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Paulie hits out at Hatton
Hatton challenger hits out at fighting style, calls for strong referee
Last updated: 20th November 2008
Malignaggi: Hatton jibe
People say 'oh Ricky, he keeps getting broken up' but that's because he's holding. So sometimes there's a little bit of a double standard when Hatton fights.
Paulie Malignaggi
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Paulie Malignaggi has slammed Ricky Hatton's 'wrestling' style of fighting, and called for Saturday night's referee not to let the Hitman get away with his spoiling tactics.
The Magic Man goes up against Hatton at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night, and the fast-talking Italian American has been quick to target the Englishman's style.
Hatton's Ring Magazine title, which recognises the division's best fighter, is up for grabs alongside his IBO belt, with Malignaggi giving up his IBF title in order to challenge the Mancunian.
Referee Joe Cortez was criticised for preventing Hatton's inside fighting during his defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jnr in the same ring 12 months ago, but Malignaggi believes he was spot on.
"Listen, there's no problems with inside fighting unless there's Ricky Hatton involved," Malignaggi said.
Complaints
"Nobody complains that a referee is breaking fighters except when he's fighting.
"Referees want to see action just as much as fans want to see it. They never stop the action.
"If you're wrestling, then you've got to be broken up. They say if one hand's free you're allowed to work. If you're the one being held you can't work and you have to be freed up."
Kenny Bayless will be in charge on Saturday and Malignaggi believes he will be able to handle Hatton in the correct manner.
"I think Kenny is a good referee. I watched Cotto-Margarito and he refereed that fight and it was an inside fight almost the whole way.
"But when there was clinching, Kenny instantly said 'break'. When they were throwing punches inside he let it go as he should have done, why would he break that up?
"When there's holding though, Kenny shouldn't think twice about breaking it up on Saturday night."
Style
Malignaggi is constantly hitting out at Hatton's 'wrestling', and feels he has got away with too much in previous fights.
"Holding. He'll throw a combination and the grab you so you can't answer back," he said of Hatton's style.
"He has no defensive ability so what he does is try to win the round by landing his punch and then grabbing you before you can answer back.
"Grabbing you behind your neck and holding you in place so that you can't slide away when you get underneath a punch, he does that. Then he hits you with the other hand. Just stuff like that.
"People say 'oh Ricky, he keeps getting broken up' but that's because he's holding. So sometimes there's a little bit of a double standard when Hatton fights.
"With (Jose Luis) Castillo it was a free for all. Kostya Tszyu was definitely a free for all. With Floyd (Mayweather) it was a little bit of back and forth but obviously Ricky does like his wrestling, maybe he feels like he has a career in MMA after he's done boxing."
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Comments (30)
Josh Roach says...
did u see the way mayweather took out hatton-he didn go in there lookin 4 a knockout-he boxed on the back foot and countered ricky all night. mallignaggi is a similar sort of fast, slick boxer. he can obviously take a bang takin on cotto. its gona b a good fight night but mallignaggi on points 4 me.
Posted 10:59 21st November 2008
Stevie Baxter says...
malignaggi is an overated fighter who made his name by not getting ko`d(but still lost) by cotto who was weight drained when they fought!,he`s a decent boxer but if hatton has the right tactics(ie smash him up from rnd 1+ cut the ring off) he should beat him! paulie was lucky(in my opinion)to get a decision against Ngoujo and his last fight against ndou wasn`t impressive +the fact that ndou has moved up a weight shows that he was probably weight drained for his fight with malinaggi! malinaggi`s never beaten a truly world class fighter! if hattons half the fighter he was and gets malinaggi in the corner or on the the ropes he should stop him!!! but depends on the ref aswell!!
Posted 09:44 21st November 2008
John Pace says...
cannot believe that someone said malignaggi is a better boxer than hatton! have you seen malignaggi fight he has no weapons just lots of tip tap shots and he can run backwards fast! hatton will break him up and stop him.
Posted 09:03 21st November 2008
Marc Smedley says...
The majority of comments so far have done nothing but complain about hatton's style. Hatton is best fighting inside and clinching is par for the course with any inside fighter. Can anyone claim that other boxers have not adopted these tactics on a regular basis? Whenever the going gets tough they a do it. Hatton does not alway clinch, most of the time when he is in close he rattles of bone crunching shots, that is his tradmark punch. At least he is not a star struck, loud mouth arrogant showman like the others he has faced at times....mayweather for example and malignaggi to come on saturday. Hatton is a peoples champ, doesn't spring into a ridiculous swagger at the flash of the camera. What he does do is bring home results with a combination of power, skill and courage. A true legend in british boxing history who has proved his worth in different weights with the best. Hatton will destroy malignaggi on saturday. There's only one ricky hatton......
Posted 08:18 21st November 2008
Peter Watts says...
hatton will destroy paulie with ease to strong and powerful ricky has learnt to fight in bursts and slow down when he needs to instead of running in like a madman like he used to. malignaggi got nothing that will surprise the hitman accept speed ? witch ricky had problems with mayweathers speed, but whats speed without power my grandmother could hit harder than paulie. in my opinion ricky will win by k.o between rounds 7-12 !
