How Ricky Hatton returned to winning ways on Saturday.
Plucky Lazcano goes the distance, but can't poop the party
Ricky Hatton is back!
That was the message that boomed out of the City of Manchester Stadium as the Hitman scored a lop-sided win over Juan Lazacano in front of 55,000 fanatical supporters.
Hatton, boxing in his hometown for the first time in three years, could not produce they knockout they had come to see, but was always in charge of a fight that lived up to its billing.
Not only did he prove he was over the Floyd Mayweather defeat, he proved he is still the best boxer in the world at 140lbs and crucially, he also proved that there is plenty left in the tank after all.
Credit for the latter must go to Lazcano. Completely overwhelmed at times, wobbled on occasions, he stood firm in the face of relentless pressure and somehow survived 12 gruelling rounds. The 120-110 118-110 120-108 scores did him little justice really, but they did mirror Hatton's dominance.
He might not have been able to knock Lazcano over - and he's not the first - but he was able to roll back the years. The relentless Ricky was back; swarming all over his man, throwing angled uppercuts, those trademark bodyshots and setting his man up for the big finish.
That it didn't come was only a minor disappointment. Certainly the crowd didn't care and Hatton and Billy Graham must've been privately chuffed that they silenced the doubters. The chest infection was nothing after all and after fading badly in the latter stages in previous fights, the Hitman was still firing when the final bell sounded.
From the moment he walked, or waddled, into the arena sporting a padded suit with Fatton emblazoned on it to be greeted by an almighty roar, Hatton was back where he belonged. Back in Manchester and more importantly, back at light-welterweight, where he is still the world number one.
Warm welcome
The left hook that has finished so many before him was Lazcano's warm welcome. Twice it landed early on and although the uppercuts were slightly wayward, Hatton was off to a flying start, pushing his man back and propelling punches with either hand, at speed.
Lazcano started the second with his first offensive, but a doubled-up left hook and then one from the right to the ribs kept him in check. Even two low blows, let slip by referee Howard Foster, yet felt by Hatton could not halt the tide that was surging the challenger's way.
A slip at the start of the third caused more than the odd shriek from ringside, but although he was down, this was not Las Vegas in December. This was Manchester in May and this was the Hitman's moment. Nothing was going to deny him.
Even when Lazcano caught him with a clean left he kept coming. If the third session was Lazcano's best, then the fourth saw Hatton regain the initiative. A left hook to the temple wobbled his man badly and by the time the fifth round had come to an end he was backing off for the first time, sent scurrying by another left to the head and then feeling the full force of two more brutal bodyshots.
Hatton then had his best round, rampaging through the three minutes evoking memories of the mauling he gave Kostya Tszyu the last time he boxed in Manchester. But Lazcano's trainer Ronnie Shields has worked with Pernell Whitaker so it came as no real surprise to see him deflect and block plenty - although plenty more still got through. A right cross at the end of a typical burst might have floored lesser men.
With Lazcano still absorbing shot after shot and still standing there gamely, occasionally sending hooks back, it was almost inevitable this was going the distance.
Sickening
As frustrated as he must've been though, there was no sign of anxiety from the Homecoming hero. No over-eagerness, no cramping his own work, stifling those shots and no charging in - although with Lazcano landing a left hook that did stop him in his tracks, Hatton was not entirely free to do what he pleased.
A bodyshot and another low blow briefly suggested that there might be a sickening twist still to come, but Hatton immediately forced Lazcano onto the ropes and unleashed two rights to the head as if to remind his plucky counterpart just who's party this was.
Round nine belonged to Hatton again. Lazcano's cuteness more than anything kept him at bay and although critics will say he should have finished the job early, few objective observers will have begrudged the visitor his own personal triumph and even fewer still will not have enjoyed it from first to last bell.
A Lazcano right straight down the middle as he leapt in served as a timely 10th-round reminder and from then on, he closed out confidently. The penultimate round saw Hatton pop in two jabs that jolted Lazcano's head back and just then, it seemed that he would run out of energy, and finally succumb to the incessant onslaught.
He didn't though and although the pace dropped in the last session, there was no sense of this drifting towards its conclusion. Still Hatton pounded away, still Lazcano stood firm. And still Manchester sang its heart out.
There is only one Ricky Hatton. And that Ricky Hatton still has plenty left to offer.
