Ricky Hatton Defeated Paulie Malignaggi to Defend IBO and Ring Magazine Light Welterweight Titles

British boxer Ricky Hatton has successfully defended his IBO Light Welterweight title and Ring Magazine Light welterweight title by defeating American boxer Paulie Malignaggi in a high-profile bout on Saturday. Hatton knocked out Malignaggi in the 11^th round of the bout. Hatton dominated all through the match and did not give any chance to his opponent to come back in the bout. Ricky Hatton was trained under former boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, Sr.

Related article:

ESPN

Ricky Hatton vs Paulie Malignaggi: War of Words Going on

Battle of words is not something new in boxing. In fact, boxers often exchange words, criticizing each other before a bout. Sometimes, they use words as publicity stunt for promoting the bout. Sometimes, they do it for gaining some psychological edge over the opponent. Well, whatever it is, Ricky Hatton and Paulie Malignaggi are no different. Ahead of their high-profile Junior Welterweight World title bout, both Hatton and Malignaggi are exchanging heated words to each other.

Malignaggi has said that everyone has a plan until they are punched in their face. The American boxer thinks that Hatton will also have plan before he lands punch at Hatton’s face. He thinks that all the competitors Hatton faced so far were like 100 years old, except Floyd Mayweather Jr and Collazo.

15rounds.com reported:

PAULIE MALIGNAGGI

“ALL I KNOW IS SATURDAY NIGHT, I AM GOING TO BEAT HIS ASS!”

“EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE FACE. HE’LL USE HIS PLAN UNTIL I PUNCH HIM IN HIS!”

“LOOK AT HIS RESUME. OTHER THAN MAYWEATHER AND COLLAZO, THE REST OF THE GUYS HE FOUGHT WERE AT LEAST 100 YEARS OLD.”

Ricky Hatton is also upbeat ahead of the light welterweight fight against Malignaggi. He thinks he should beat Malignaggi and he is very happy to claim that over 8,000 to 10,000 of his fans will come at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas in US from England.

15rounds.com also reported:

RICKY HATTON

“I SHOULD BEAT HIM AND IF I DON’T BEAT HIM I’LL HAVE TO START LOOKING AT THINGS A LITTLE CLOSER!”

“SURE, MY FANS ARE COMING OVER-8,000 TO 10,000 OF THEM WILL BE HERE EVEN WITH THE CREDIT CRUNCH WE’RE HAVING OVER IN ENGLAND!”

British boxer Ricky Hatton, Ring Magazine & IBO light welterweight champion, will defend his Ring Magazine & IBO light welterweight titles against former IBF junior welterweight champion Malignaggi. Vacant IBF light Welterweight title will also be at stake for the bout. With career record of 45-1 (31 knock outs), Hatton seems to have better career record than Paulie Malignaggi’s career record of 25-1 (5 knock outs).

The much-awaited fight will be presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Punch Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, while Affliction Clothing and Cerveza Tecate are the sponsors for the bout involving Hatton and Malignaggi. The fight will take place at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and will be shown live on HBO’s World Championship Boxing.

Ricky Hatton vs Paulie Malignaggi: Hatton Wants to be at his Best against Malignaggi

It has been about one year since British boxer Ricky Hatton suffered his career-first defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas where he is going to appear once again on Saturday night (22 November 2008). He will face Paulie Malignaggi this time. In between this time, Hatton appeared in the ring only once in May when he needed every bit of his effort to defeat Mexican boxer Juan Lazcano by unanimous decision in May. Nicknamed Hitman, Hatton could not impress his fans with that victory as he had to struggle to stave off the challenge posed by Lazcano.

However, ahead of the showdown with Paulie Malignaggi, Hatton now seems to be confident and wants to be at his best. Getting trained under famous coach Floyd Mayweather Sr, Ricky Hatton has claimed to have improved in his techniques and methods. Hatton is the IBO light welterweight champion and Ring Magazine light welterweight title holder at this moment and he has put both his titles as well as the vacant IBF Light Welterweight on the line for the fight against former IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi.

Press Association reported:

"I need to be at my best because I'm fighting my nearest rival in the division - and I will be at my best," said Hatton.

"I'm back down at my normal weight and back at the MGM Grand for the first time in a year, and I hope I have better luck than I did last time.