Posted 03:57 21st November 2008
Mitch Singh says...
i think it will be a very good fight, obviously hatton likes to work the inside, but i dont think he'll be using the same strategy as he did against mayweather jr, and now he has been working with one of the best trainers around he definately looks a lot more sharper. it al depends on the way the fight is refereed, and if hatton has to box then im sure he will be capable of causing damage on the outisde aswel as inside. Don't get me wrong though, paulie is very gifted with speed accuracy and can take a beating as he showed against cotto. Paulie definately has the better boxing skills, but i dont think that will be enough against somebody like hatton who has been working tremendously hard and looks much more sharper. all in all i think this will be a classic. Enjoy the fight people ;-)
Posted 03:09 21st November 2008
Joe Daly says...
Cotto is ten times the fighter Hatton is? Wind your neck in Dan, the same Cotto that got battered by Margarito???
Posted 02:54 21st November 2008
John Byrne says...
People say Hatton is past his best. So ask these people if they would be saying this if Hatton would have beaten Mayweather. He would have been the best by far! I think hatton will have something to prove come Saturday night, i just feel sorry for the magic man. Unless he can make himself disappear come Saturday, He's in for a rough night i'm afraid. Hattons too strong for Paulie and the Hitman will make him suffer.
Posted 20:37 20th November 2008
Chris Padge says...
I watched both hatton and malignaggi at the city of manchester stadium, although ricky was alittle from his best for the fight he is a far superior fighter.The highlight of the malignaggi fight was him gettinghis hair chopped half way through. i hope hatton chops him down on saturday!.
Posted 20:36 20th November 2008
Jason Kerr says...
Malignaggi will be rolled over. His mouth is as fast as his hands but he will get broken and bruised for his troubles. This feather fisted wanna be has only one really great night to his name and that ended in defeat. Prepare to be beaten Paulie the Hitman is back
Posted 20:15 20th November 2008
Matthew Wright says...
Hatton will edge this encouter with a late knockout, maybe in the 11th, but Malignaggi will win a lot of respect i think, and i'm sure will be champion after Hatton hangs up his gloves end of 2009. As for Cotto, i can't see him being the force alot of people said he was going to be! He does have a suspect jaw and question marks over his ability to last into the late rounds for me, and i would fancy Malignaggi to learn from the 1st Cotto fight and beat Cotto in a rematch sometime down the line!
Posted 18:48 20th November 2008
Topz Rahman says...
im a boxing maniac!!! Hatton will beat this guy on points..hatton has good dominating skills and imagine what mayweather added on to that talent..inside defensive tactics and setting traps, im jus looking forward to watching hatton fighting the winner of pacman and de la hoya..that is the fight to seperate the best from the best..possibly pacman will win it so i say hatton and pacman to fight next year..obviously pacman will eat him but u neva know tables can turn anytime.floyd is a chicken to retire after beating 2 class opponents..whoelse has he fought i mean the guy is a sensational fighter but knew he'd get sparked in a rematch with hatton or dlh or get knockout by pacman, marquez or one of the other top lightweights..calzaghe is a legend and not to forget khan to comeback coz the kid has the heart no boxer in this world has..
Posted 15:26 20th November 2008
Dan Huck says...
Anthony Smith your a clown !! "Cotto banged him...." He never stopped him even though he broke his jaw. Thats some bottle Paulie's got. And Cotto is ten times the fighter that Hatton is and I like Hatton. Simple as this. Hatton cannot box. He can fight and can bully people around the ring but comes into trouble when he isn't allowed to (Collazo and Urango didn't let him do it and he struggled - Joe Cortez didn't let him do it and rightly so and he got sparked out).
Posted 14:55 20th November 2008
David Hawitt says...
I watch paulie get battered by cotto i think hatton will destroy him in five rounds, all paulie got is a mouth!
Posted 14:50 20th November 2008
Alan Pinder says...
Hatton to win by ko by round 9!! People again righting the hitman off, and are doing so at their peril!!! (Hear Flloyd jnr is making a comeback... Maybe Hatton/Mayweather rnd 2, with Snr in the hitmans corner!??)
Posted 14:47 20th November 2008
Joshua Roach says...
malignaggi will put up a good scrap-hattons lookin good in his trainin camp. fit + fast, but malignaggi is a natural at that sort of fight. fast hands-fast feet. i think malignaggi will take it on a points decision
Posted 14:35 20th November 2008
Tony Hill says...
o.k lets get over all the jabber let see the proof of the pudding when they both get into the ring and round one begin. two good boxers will put on a good clean fight. the talking stops the result will become clear
Posted 14:34 20th November 2008
Lee Courtney says...
Hatton will beat Paulie but he should stay well clear of Oscar who even in this late stage of his career would be too big and hit too hard for Ricky. Maybe he can face Pac Man if he is competitive in what will surely be a loss to De La Hoya.
Posted 14:04 20th November 2008
Kevin Smith says...
I 100% agree with what Paulie is saying. Hatton does not fight on the insdie he wrestles. I personally would like to see a good boxing fight on sat night but any fight involving ricky is far from that. Lets hope the ref does not let ricky get away with his usual WWE tactics.
Posted 13:45 20th November 2008
Jason B says...
I Like Hatton but I have to agree with Malignaggi, Hatton does get away with holding hes opponents and its those tactics which have played a big part in Hattons wins in previous fights. You could even argue that hitting and then holding your opponent is cheating as you are preventing them from defending themselves which Hatton has done on many occasions. I do think Hatton will win on saturday night whether or not the referee allows hes 'Wrestling' style, but the truth of the matter is this style shouldnt be tolerated as it is not a fair fight if allowed by the ref. I think Malignaggi's right for speaking out.
Posted 13:33 20th November 2008