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Versus Fight Night Live Recap

"The Homecoming"

May 24, 2008

City of Manchester Stadium-Manchester, England

City of Manchester Stadium is the home of Manchester City FC, Ricky Hatton's favorite soccer team, and it usually holds over 55,000 people for boxing. The event sold over 50,000 tickets in its first week to see Hatton's first match in England, since November 26, 2005. The rest of the 55,000 seats were gone shortly there after. The stadium seating has been reconfigured, since then to hold another 15,000 people for a total capacity of 70,000.

Before the main event, Oscar De La Hoya is interviewed to put over Hatton. De La Hoya is Hatton's promoter and credits Hatton with him not needing to do any work to put over 56,000 people in the stadium. De La Hoya said that Hatton will do no less then 6 more matches in his career. Therefore, no one needs to worry about Hatton's focus on boxing.

The Ring Magazine Junior Welterweight/IBO Light Welterweight (140 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Ricky Hatton (43-1, 31 KO's, 139.75 pounds) (c) vs. Juan Lazcano (37-4-1, 27 KO's, 139.75 pounds)

Hatton won his Ring Championship via technical knockout over Kostya Tszyu at 3:00 of round 11 when the Australian decided to end his Hall of Fame career on his stool on June 4, 2005 following a tremendous onslaught from the Manchester resident. The match ended an 8 year winning streak for Tszyu, and was voted the greatest boxing match in the history of Britain by members of the British press. It lead to Hatton being named The Ring's "Fighter of the Year" for 2005. Hatton is making his fourth defense of this title.

Hattonwon his IBO Championship when it was vacant via blowout 12-round unanimous decision over Juan Urango on January 20, 2007 at Paris Las Vegas in Las Vegas. The previous champion was Stevie Johnston, who vacated this belt, because it is a relatively worthless belt. Hatton is making his second defense of this title.

Hatton lost his last match via technical knockout at 1:35 of round 10 to Mayweather, Jr. on December 8, 2007 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The match was great and did over 800,000 buys on PPV in North America and shattered the U.K. PPV record doing over 1 million buys there. Hatton was set to receive less for the match then Mayweather, unless the event destroyed the record for PPV buys in the U.K. Then Hatton would get 50% of every PPV buy above a certain level. Mayweather and Hatton both ended up making roughly $25 million for the event from the approximately $13 million live gate and the record setting PPV number.

The Englishman, who had roughly 20,000 fans fly across the pond to see him in action,was the clear crowd favorite that night in the town Mayweather calls home. Mayweather was booed as heartily as Matt Hamill was in England for walking to the ring to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA".

The opening rounds of the match were a brawl on the inside. That was the conditions that favored Hatton, but the referee was constantly admonishing Hatton for rough tactics. Hatton allowed himself to become distracted arguing with the referee, rather then focusing on the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world he was supposed to be fighting.

This pattern kept up through the middle rounds, except Mayweather became as physical on the inside as Hatton. Mayweather began pushing Hatton in the throat with his elbows, and using his head as a weapon. Then in round 6, Hatton was deducted a questionable point for hitting Mayweather behind the head, because Mayweather partially caused the foul. Mayweather had turned his back to Hatton while the Englishman was throwing his combination. However, the referee had felt Hatton was fouling too much and took the point from Hatton. An angry and bordering on emotionally out of control Hatton then turned his back to Mayweather when action resumed to let Mayweather hit him in the back to even things up. Once the referee made Hatton turn around, the Englishman rushed Mayweather without throwing a punch, but only to rough up Mayweather out of frustration.

Hatton would hurt Mayweather several times over the next few rounds, but by the end of round 8, Hatton was out of gas. Had there been a standing 8-count rule it would have been used on Hatton in the last 30 seconds of round 8. A left hook from Mayweather with 1:58 to go in round 10 sent Hatton crashing face first into the turnbuckle, and then face first to the ground. Hatton amazingly got up from the nasty fall, but was on very shaky legs when he answered the referee's count. Seconds later Hatton was pinned up against the ropes and Mayweather unloaded with both hands on Hatton until the referee stepped in to end the match. However, the referee was a few seconds late. Mayweather finished his combination with a left hook as the referee stepped in and as Hatton attempted to take a step to the side he fell to the ground unconscious. Hatton's loyal fans continued to sing the Hatton theme song, which is a take-off "Winter Wonderland", while their fallen hero was revived. Mayweather was pushed harder then he had been in any other match as a pro by Hatton, and turned in his best performance. Even in defeat, Hatton had one of his best performances in the ring.

