Hatton: too many changes

The last thing you want to be doing against someone like Paulie Malignaggi is working on your defence. Hatton is the best in this division and his style of jumping on top of people at light-welterweight is perfect for this fight.

Jim Watt
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HATTON v MALIGNAGGI
IBO Light-Welterweight title
9pm, Saturday, November 22
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For the first time I am worried about Ricky Hatton.

Don't get me wrong, I think he will win, but I just don't see the logic in what he's doing at this stage of his career.

Changing trainers to Floyd Mayweather, heading out to Las Vegas so early and then talking about defensive fighting and slick skills against Paulie Malignaggi - it just doesn't make sense to me.

If he felt he had to change trainers, I would rather he had done what Amir Khan has done and go with Freddie Roach.

There is nothing wrong with Floyd Mayweather Snr's tactics and we know he gets fighters in great physical condition, but for me, it is always all about him.

Roach is just there in the background getting on with his job and the fighter is always the star. That is the way it should be and that is the what Ricky is used to.

I'm not a fan of the way he handles his fighters in between rounds either. All this 'Kick his ass! You're the man!'. It's just jive talk and the last thing you need when you're in a difficult fight and need a little bit of help out there.

That's why I like Freddie Roach and that's why I like Buddy McGirt, who will of course be in Malignaggi's corner on Saturday night.

I also think Mayweather is the wrong trainer for this fight. Not a bad trainer, just not the right trainer for this.

Close-knit

For a start, will Ricky really be happy working with him? Before, when he was with Billy Graham and Kerry Kayes, right up to the day of the fight, they had fun, they looked relaxed. You would've thought they were in Vegas for a pop concert, not a world-title fight!

I saw Ricky being interviewed a couple of weeks ago and he looked too serious. The spark wasn't there. He says it is back, but I am not so sure. He has spent a long time out in Vegas without the usual close-knit unit around him and that worries me.

They will probably turn round and say the sparring has been better, but he is the world champion, he is not short of a few bob, so he could've flown them over to Manchester. The only reason he is out there so early is Mayweather and his ego.

Tactically I am not sure it will work either. The last thing you want to be doing against someone like Paulie Malignaggi is working on your defence. Hatton is the best in this division and his style of jumping on top of people at light-welterweight is perfect for this fight.

Controlled

He wants to be punching, not thinking. Setting the pace and working Malignaggi, not wondering about what he's been taught.

I don't just mean charging in not thinking about it. I mean sensible, controlled aggression. We don't want a stand-off boxing match because that's what Malignaggi does, that's what he's good at, and I don't think Ricky will allow that.

Whatever you say about Ricky, he is never in a dull fight. If the crowd get restless and start booing, he will forget anything Mayweather has taught him and revert to type.

Make no mistake, though, Malignaggi is a much better fighter than Ricky Hatton. You only have to look at their records and the fight we all remember him for - the defeat against Miguel Cotto. But his best fight was a losing performance and that says it all.

But it wasn't a terrible beating and he did make it competitive, especially later on, and if Hatton isn't on top of his game, he can make it awkward for him but only if Ricky lets him.

This to me is a fight where he has to set the pace, so the outcome will then hinge on what Ricky has left in the tank. And that worries me as well.

Everybody knows my thoughts about his lifestyle out of the ring, but now he's turned 30, will that finally catch up with him? Things that you do naturally as a youngster suddenly become harder and you have to force yourself.

The Juan Lazcano fight was worrying on that front. He had dished out so much punishment and Lazcano was basically a lightweight who had been chosen by Ricky, yet he was still there 10 rounds later.

Punishment

That's not good in itself, but then he started coming back and making Hatton clinch later in the fight, and that was down to the punishment he puts his body through, time and time again.

But Hatton is known for winning world titles at two weights, unifying the light-welterweight division and putting on some of the biggest fights we've seen for years. While he was doing all that, Malignaggi was losing to Cotto - who looked atrocious at the weight and never fought at 140lbs again.

Malignaggi's best chance is to out-box Ricky at range, make him miss. He can do that but I still fancy Ricky to beat him. And I want Ricky to beat him, I don't mind admitting that.

We all want Ricky to win so much. Any one of us could walk up to him in a pub and you know he would stop for a chat. He is so approachable, so down-to-earth and what has happened to him could not have happened to a nicer guy in the world, a more deserving guy.

But what is going to motivate him for this? He has got his money, he is not going to be the pound-for-pound best - which he set his sights on against Floyd Mayweather - so what is going to get him up for Malignaggi. It can only be Oscar de la Hoya at Wembley.

That will be the one thing that makes him dig in one last time. But he has to look good as well, because he should beat Malignaggi.

I would never back against Ricky and I can see him winning comfortably on points, but if it does go wrong, it will be because of too much change, too late in his career.