Will Hatton make the Hall of Fame?

This was touched upon on another thread and has been debated in Boxing News recently so thought it was perhaps worthy of discussion but how do feel Ricky’s chances are of getting the call from Canastota when eligible. Now will say this is not whether he deserves to get the nod in an ideal world or our elitist Hall of Fame but whether he will get in the current Hall of Fame with its current entry requirements.

On the positive side Hatton is a two weight world champion, Ring Magazine belt holder in one of those divisions and with a standout win over Kostya Tzysu as well as solid wins over the likes of Maussa, Urango and Malignaggi his record at light welter is solid enough. Couple this with a close but probably deserved win over Collozo to annex a portion of a welterweight title and it looks promising enough, particularly as Ricky remains the only Brit ever to win the Ring Magazine fighter of the year award.

However there is a downside, he lost to the best two fighters he ever faced and while there is no shame in losing to either Manny or Floyd one of them was in particularly crushing fashion and both fights suggests a level for him, the criticism that herculean though his performance against Kostya was there was perhaps an element of getting him at the right time, a criticism which perhaps has some validity. Also, with no desire to re-open the debate the Witter issue is a black mark against him because whilst the names mentioned earlier were solid light welters it would be fair to say for large portions of his reign Witter was the divisional number two and as such should have been dealt with.

Now personally I am a firm believer that a fighters criteria for the hall of fame should be reserved exclusively to what they do in the ring, however, scandalously I have not yet been given my voting rights for the Hall of Fame and it is often the case that events outside the ring often have an influence on voting and in this respect Hatton surely scores well, is no exaggeration to describe Ricky as a phenomena, drew crowds unlike few fighters ever from these shores. Often packed out the MEN for WBU defences, took more fans to Vegas than few could manage in their home town and drew 50,000+ for a tune up fight against Lazcano. Whatever the reasons Hatton truly struck a chord with the fans and public and cannot be argued he massively raised the profile of the sport in this country, all of which will surely be a consideration for the voters.

Overall I feel that Hatton will rightly or wrongly get the call for Canastota when eligible but would be interested to see if others see things differently.

Yeah, he’ll get the McGuigan vote for services outside the ring, specifically in relation to his fanbase. His record is good, but I think this will push him in.

I'm sure he'll get the nod from Canastota. Absolutely certain of it. Belt wins in two weight divisions, not to mention the money he generated, supporters he took around the world by the truckful and any number of other non-fighting considerations, mean that it's a fait accompli.

I wonder at what point Canastota will have to get new premises to make room for the number of fighters that they are admitting.

Agree w/ you Roleydog.

He'll get the call - maybe not as a 1st ballot HoFer - but he'll be called nonetheless.

In the ring he didn't achieve enough in my opinion. Was never comfortable against southpaws - meaning Witter in his prime would have been an interesting fight. No dedication to fitness or performance - a fact which explains much of his appeal.

Interestingly - the longer he's left alone - the less likely he is to get the call. In the end, his career could be forgotten - if the crowds he dragged around the world could not.

Anyway - that "fighter of the year" will probably get him in to Canastota - but do Tszyu, Collazo, Urango, Maussa, Paulie get you in - especially considering there's no Witter, Holt, Torres or Bradley.

Scottrf wrote:Yeah, he’ll get the McGuigan vote for services outside the ring, specifically in relation to his fanbase. His record is good, but I think this will push him in.

Spot on and echoes my feelings on it.

HoF entries are surely for great boxers and not good boxers.

Hatton was good but certainly not great and therefore not HoF worthy as it should be reserved for the very best.

The problem is they've let some questionable people in before so always a argument for and against.

I'd imagine he'll be getting the call at some stage, Rowley. It'd be borderline but a probable yes if we based it solely on his achievements in the ring, but chucking in his appeal to the casual fan and the huge fan base he garnered through the years, and I feel it's inevitable.

Like many others, it's an induction which will highlight much of what is wrong with Canastota - but I'll save all that for another day!

I believe Richard Hatton should make it. The fact he was universally regarded as the man at light welterweight before Pacman does it for me. I like HOFers to at least be world champions in the classic sense of the word in these days of millions of paper championships.

Any fighter that hugs one or two belts but never proves himself the true champion to compare with the champions of the halcion days of just one world title should never be included. This would of course rule out a million and one euro bums fighting on the continent but so be it. Richard is worthy of his place.

I think Hatton should make it in no doubt he only lost to the two best fighters in the world that his hardly a disgrace and there are much worse fighters than him in there already.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:

Scottrf wrote:Yeah, he’ll get the McGuigan vote for services outside the ring, specifically in relation to his fanbase. His record is good, but I think this will push him in.

Spot on and echoes my feelings on it.

Do you not worry that if outside the ring events are taken so heavily into account then getting caught snorting his winnings up his nose might be held against him? Similar could be said of Calzaghe though I don't think it was on quite the same level (of publicity at least) as Ricky.

It's a strange thing top hat the hall seems very adept at giving credit for outside the ring activities such as in Barry's case but pretty much glossing over the countless examples of boxers who have transgressed in their personal life, as Tyson sailing in first ballot adequately illustrated.

Isn’t this the thing that has Sylvester Stallone in it? Doesn't that make the whole "Hall" a nonsense?

Well they didn't allow the same for Don Madras. Who got into trouble outside the ring by thr HOF don;t want him in there. Double standards probably.

Small Time wrote:Isn’t this the thing that has Sylvester Stallone in it? Doesn't that make the whole "Hall" a nonsense?

Small time they have a section for non participants for journalists and promoters and such and Stallone was inducted in that on the grounds Rocky obviously raised the profile of the sport, still raised a few eyebrows though

Ah right........Did he get inducted to the Promoters catagory? (Promoting the brand of boxing as opposed to a fight)

Think it's called non participants but yes that was the category he was inducted in. Read the review in Boxing News or Monthly and it does appear Stallone was genuinely humbled to be inducted and turned up at the induction weekend, signed autographs and the like.

i think ricky deserves a place, he only lost to manny and floyd, themselfs virtually guarenteed a place, and was a hugely exciting fighter, with genuinely great wins, as mentioned he had a massive fan base, and ask a non boxing fan to name a boxer, 9 out of 10 times they'd say ricky hatton. in terms of attension he bought to the sport he should get in, and hatton promotions is doing an excellent job even after he has retired.