Ricky Hatton reveals his secret behind his wins over Kostya Tszyu and Luis Collazo
British boxing legend Ricky Hatton spoke candidly on the many battles in and out of the ring he has faced during his glittering career and what made him the elite fighter and Hall of Famer he is today.
Speaking to Prime Casino, Hatton revealed how he was able to defeat fighters that he believed were naturally more talented than he was, “Dedication. Some of the greatest fighters that ever lived have been beaten by fighters who just wanted it more than them.
“I was able to beat fighters that were better than me, more talented than me, more ability than me because I would dedicate myself to studying fighters. I studied tapes over and over again to get the game plan together.
“Kostya Tszyu was more talented than me, but I had a good game plan and I came in shape. And when I stepped up seven pounds to fight Luis Collazo, a naturally bigger man, I came out on top again because of heart and my game plan. It’s self belief and dedication.”
There were also external sources that were able to give ‘The Hitman’ an edge inside ring, claiming it was his critics that helped him to win his first world title.
The 45-year-old enlightened, “I won a world title because I believed in myself despite what they said about me. When I was coming up in Manchester as a good prospect they used to say ‘yeah, he sells a lot of tickets, he’s very exciting but his defence is a bit leaky, he gets cut every time he fights, I’m not sure he’s going to get to the top’.
“This opinion wasn’t from the odd person, this was pretty much every article that I read about myself at the time, and I used that as my fuel. I wanted to prove them wrong.
“And then when I won my world title against the pound for pound number two Kostya Tszyu, everybody had me getting knocked out. It used to infuriate me. I thought – was I missing something here because I had huge self belief in winning that fight.
“I kept the faith in my ability and in my confidence and my game plan. This applies not only in boxing but in every walk of life, you need to have huge self belief in yourself, then when people start to knock you, you won’t crumble.
“That’s why I got to where I got. I think that mindset that I developed early on helped me in my career and when I first got defeated by Floyd Mayweather for the first time, it was absolutely devastating.
“I felt like chucking it in but I came back and I won my title back against Paulie Malignaggi and went on to fight Manny Pacquiao. I got beat up at school but I wouldn’t let it beat me, I got knocked out by Floyd Mayweather but I came back.”
The two-weight world champion, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this year, reflected back on his humble beginnings, “When I first laced up the gloves on a council estate in Manchester I was 10-years-old and I was watching the likes of Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali to name but a few, so the fact that my name has gone down in the Hall of Fame alongside these fighters is absolutely incredible.”
Then Hatton shared his invaluable advice to all aspiring prospects in boxing, “But if you’re going to ask me what it takes to get to that level, what does it take to get to the very top? You have to be able to tick every box from a boxing point of view.
“Firstly, you’ve got to have the ability and you’ve got to have the heart, there’s no point of having the ability if you haven’t got the heart, and there’s no point of having the heart if you haven’t got ability. You’re not going to get to the very, very elite on heart alone, you need to have a good boxing brain.
“But the main thing that helped me to perform at the highest level was my self belief.”