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Malignaggi: Hatton's limited
Magic Man dubs Hitman 'the John Ruiz of the light-welterweights'
Last updated: 9th September 2008 
Malignaggi: Confident
Hatton is a limited fighter. He can't box. I'm not going to criticise him personally, because I really like Ricky. I just don't think he's much of a fighter, or was ever much of a fighter.
Paulie Malignaggi
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Paulie Malignaggi has delivered a damning indictment of Ricky Hatton's talents ahead of their big showdown on November 22.
The pair will lock horns at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to see who is generally acclaimed as the best light-welterweight in the world.
But the Magic Man - never short of a quote for the press - clearly doesn't think he has much to worry about.
He says the Hitman is limited and has described him as the "John Ruiz of the light-welterweight class".
He told Ring magazine: "Hatton is a limited fighter. He can't box. I'm not going to criticise him personally, because I really like Ricky. I just don't think he's much of a fighter, or was ever much of a fighter.
Tactics
"I'm not just talking out of my ass here, he's the John Ruiz of the junior welterweight class."
Hatton will have a new trainer in Floyd Mayweather Snr when he gets into the ring against Malignaggi.
But whatever tactics he employs, Malignaggi says he'll be ready.
"Billy Graham (Hatton's then trainer) tells Ricky in the corner that if he's not doing anything against Mayweather to make sure Mayweather isn't doing anything," he said.
"Basically, Graham was giving Hatton instructions to hold. Believe me, I'll be ready for anything Ricky Hatton has to offer."
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Comments (28)
Craig Disco says...
This fight will have everything, Ricky Hatton will find it hard in the first 5 rounds but he will come threw it and win in the 10 round with a knockout..And this will set up a rematch between Floyd mayweather and it will be explosive.. come on hatton
Posted 13:29 17th September 2008
Guy Lambert says...
chris craysmith, KOSTYA TSZYU WAS world class and dont ever say that he wasn't, and as for castillo older.....yes world class......YES, carlos maussa, world class......NO, but feared and avoided like the plague by all other fighters.....YES, and mayweather yes, but lets not also forget that hatton finished 2 men that others could not, for a very very long time, so please stop talking nonsense, oh yeah and let's no forget to mention that RING MAGAZINE themselves named him as their fighter that year, because he was just OUTSTANDING, you think you know better than them...........er nope i think you don't. i gotta say i think Mr Hatton will win this, but i sure aint gonna be easy, if he brings his best game i really think that he'll be too strong and the workrate he produces will overpower the smaller but hearty new yorker. BUT, if ricky hatton gets sloppy and doesn't pay malignaggi the attention he deserves he could find himself on the end of some truly sharp painfull punches and thats never a good thing. if i was a betting man i'd go hatton by round 9, but boxing is full of surprises.
Posted 13:12 17th September 2008
Terry Phillips says...
hatton will destroy the chump i wud beat mallignagi
Posted 11:53 16th September 2008
Dave Black says...
I know it sounds a bit facicious to say but this MALIGNAGI fella looks a bit too lightweight for my liking. He looks fragile, and against a hardened fighter like RICKY he will be dismantled piece by piece. Ricky will hit too hard and too often for him. I think MALIGNAGI will probably box RICKY'S ears off for the first half of the fight because that's his only strategy really but eventually RICKY will catch up with him and destroy him.
Posted 11:46 16th September 2008
Mr. Edge says...
Ricky Hatton really needs to look out for left hooks to his chin. I've not seen many of his fights, but I do know that I've seen him really hurt and both times I witnessed this, it was the result of a left hook. What would have happened to Ricky if the ref would not have stepped in to allow Ricky to tie his shoelace in the Juan Lazcano fight? In my opinion Ricky was hurt, tired and out on his feet. Floyd's in a class by himself I thought Ricky did well. Don't get me wrong. I like Ricky as a fighter because he's got heart! If he stays focused he should have no problem with Paulie.
Posted 01:53 13th September 2008
Golden Bhoy says...
Cant believe people are going for Hatton in by stoppage.This guy went the distance with Miguel Cotto who would KO Hatton.Hatton will beat Paulie by UD but he will be made to work for it.Paulie has no power and suspect hand injuries will have taken there toll.Ricky will do him but it wont be KO him.It wont be easy.
Posted 14:44 12th September 2008
Pancho Gonzalez says...
Would Ricky have the fight to go 12 rounds with a peak Cotto? Of course he wouldn't. He wouldn't last 7. Malignaggi is an average fighter, but better than Hatton
Posted 11:30 12th September 2008
Dave Bolter says...
I agree with Gary King's comments. Ricky Hatton has lost only 1 fight to arguably the Worlds Greatest Boxer of the modern era! And yes he didn't box very well in that fight. And yes he struggled against a strong and awkward Collazo. But thats about it, out of how many fights? He also does seem to have lost a lot of his lateral movement and body punching that we all loved to watch in earlier fights. Some of this I attribute to the level of apponent no giving him time to work in close. However, to say he hasn't fought anyone world class apart from Mayweather we all know is a nonsense. In fact probably the only guys he hasn't fought at world class are Cotto and PACman and thats mainly because of the weight differences! Ricky is NO DOUBT a great fighter and probably will retire in a couple of fights. I see this fight going one of 2 ways, Hatton to stop MM middle rounds, or Hatton to win on points. Then i see 1 more fight against (hopefully) PAC-man or Cotto and then retirement for Ricky.
Posted 09:33 12th September 2008
Adam Khimji says...
