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Ricky Hatton
Statistics
Real name	Richard Hatton
Nickname	The Hitman
Weight	Light Welterweight
Nationality	English
Birth date	October 6, 1978
Birth place	Manchester, England
Style	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	42
Wins	42
Wins by KO	30
Losses	0
Draws	0
No contests	0

Richard Hatton MBE (born October 6, 1978 in Manchester) is an English boxer raised on the Hattersley council estate in Hyde, Greater Manchester, Great Britain. He is a two-time IBF and IBO Light Welterweight Champion, having relinquished the IBF belt, only to step back down to the weight class and beat Juan Urango. He was the WBA Welterweight Champion, but relinquished this title on 31 August 2006 ^[1]. Hatton is also the former WBU, WBA Light Welterweight Champion. He is undefeated with a career record of 42 wins (30 by KO), 0 losses and 0 draws.

He is the brother of boxer Matthew Hatton.

Contents 1 Rise to stardom 1.1 Moving to Welterweight 1.2 Back to Light Welterweight 2 Outside the ring 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Rickys rise to stardom started in 1999. On 5 June 2005 Hatton beat Kostya Tszyu, who was widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world (although he had only fought one fight, a three-round knockout of Sharmba Mitchell, in the previous 29 months), by a technical knockout after the Australian failed to answer the bell for the 12th round. Hatton was a heavy underdog for this fight, and the victory announced his entry to the upper echelon of the world boxing scene. Prior to the fight the majority of boxing critics had given Hatton little or no chance and this victory was regarded as one of the best victories by an English boxer in the last 20 years. Critics denigrate his generally unimpressive level of opposition prior to the Kostya Tszyu bout (Hatton's only notable win was over ex-champion Vincent Phillips, who was years removed from his peak), but Hatton has expressed his desire to meet the most potent challengers and establish a legacy.

On 26 November 2005 he won the WBA title when he defeated Carlos Maussa in the ninth round of a unification bout.

In December 2005, Hatton was named the 2005 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year.

Ricky Hatton surrendered his IBF belt on 29 March 2006 after refusing to fulfil a mandatory defence against number one contender Naoufel Ben Rabah. This is because he intended to move up to the welterweight class.

Hatton moved up a division to meet American Luis Collazo for the WBA welterweight crown which took place on 13 May 2006. Hatton defeated Collazo in a controversial 12-round unanimous decision to become the new WBA Welterweight Champion. However, Hatton relinquished this title on August 31, 2006.

His first fight back at Light Welterweight was against the current IBF Light Welterweight Champion Juan Urango on January 20, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton's promoter Dennis Hobson has stated that the impetus for moving back down is to set up a fight with Jose Luis Castillo, another fighter currently on the top ten pound-for-pound list.

Said Hobson, "We're after Ricky's old title. But the defining fight we want is the one against Castillo. We have already opened talks with Castillo's promoter Bob Arum and we are confident we can make that fight for around April time. Ricky is in a very lucrative position at the moment." ^[1].

Hatton ended up winning a 12 round unanimous decision against Urango, to re-capture the unified IBF and IBO Light Welterweight titles. He won every round on all three judges' scorecards save for one round. Castillo, who was on the undercard, also won (via split decision), possibly setting up their long-awaited fight. But Hatton relinquished his title again on February, 10th, to be able to fight José Luis Castillo in Las Vegas on 23rd June this year.

Ricky Hatton is also a passionate supporter of Manchester City football club, with strong links to the club via his father and grandfather, who are both former players. Ricky also once had a trial at MCFC for the youth team. His entrance music is the club song "Blue Moon" as performed by the band "Supra".

Hatton is also a supporter of 'The Village News', Haughton Green's (in Denton, Manchester) local newspaper made by children, all in aid of Willow Wood Hospice (in Ashton-under-Lyne). He supported them at a charity auction by appearing and signing boxing gloves to be auctioned. The evening raised £1600 for charity.

Ricky was also recently a special guest speaker for The Toby Henderson Trust at a sportsmans' dinner at the Gosforth Marriott Hotel. Thanks to Ricky's help via donations and a highly successful auction, a lot of money was raised for the Centre for Autism Development.

Ricky received the award of MBE for services to sport in the 2007 New Year Honours List. Ricky enjoys drinking Guinness and watching all football teams on the TV.

Hatton appeared on the Friday Night With Jonathan Ross show in March 2007. When the host, Ross placed some pads on his hands and gave Hatton gloves to hit them with, he knocked a pad off Ross's hand with a killer left hook.

• List of male boxers
• List of current world boxing champions

1. ^ ^{a b} "Hatton gives up welterweight belt", BBC Sport [1]

• Official site
• Official Photo Gift Store
• Official Team Hatton Travel Packages
• Ricky Hatton Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Ricky Hatton's career record
• HBO Ricky Hatton profile

Preceded by Glen Johnson	Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 2005	Succeeded by Manny Pacquiao
Preceded by Kostya Tszyu	IBF Light Welterweight Champion 4 Jun 2005– 29 Mar 2006 Vacated	Succeeded by Juan Urango
Preceded by Carlos Maussa	WBA Light Welterweight Champion 26 Nov 2005– 4 May 2006 Vacated	Succeeded by Souleymane M'baye
Preceded by Luis Collazo	WBA Welterweight Champion 13 May 2006– 31 Aug 2006 Vacated	Succeeded by Miguel Angel Cotto
Preceded by Juan Urango	IBF Light Welterweight Champion 20 January 2007– 11 Feb 2007 Stripped	Succeeded by Lovemore N'dou