"But I've never lost at junior welterweight and I'm not going to lose on Saturday."

No doubt, Ricky Hatton is one of the best fighters in welterweight division. In fact, the defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been his only defeat so far in his vivid career with career record of 45-1 including 31 knock outs. However, Malignaggi’s career record is not bad either with 25-1 including 5 knock outs. So, Ricky Hatton can not afford to show any complacency against Paulie Malignaggi.

Ricky Hatton vs Paulie Malignaggi: Hatton Gearing up to Face Malignaggi

After the defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year, Ricky Hatton, IBO Light Welterweight and Ring Magazine Light Welterweight champion, could not show much improvement in the ring. Since his career-first and so far only defeat, Hatton fought only once when he pulled off a come-from-back victory over Mexican boxer Juan Lazcano last May. However, his lackluster form did not impress the fans. In fact, he had to face stiff competition from Lazcano and the way Hatton fought was really disappointing.

Now, Hatton is going to face Paulie Malignaggi in a high-profile light welterweight bout at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas on 22 November 2008. For the bout, Ricky Hatton’s IBO Light Welterweight, Ring Magazine Light welterweight and the vacant IBF Light Welterweight will be at stake. Hatton admitted that he was not at his best against Juan Lazcano, but he showed his illness as excuse of that performance.

Hatton replaced his former coach Billy Graham with renowned coach Floyd Mayweather Sr. and is now being trained under Mayweather Sr. for the upcoming bout against Paul Malignaggi on Saturday night. Under Mayweather Sr., Hatton is believed to have brought some changes in his training and is giving more important on different techniques.

BBC reported:

"Who better to work with than Floyd?" said Hatton. "I've always had boxing ability and working with Floyd has brought it out of my locker.

"I was never going to outbox Floyd [Mayweather Jr], but there should have been a little bit more method to my madness.

"You're not going to see all of a sudden Ricky Hatton up on his toes, jabbing and moving and Ali shuffling and all that nonsense, but you'll see him moving his head and setting up Malignaggi with his jab.

Ricky Hatton is nicknamed "The Hitman" and his aggression in the ring is well documented. Now, his aggression, coupled with some techniques and methods given by Floyd Mayweather Sr., could make him more effective and formidable in the ring. Malignaggi, on the other hand, is just opposite of Hatton in terms of boxing style.

Paulie Malignaggi, former IBF junior welterweight champion, does not have a great power and does not show much aggression, but his ability to produce punches from his hips, excellent movement in the ring and effective counter-punches against aggressive opponents are the main strength. Now, let us see if Hatton can come out of his recent lackluster form in the ring and make a strong come back against Paulie Malignaggi to defend his titles light welterweight titles.

Ricky Hatton Upbeat ahead of Bout against Paulie Malignaggi

British boxer Ricky Hatton is upbeat ahead of his upcoming bout with American boxer Paulie Malignaggi on 22 November 2008 (Saturday) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Hatton’s Ring Magazine light-welterweight title and IBO light-welterweight title will be on the line and Malignaggi will have a good chance to win the titles.

However, Ricky Hatton is confident to defend the titles successfully. The British boxer is now working hard under Floyd Mayweather Sr. ahead of the match and he claims he has done something special in training and he is upbeat to show this in the ring.

Sportinglife reported:
"I've had a great training camp and the twinkle in my eye is back," Hatton said. "I'm not going to change my style, I'm too long in the tooth but Floyd has polished me up in certain areas.
"Some fighters have boxing ability but don't always let it out, they don't always show it but I'm working with a trainer now that's slowed me down, made me work on different things and on Saturday night I'm going to show it.
"I'm not just saying it, on Saturday night, as God is my judge, you're going to see a lot of improvements and the best Ricky Hatton."

Malignaggi is the former IBF junior welterweight champion with career record of 25 wins, 1 defeat and 5 knock outs. The 27-year-old is expected to be gearing up for the match as this is a big chance for Malignaggi to clinch Hatton’s prestigious titles. Hatton also has only one defeat in his 44-match career which he suffered last year to Floyd Mayweather Jr. His career record stands 44-1 (31 KOs). Now, let us see if Ricky Hatton can successfully defend his Ring Magazine light-welterweight and IBO light-welterweight titles against Paulie Malignaggi.