How Many Stones Is That, Ricky?↵As Ricky Hatton begins his intensive training camp for his May 2nd fight with Manny Pacquiao, there’s been a lot of talk about Ricky Hatton’s weight lately, both by the fighter himself and by observers. ↵
↵One of those observers (and granted, a biased one) is Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, who said recently that Hatton looked very heavy, and maybe weighed upwards of 165 pounds. The fight with Pacquiao will be at the junior welterweight limit of 140, or ten stone, as the British are wont to refer to it. ↵
↵↵Now, Hatton is literally famous for blowing up in weight in between fights, earning himself the moniker “Ricky Fatton,” and regularly wearing a fat-suit for his walks to the ring to poke fun at his image as a bloke who likes a pint or 12 and never met a chippy that he wouldn’t devour. ↵
↵↵But just last fall, after his fight with Paulie Malignaggi, Hatton’s new trainer, the one and only Floyd Joy Mayweather Sr., was telling the press that he thought Ricky’s drinking and rapid weight fluctuations were catching up to him, and that if he didn’t cut it out his career was in jeopardy. And though Floyd Joy is often full of the most preposterous blarney, in this instance, one is inclined to think he’s on to something. It’s hard not to look at Hatton’s habits and not wonder how often a man can expect to drop upwards of 25 pounds in under two months and still retain his strength and tenacity for an endeavor as demanding as prizefighting. ↵
↵↵It certainly casts a bit of a pall over Hatton’s predicament to consider that Pacquiao’s last opponent, Oscar De La Hoya, also cut a lot of weight to fight him, and paid a dear price for doing so. I saw Oscar yesterday at the press conference for this Saturday night’s HBO Boxing After Dark card at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. It was the first time I’d seen him in the flesh since the Pacquiao fight, and I was amazed at how much different he looked, how much heavier and healthier. My eyeball estimate was that he was at about the super middleweight limit, 168 or so, and he didn’t look porky in the least. It confirmed to me what I’ve suspected all along about his debacle with Pacquiao -- he’d lost that fight before he’d even stepped in the ring just for making the huge mistake of thinking that he could still compete at 147 pounds. ↵
↵↵So here’s Hatton, seemingly having to cut an equivalent amount of weight to face the always fit and furious Pac Man. Of course, there’s a difference between the two situations, because Hatton is a much smaller man than Oscar. While Oscar’s body probably wants to be around 170 as a natural and healthy weight, Hatton is probably a natural 150-pounder who puts on a lot of extra padding with all the beer and fried food. ↵
↵↵Either way, however, cutting weight is a physically and emotionally draining business. Shedding 25 pounds in eight weeks is an ugly proposition for anyone who plans to be at their strongest and soundest at the end of the process. ↵
↵↵For his part, however, Hatton seems enormously confident, and even thinks that his size will be an advantage. In this piece over at Boxing Scene, Hatton is quoted as saying that he is “massive at junior welterweight” and that come fight night he plans to rehydrate himself up to 154 pounds or so. ↵
↵↵Again, I confess, I’m reminded of all the hype prior to the Pacquiao/De La Hoya fight, and the general consensus that Oscar was just too big an opponent for Pacquiao. It seems to me that a commenter over at Boxing Scene hit the nail on the head about Hatton thinking that his size will help him against Pac Man, writing “he will be like a porcupine when it faces a mongoose.” ↵
↵This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.