Is Ricky Hatton serious? Do we need to see that again?
The sad part of this is that after the fight, Hatton seemed quite accepting of his loss. Quite accepting of the fact that Mayweather cleaned his clock and did it without breaking much of a sweat. Quite accepting of the fact that welterweight is not for him.
Now, it's all whining about Joe Cortez for warning him and not "letting" him get into a rhythm, as if Joe Cortez should let Hatton's always-questionable bulling tactics go. I have no problem with what Hatton does; it's his style. But a lot of what he does is grounds for warnings and even penalties.
Hatton was beaten by Mayweather, plain and simple. Cortez stopping the fight when he did was a blessing for Ricky, because if it had been allowed to go on, I have no doubt that Floyd would have knocked him clean out.
This has nothing to do with who I like better. It has everything to do with the fact that Hatton-Mayweather II would be a sham, and many already felt that Hatton-Mayweather I was a bit of a joke fight, though I wasn't one of them.
Billy Graham has hinted before that he would not train Ricky for a rematch with Floyd, and that he doesn't think Hatton should fight at 147 ever again. The weight is clearly a major issue for him. He's 1-1 at welterweight, and many feel he should be 0-2.
Furthermore, we're already getting a Mayweather-Oscar rematch for which demand doesn't seem to be off the charts, and that one was a split decision on the card. Mayweather creamed Hatton -- there was no doubt from anyone.
Hatton's current plan is to fight and beat Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi, then rematch with Mayweather. If that happens, Floyd will spank him again, Hatton will be 45-2, and then he'll fight Junior Witter, I bet.
I understand the money aspect, believe me. There's not a bigger money fight for Ricky than a rematch with Floyd at Wembley Stadium, except maybe a fight with Oscar at Wembley. But as a fight fan, this idea is preposterous. It's a bigger-name version of Malignaggi-N'dou II.