Hatton is The Ring Champion at 140 pounds and The Ring's number 8 ranked boxer in the world, pound-for-pound.

Lazcano had a good amateur career, which was highlighted by winning the Texas Golden Gloves tournament.

He made his pro debut at 18-years-old, and won a belt at 135 pounds at 21-years-old. Lazcano has boxed the majority of his career at 135 pounds.

The challenger's last match was a narrow 12-round unanimous decision loss to Vivian Harris on February 10, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Lazcano has not had an official match in the last 15 months, and only 3 in the last 30 months.

Lazcano is The Ring's number 9 contender at 140 pounds.

At 29-years-old Hatton is 4 years younger then the 33-year-old Lazcano. Lazcano has a huge height advantage standing 5' 9" tall, while Hatton stands 5' 6" tall. The challenger has the reach advantage with a 72" wingspan, compared to the 65" wingspan of the champion. Neither boxers' unofficial weights approaching match time are available, but Hatton is likely the heavier boxer in the ring. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance. According to Versus, the local bookmakers in Manchester have Lazcano as an approximately 10-to-1 underdog.

A special Hatton song not the usual Hatton theme plays, when Buffer announces that Hatton is coming to the ring. Then the champion's familiar entrance music of "Blue Moon" by Supra, the theme song of Manchester City, begins to play. The crowd that is singing along to the song is bathed in blue light and a Hatton video package begins to play on the screen wherethe hometown boxeris about to enter. The screen then bursts into flames and Hatton emerges from the tunnel to thunderous cheers. Hatton is coming out in a fat suit to mock the derisive nickname some in the local press have given him of Ricky Fatton for ballooning up to roughly 180 pounds on Chinese food and beer, when not training for a match. Instead of Hitman written on his hood as it usually says, it has been replaced by the word "Fatman" and Hatton on his pants has been replaced by "Fatton". This is one of the best entrances in all of boxing.

Hatton's entrance may have been a brilliant move to serve a second purpose, besides light hearted entertainment. It is 52 degrees Fahrenheit in the stadium (11 Celsius), and all of the extra padding Hatton was wearing have kept him warm coming to the ring. That means he should start quickly, and the look on Hatton's face when he hits the ring indicates he wants to make this a short night.

The judges are from the United States, England and Australia. The referee is Howard Foster.

The referee calls time with 1:23 to go in round 1 to wipe something off of Hatton's gloves. At this point, Hatton's nose is already bleeding. That should not be a factor in this match. Hatton's brawling style causes him to bleed in most of his matches, and he has scar tissue all over his face that opens up easily. At this point in his career, bleeding no longer seems to effect Hatton adversely. Hatton wins round 1, 10-9. The champion said he wanted to box more in this match. However, he has said that before his last several matches and not done it. In this match, he is continuing to be the brawling unscientific boxer that has made him appealing to watch over the years. With 1 minute to go in round 2, the referee calls time to warn both boxers about holding. Hatton wins round 2, 10-9. Lazcano's game plan is to tire out Hatton. Lazcano believes Hatton will be out of shape, because the champion had to miss some sparring time before this match with a chest infection in the last few weeks, and that his lifestyle of eating primarily pub food when not training will catch up with him in the ring in this match. However, Lazcano is not pushing the pace to test Hatton's cardio. With 2:52 to go in round 3, Hatton goes stumbling to the canvas. It is ruled correctly ruled to be a slip and not a knockdown. Hatton got off balance throwing a left hand and went down. The referee dusts Hatton off, and the action is resumed with 2:48 to go in the round. Round 3 is close, but Hatton may have still won it, 10-9. After 3 rounds, Hatton leads on my scorecard, 30-27. Matthews' scorecard reads the same after 3 rounds.

Lazcano started round 4 with a very good combination. However, Hatton controlled the last 2 minutes of round 4 to probably take the round, 10-9. Lazcano spends a lot of round 5 trading punches with Hatton on the inside. That is a bad strategy and Lazcano does not look like he is going to be around much longer. However, it has erased any doubts about whether Hatton can take a good punch following his knockout loss to Mayweather. Hatton wins round 5 big, 10-9. With 2:32 to go in round 6, the referee calls time to give Lazcano a stern warning for holding. It is likely the next time Lazcano holds it will cost him a point he cannot afford to lose. Apparently, the timekeeper did not stop the clock, and the action is resumed with 2:22 to go in the round. Hatton wins round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds, Hatton leads on my scorecard, 60-54. Matthews has the same score after 6 rounds.

