Ricky Hatton Retires: A Look Back at the Boxer's Top 5 Wins

Today, Ricky Hatton (45-2 32KO) finally announced, via his website, that he's finally retiring from boxing.

It has been two years already since his last fight where he suffered a second round knockout against Manny Pacquiao.

There had been rumors flying around that the Hitman would make a return to the ring against Erik Morales sometime this year after Morales's resurgence, but he put those rumors to rest by throwing in the towel.

Hatton had a fairly good career losing only two times, to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. He also boasts wins over fighters such as Paulie Malignaggi, Urango and recent Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu.

As we say goodbye to Hatton from the world of boxing, let's look back at Ricky Hatton's top five wins and remember that there is only one Ricky Hatton. 

5. Tommy Peacock

This was Ricky Hatton's first real test of his young career.

Coming into the match Hatton was 10-0, but wasn't very surprising considering his opponents dreadful records. His first ten opponents had a combined 78-179-22 record with only three opponents having single digit losses and two opponents exceeding 35 losses.

His opponent, Peacock, was undefeated coming in (9-0-1) and was supposed to be his first real test.

The BBBofC Central Area Light Welterweight title was on the line for both men and would be the first title either men were fighting for.

Hatton went to work against Peacock despite being at a height and reach disadvantage. 

During the second round he knocked Peacock down with a left hook to Peacock's chin.

Peacock would get up from the knockdown, but he was on shaky legs from then on.

Hatton was able to see this and quickly took advantage of it. He went in for the kill and continually attacked Peacock stringing together body and head combinations until he was knocked down again and the referee called of the fight.

This was the beginning of Ricky Hatton

4. Carlo Maussa

This was a significant victory for Ricky Hatton because it would be a unification bout against the then WBA champion Carlo Maussa.

This was a particularly difficult fight for Hatton because he suffered cuts over both his eyes in the beginning rounds which made it difficult to see.

Hatton took full control of the face after dictating the pace in the beginning and tiring down Maussa with body shots and combinations. He never let Maussa get into any kind of rhythm the whole fight. 

From there it was only a matter of wearing down Maussa and in the ninth, Hatton was able to catch Maussa with a vicious left hook which knocked out the WBA champion cold.

This was Hatton's most explosive knockout of his whole career. 

3. Juan Urango

By this point, Hatton had been stripped of of all his belts due to HBO not approving of any of Hatton's mandatory opponents. 

Hatton was back at square one and took on undefeated Juan Urango for his IBF Junior Welterweight belt and the vacant IBO belt.

Going into the fight, Hatton had the upper hand. 

Urango may have been more muscular and seemingly larger than Hatton, but that only slowed him down as Hatton stayed busy the whole fight while Urango was unable to land anything meaningful.

While Hatton was fast an accurate, Urango couldn't counter him back.

Hatton almost suffered a cut when the two violently clashed their heads in the eleventh round, but surprisingly Hatton was able to make it out with no cuts.

Hatton fought at close quarters and pitched a near shutout over the undefeated Urango.

This was Hatton's first step at regaining his titles and moving onto bigger fights. 

2. Jose Luis Castillo

This was one of Hatton's biggest fights as this would be the fight that would set him up against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the future.

Castillo was Mexican warrior who notably lost a controversial fight to Floyd Mayweather Jr. before being beaten in a rematch.

From the start of the bell, Hatton put the pressure on Castillo eventually knocking him down but was later ruled as slip.It didn't matter because Hatton was controlling the pace and landing combinations against Castillo.

Hatton kept the fight inside and the two constantly clinched each other. Whenever Castillo would land a shot Hatton would respond with faster hands and cleaner shots.

This would continue on to the fourth round when Hatton downed Castillo with a left hook to the body which brought Castillo to a knee. Surprisingly Castillo opted to stay down and let the referee count him out.

Hatton was once again at the top and would later go on to fight the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. 

1. Kosta Tszyu

This was by far the biggest fight of Ricky Hatton's career.

Kosta Tszyu, who has recently been admitted to the Hall of Fame, was Hatton's biggest and notable fight in his whole career. Kosta is famous for not only being a brilliant fighter but teaching us that we shouldn't play with matches.

Kosta was the first man unify the junior welterweight division in 30 years and had been champion for more than a decade. 

Hatton, the young underdog from Britain, didn't look to stand a chance against the champion.

Hatton came out strong in the early rounds, but Tszyu pulled through and picked up the pace in the middle rounds.

At one point in the fight Kosta hit Hatton with an intentional low blow which Hatton quickly responded to with pinpoint accuracy.

From then on Hatton stayed aggressive throughout the rest of the fight going into the 12th round. Kosta failed to come out of his corner in the twelfth round awarding Hatton the victory.

This was the peak of Hatton's career and the start of Hatton's title run in the junior welterweight division.