Former world title challenger and Sky Sports Boxing pundit Matthew Macklin reflects on Ricky Hatton as a fighter, the impact of his victory over Kostya Tszyu and the unique time his legion of fans packed Las Vegas for his fight with Floyd Mayweather.
Matthew MacLean
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Former European middleweight champion Matthew Macklin pays tribute to Ricky Hatton.
World title challenger and Sky Sports pundit Matthew Macklin was part of Ricky Hatton's team. He shares his memories of the journey…
Phenomenal, phenomenal fighter and just a great guy. I'm sad and shocked and my heart goes out to his family. I can only imagine how they feel.
It was well known that he lived life to the fullest, but he trained as hard as anyone I had ever met in the gym. He was a real professional when it came to training. Diet, everything… he did it all perfectly.
He had a great boxing mind, I think, but his skills were very underrated. Everyone knew he was a fearsome body puncher, very strong, but he was also a fantastic boxer when he needed to be.
There were fights he won that he probably should have pulled out of because of illness. I remember the fight with Juan Urango, he probably really should have pulled out. It was a world title fight, his debut in Las Vegas, he was under a lot of pressure, but he still got through it.
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Boxing manager and promoter Frank Warren pays tribute to Ricky Hatton.
Even the Manny Pacquiao fight, in retrospect, he probably should have pulled out of it, the training wasn't going well. But he didn't. He persevered. He made it through in every sense of the word.
He was great to be around, handled pressure very well and carried out all his duties to the media.
He really was a character. Very funny, a joker in the gym. Boxing is a tough and lonely game, but when you have people like Ricky in the gym who share your laughter and your journey, every day becomes a joy instead of a burden.
Kostya Tszyu… it was one of those special nights in the history of British boxing. In my time, it was that night.
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Former boxer and Sky Sports Boxing pundit Spencer Oliver has paid tribute to close friend Ricky Hatton, who has died aged 46.
It was late at night because it had to fit into prime time American TV, the MEN were packed in Manchester, Kostya Tszyu was already a great man who had cemented his legacy.
Not many people gave Ricky Hatton a chance in this fight. Even those who knew Ricky was a real fighter, believed in him and thought he was a world-class fighter, I don't think they thought he was strong enough to beat a legend, the greatest fighter of all time, like Kostya Tszyu.
But this was his night, he wasn't going to give up and he turned the fight into a war of attrition. He pounced on Kostya Tszyu. He didn't give him any space or time. He took him to the inside with Ricky Hatton, hard and brutal. It was brutal, it was exhausting and ultimately he wanted it more.
It was his time and there were over 20,000 fans in the arena cheering him on every punch. I was very close to Ricky at the time, we trained together, I was part of his team, and from my perspective as a young fighter, just to soak up that experience and learn from it was incredible.
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Sky Originals explores the incredible story of Ricky Hatton.
During the Floyd Mayweather fight in Las Vegas, it was chaos, in a good way. I remember some of the blackjack dealers saying they had been there for 30 or 40 years and had never seen anything like it. They couldn't believe their eyes: the support, the noise, it was unreal.
He couldn't beat Mayweather, but he dominated him. It was probably one of Mayweather's best performances. Ricky got the most out of Mayweather, using his aggression and what he brought to the fight. And it was Mayweather at his best.
He had a connection with his fans that was probably stronger than anyone before or since. He really embraced it all. He never forgot his roots, he was a real man of the people.
And it's not easy when you're so famous and everyone wants to get away from you. But he always tried to never forget about himself, always made time for people. I think he genuinely liked it. He was genuinely grateful and he never forgot about it.
Sourse: skysports.com
