 KOs). In December 2007, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas filled with thousands of British fans, "Pretty Boy" surpassed the brave and invincible so far in 43 fights of the Englishman, defeating him in the tenth round.

Of course, a few months later, namely in May 2008, Hatton returned to the ring, defeating a good Juana Lazcano(37-5-1, 27 KOs). Back in the same year, in November, he defeated a very fast and extremely uncomfortable Paul Malignaggi(36-8, 7 KOs) and in May 2009 came face to face with another star of our favorite sport, Manny Pacquiao(59-7-2, 38 KOs).

Unfortunately, as in the case of rivalry with Mayweather Jr., Ricky suffered a crushing defeat. The well-adapted "Pak Man" turned off the light in the second round with his terrible blow from the left hand.

This was the end of the great Assassin. True, the Briton returned for another fight in November 2012, but the famous Ukrainian Vyacheslav Senchenko(37-2, 25 KOs) with his strong and accurate in the ninth round explained to him that time cannot be stopped on the spot, and he is no longer the same fighter as before.

After hanging his gloves on a nail, Ricky could not cope with the new reality for a long time, as a result of which, after a while, information appeared in the media about his addiction to drugs and. Fortunately, former champion, with the help of family and professionals, managed to defeat those pursuing him, and now satisfies himself in the role of a coach and promoter.

Interestingly, many journalists and experts believe that Ricky’s failures and the quick end of his career are largely responsible for his not very athletic lifestyle between fights. The favorite of the audience was known for not denying himself anything, and between fights he could gain a lot of weight and weigh more than 80 kilograms, while his starting weight was 63.5 kilograms.