This week brought a shock to boxing fans throughout the country, as legend of the sport, Ricky Hatton, announced that he intends to retire if he is defeated in the match against IBF light welterweight, Paul Malignaggi.

Hatton has been heavily criticised by some pundits this year, with several journalists speculating that he is now too old to perform to the best of his ability. The 30 year-old boxer has only fought once since losing for the first time in his career last year.

Although he was victorious in that fight, Hatton admitted that he did not put on a good performance for the fans. Last year’s defeat against Floyd Mayweather Jr. seems to have had an apparently larger than expected impact upon the form of the usually confident, cocky boxer. The manner of the defeat was particularly hard for Hatton to deal with, despite subsequent praise from the British press concerning the boxer’s courage.

Speaking about his future to the media this week, the boxer said that he could understand why some people believe he has shown “signs of wear and tear” since the loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and, in an uncharacteristically defeatist manner, Hatton stated that he would “probably” retire if he loses the fight against Malignaggi, scheduled for November.

However, defeat is the last thing on the boxer’s mind at the moment. Indeed, one of the biggest ironies about this story concerns the man who has been picked to help Hatton improve his game before the big fight. He recently chose Floyd Mayweather Sr. to help him reach the heights previously attained during his 45-match unbeaten run.

Hatton has already spoken publicly about the “new lease of life” that working with Mayweather has given him. After splitting with Billy Graham, the boxer’s long-term trainer, and taking on the father of the one man in the world strong enough to defeat him, Hatton believes that “a different Ricky” has started to emerge.

According to him, “a more subtle approach” is beginning to evolve in his game and he hopes that this will be evident during the upcoming fight in Las Vegas. Mayweather has a great reputation of improving the skills of top fighters, including Oscar de la Hoya, who was recently abandoned by the talented trainer as he answered Ricky Hatton’s calls for help.

Mayweather believes that a changed Hatton will reign victorious over Malignaggi, a triumph which would spur the boxer on to a subsequent fight against the winner of the match between Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao in early December. However, Malignaggi has only been defeated once in 26 professional matches, so Hatton must be careful when he enters the ring.

Whilst the news that retirement has entered Ricky Hatton’s mind has come as a nasty shock to some, it will not surprise others. Immediately after the boxer’s defeat against Mayweather Jr., boxing legend, Lennox Lewis, spoke of his belief that Hatton should retire from the sport: “..if it were me, unless I felt I could come back and actually beat Mayweather, then I would retire”. Overall, only Ricky Hatton can decide if, and when, he should retire from a sport he has excelled at for so many years.

Written by Charlotte Cook