Hatton is a good fighter, he loves his fans and gives em what they wanna see a brawl, hatton fought the GOAT mayweather and he got out boxed, hopefully mayweatehr sr will teach hatton how to put his hands up and give him back his dimension, we all loved the hatton with the crunching body punches coming left and right not just the straightforward bully punching style. Mallinagi has lost to cotto who i highly rate he made it a good fight as he walked forward reminiscent of our boy hatton but as cotto did he just had too much power for the skinny mallinagi i see this going three rounds just like the castillo fight mallinagi gonna get his ribs broken
Posted 01:36 12th September 2008
Gary King says...
Mayweather isnt a puncher?? hahahahahaha, Ricky has lost one fight to one of the best pound for pound fighters ever and your slagging him off?? are you real? What about Eubank? Benn? Mcguigan? would you not consider them ''World Class''? Muppet
Posted 19:14 11th September 2008
Ben Thomson says...
People say Hatton fought people when they were over the hill, well that is exactly what Mallignagi is doing here. Htton hasn't got the same heart and desire that he used to and he doesn't hound his opponents like he used to. Mallignagi is just a Prince Naz wanna be.....he will only win because this is the biggest fight of his career and he's more in his prime than Hatton. A younger Hatton would knock this fool out.
Posted 18:05 11th September 2008
Chris Craysmith says...
iv got a sneaky feeling malignaggi will take this on points lets not forget while we critisise our other brit khan for not fighting any one world class-hatton for me would be in the same catergory-the 1 fighter who was world class mayweather(who aint even a puncher)knocked him out clean. an for all you people who think tszyu was world class when hatton fought him you are about 3 years behind the game. as always brit fighters are over hyped.the only genuine world class fighters we have had in my time-(the last 20years)lewis and the greatest CALZAGHE.
Posted 15:12 11th September 2008
Reegan Lines says...
Andy Taylor, you mention the massively overhyped Cotto...are you being serious. Cotto is one of the best in the business and would wipe the floor with Hatton if they ever met, infact Mayweather never even mixed it with Cotto as he thought it would be too risky. Hatton is a decent fighter but no legend mate and this fight will be closer then you think.
Posted 12:22 11th September 2008
Kev Teasdale says...
I think someone who calls himself the 'magic man', and then puts on a display in his last fight which he was very lucky to come away from victorious comical to say the least. The on;y bit of magic we did see was how he could still throw punches with his extensions covering his eyes. To say ricky hatton is the john ruiz of the light-welterweight division is a ploy to hide his own fear that he has bitten off more than he can chew. Granted ricky was below par in his fights with mayweather and collazo but they are genuine welterweights and yes ricky has struggled at that weight, preobably due to the weight fluxuations between fights. I think at this weight ricky is still the best in the world and he will be malignaggi have 1 more fight in retire into the history books as one of the greatest fighters england has ever produced. God bless ricky and good luck...
Posted 01:09 11th September 2008
Ryan M says...
Hatton will destroy Malignaggi in the 7th ... did anyone watch Malignaggi's fight with Lovemore N'dou he looked so average and he didnt deservre to win that fight. Hatton is only 29 so what is all this about saying he is past his best, Hatton is still the best light welterweight out their at the minute and when he fights Malignaggi he will show that he is the best out their. With Roger Mayweather coaching Hatton this will add alot more to Rickys game. Malignaggi's a overated fighter what got destroyed by cotto and hasnt fought any really fighters and won, Lovemore N'dou was past it years ago.
Posted 15:06 10th September 2008
Jonathon Illingworth says...
I agree with what everyone is saying about Hattons age, he isnt going to be sprinting around the ring like mallignagi is, but one thing u cant take from ricky hatton is his ability to give thunderous body shots, like mallignagi will be able to cope with that, i dont think so. Im gonna say Hatton to TKO him inside 5rounds, had this fight bin before the mayweather fight i would have said inside 4, but he hasnt bin the same since, he looks a bit overcautious. Oh and another thing, i would love to see if Amir Khan still wants to fight Hatton, i would pay any amount of money to go an sit ring side for that fight. Come on Ricky lad
Posted 13:48 10th September 2008
Liam Mclean says...
I think this will be a really good fight. Both fighters didn't perform brilliantly in their last fights at the COM, although Hatton won every round of his fight, where as to me Malignaggi should have lost. Both of them have got something to prove and both of them should be really up for this fight. The contrasting styles should make for a good fight. Malignaggi may have a good chin, but it will be the body shots that put him down.
Posted 11:40 10th September 2008
Brian Doran says...
Ricky will come destroy the "magic man" (he must be good at card tricks as I saw his Fight as maine road and he was any thing but magic"!) ricky is just too good for him.
Posted 10:08 10th September 2008
Robert Argent says...
Paulie will win this fight easy, the first half of the fight will be anyway. The second half I believe Hatton will try to come on strong, but I expect Paulie to use that to his advantage and catch Hatton coming in. Paulie may not be the hardest puncher but neither was Mayweather, so I expect Paulie to TKO Hatton around the 10th or 11th round. Hatton strugles with these kind of fighters, boxers like Malignaggi,Mayweather and Collazo are the worst opponents for him. As to whoever says about Malignaggi's last fight in Manchester against Lovemore ndou, well he broke his hand, thats why the performance was not great. But this time I believe the magic man will impress and make people look up to his skills. PEACE.
Posted 07:21 10th September 2008
Charles Kears says...
It is of course a mistake to under-estimate The Hitman, as he is still one of the best fighters in the world. To be honest I don't think Malignaggi does, he'll know exactly how tough this fight is going to be. It's unfair to consider Malignaggi an easy opponent who has never proved himself though. He's a great boxer, lightning fast, and has shown considerable heart in fights where he had severe problems with his hands. At this moment in time I can't see him beating Hatton. I doubt anyone in the division could do so. Nevertheless it will be one of the year's great fights, with neither fighter letting up. Let's hope Ricky stops him with a rib-cracker a-la the Castillo fight.
Posted 18:02 9th September 2008