Why Ricky Hatton Shouldn't Hang 'Em Up

What’s with all the Ricky Hatton retirement talk? Because of his ridiculously one-sided loss to the top pound-for-pound fighter all of the sudden the Hitman is worthless?

Admittedly, the loss to Manny Pacquiao was brutal. But it was one bad night against one truly elite pugilist. Now it seems the boxing community is passing judgement on his worthiness in the sport and preparing a hasty eulogy.

It’s not about the money. All indications point to the fact Hatton has done a good job taking care of his. It’s about pride and livelihood. The man is a proud fighter. This is what he knows, what he does. And give him credit for knowing the landscape of boxing and his career.

The situation is quite different from Oscar de la Hoya who just recently decided he had enough. De la Hoya lost half of his last six fights. He knew at 36, his best years were clearly behind him.

There is nothing to suggest the 30-year-old Hatton is at exponentially more risk now than when he started his career 47 fights ago in 1997. He has never been beaten up over the course of 10 or 12 rounds in a fight. So there is not a real reason to fear for his long-term health at this time.

The Hitman caught a bad one. It just shows he cannot compete with a fighting legend. But he has proven to be better than most of the rest. And there are plenty of names in and around 140 pounds that can offer great matchups with Hatton.

Bernard Hopkins lost the middleweight title and moved to light heavyweight taking the crown from the well-established Antonio Tarver. And Pacquiao himself has three losses. Should he have retired after his loss to Erik Morales in 2005? Obviously not. Hatton doesn’t even have consecutive losses. (Hopkins does and he is still going at 44 years.)

Guys like Shane Mosley and Marco Antonio Barrera have been in far more wars and continue on. Probably because they know if they leave prematurely they will just come back. Too many guys leave when they are not truly ready only to return some years later after gaining some “perspective.” Better to stamp out the itch now rather than later.

This is the hurt business after all. Sometimes you get hurt. But that doesn’t mean you head for the hills at the first sign of a little trouble.

That said, he does owe it to himself and his family to at least take some time and decide what’s next. If he can’t put his heart and his all into the rest of his career, that is when he will be in serious danger. And if that’s the case, he should hang ‘em up. But he needs to be the judge. The verdict shouldn’t come from the court of public opinion.