After De La Hoya or Pacquiao, How Will History Judge Ricky Hatton?

Boxer Ricky Hatton recently outlined his plans for the remainder of his career. Hatton announced that in November this year he will fight Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas for the American's IBF and IBO Light Welterweight straps, following that, he hopes to battle either Oscar De La Hoya or Manny Pacquiao at Wembley Stadium next year in what would be his final contest.
 
Hatton's last major contest was his losing effort in December to Floyd Mayweather in their highly anticipated superfight, and despite the comprehensive nature of that loss, the 'Hitman' is nonetheless revered in his home country like few other British sportsmen.

Although Ricky is the current Ring Magazine Light Welterweight champion, his greatness is still doubted by many observers across the Atlantic. A convincing win over New York born Sicily, raised Malignaggi - second to Hatton in the Ring rankings - could help to remedy that situation.

Along with the undisputed middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, the Italian-American Malignaggi is one of the new golden boys and 'Great White Hopes' of American boxing. His 25-1 record makes him vastly less experienced that Hatton, despite being only two years younger.

Even so, defeating him would do much to boost Hatton's stateside reputation. Anything less than a stoppage win would be a disappointment against the knockout shy Yank (only 5 KOs in his 25 wins). Assuming Ricky gets the win and goes on to have his Wembley swansong; he would be ending his career with a fight of massive proportions.

Both De La Hoya and Pacquiao come with extremely loyal and vocal crowds of support, and a fight with either of them would be a surefire pay-per-view bonanza. East Los Angeles native De La Hoya is regarded as a semi-deity by his Mexican fans, and is highly respected in his country of birth.

It is however doubtful what even a big win over De La Hoya would prove - by February of next year the 'Golden Boy' will turn 36 and is undoubtedly long past his best. He has lost 3 of his last 6 fights, has fought only 3 times since his 2004 loss to Bernard Hopkins, and his last win was against Steve Forbes, graduate of the reality TV show The Contender.

A fight with De La Hoya would bring a big payday, but probably not so much of a boost to Hatton's legacy. The proposed showdown with Pacquiao is more intriguing. Following his impressive June destruction of American David Diaz, Pacquiao is WBC champion at both lightweight and super featherweight.

The Filipino is truly a modern day great, with his 47-3-2 record the result of having many genuine superfights - 2 with Juan Manuel Marquez, 2 with Marco Antonio Barrera and 3 with Erik Morales - he has defeated all 3 of those Mexican greats. All of this, together Pacquiao with being the current best pound-for-pound, would make one think that a win him would cement the Hitman's place in boxing history, but it may not.

Pacquiao has fought as far down as flyweight, and though the 'Pac-Man' boasts a list of titles, defeated opponents and epic fights all far superior to those of Hatton, the size difference between the two could taint any potential Hatton victory - at least in the eyes of the purists.

The Filipino is comfortable at various weights, having won world titles in 4 different weight categories, but if he were to make yet another step up to fight Hatton at light welter and subsequently lose, you can be sure that some will refuse to accept the win's significance.

Hatton has said that following these two fights, he "would have done everything [he] dreamed of." Even assuming that statement was made in the expectation of emerging victorious on both occasions, it leads me to speculate that Hatton has not then dreamed of being the best of the best, reaching the very pinnacle of his profession and being considered alongside the legends of the sport.

Because if the Hitman's career takes the route that he has set out, it is doubtful that he will be.