Hatton wins round 7, 10-9. Lazcano continues to be warned for holding, yet has not been deducted a point for holding. After round 7, Lazcano followed Hatton back to the champion's corner and said something to the Manchester resident. Hatton was hurt badly in round 8, but still had some good moments in the round to make it close. Lazcano probably wins round 8, 10-9. Hatton wins round 9, 10-9. After 9 rounds, Hatton leads on Matthews' and my scorecard, 89-82.

At the beginning of round 10, Lazcano spins Hatton around and the referee calls time to admonish both boxers for rough tactics. The referee at this point needs to either take a point or stop talking, because he appears to be all bark and no bite. There is a cut over the left eye of Lazcano and the referee is ruling it was caused by a punch. A left hook has Hatton badly hurt with 1:12 to go in round 10. Hatton is holding on to try and recover. While Hatton is still hurt and holding on the referee destroys the flow of the match, and aids Hatton by stopping to admonish Lazcano with 54 seconds to go in the round. This warning is for pushing down on Hatton's head, while the champion is running in to grab on to Lazcano. That foul was initiated by Hatton running in with his head down, and not Lazcano's fault. There should have been no warning there, and this has given Hatton valuable time to recover. When the referee asked for action to resume, Hatton used a veteran trick of staying in the neutral corner with his arms on the ropes until the referee noticed the champion's shoe was untied. The referee, then sent Hatton over to his own corner to have the champion's shoe retied. It is embarrassing how much time to recover Hatton has been given. Hatton's corner is wisely taking a lot of time to tie the shoelace. When the action is resumed, Hatton is back on offense. Lazcano wins round 10 big, 10-9. Hatton wins round 11, 10-9. Hatton wins round 12 easily, 10-9. On Matthews and my scorecard he wins the match, 118-110.

The final decision as read by Buffer is that the judges have scored the match: 120-110, 118-110, 120-108, all for the winner by unanimous decision and still Ring Junior Welterweight and IBO Light Welterweight Champion of the World, Ricky "Hitman" Hatton. Matthews had to stop himself mid profanity when the 120 in the first scorecard was read. (This is Versus not HBO.) There is an argument for scoring round 8 for Hatton. There is no reasonable argument for scoring round 10 for Hatton. The win moves Hatton to 44-1 with 31 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Hatton said after the match that he would like to face Malignaggi next in November. In Hatton's post match interview, they show a close up of his face and it is a mess. He has significant swelling around his right and left eyes. Hatton said that he was happy with the match, but he made the match more difficult for himself. He could have boxed, but then he would not be Ricky Hatton. That style is what had over 55,000 people come out to see him. Hatton said he felt a lot of pressure for this match, because he was performing in front of this many of his hometown fans. When asked why he did not take a match with less pressure, Hatton smiled and said "That would be boring." Hatton admitted he was hurt several times in the match including in round 10, when the referee halted the match for roughly a minute.

The champion looked good in this match. Hatton has looked better, but performed substantially better then Malignaggi did tonight and Tim Bradley did in his win over Junior Witter. If Malignaggi is healthy a match between the two of them in November seems guaranteed. In the post match press conference De La Hoya indicated that a deal is in place for Hatton to face Malignaggi, and the match will probably take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which is owned by new Golden Boy Promotions partner AEG. If Malignaggi is unable to compete in November, Bradley, who is now ranked as the number 2 contender at 140 pounds by The Ring,would likely receive the shot at Hatton in November. Bradley is probably a worse match up for Hatton, because he possesses some power. If both Malignaggi and Bradley continue to win they will both likely receive a shot at Hatton by the end of 2009.

Lazcano was in semi-retirement before this match, and he will likely go in to full retirement after this match. If Lazcano were to become an active boxer, matches between him and several of the other second-tier boxers in the division could be very entertaining.

The final official attendance for this match had the crowd in excess of 57,000. That makes it the largest crowd to see a boxing match in Britain, since World War II. This event was the first boxing match on Versus to not be promoted exclusively by Top Rank. Versus has an exclusive deal with Top Rank to only promote their events, and it is expiring at the end of the month. It appears Versus has no interest in renewing the deal, and after this they may look to run a lot more events with Golden Boy Promotions. The boxing in this event was not great. However, Hatton is unlikely to be on anything but premium cable or PPV again in his career, and for those who have not seen him it is an opportunity to see a great boxer that should not be missed.