Hatton - A Word of Warning
Christopher Mann
Posted on: 19 May 2008 - 09:40
Boxing
When Juan Lazcano AKA “The Hispanic Causing Panic” steps into the ring at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 24th, he will be largely expected to be defeated by the home hero Ricky Hatton. Not only is Lazcano the underdog, 50,000 partisan Mancunians will be baying for his blood. However, the way in which this IBO light-welterweight title bout has been billed may well play into the Mexican’s hands.
This fight has been promoted as Hatton’s “homecoming”, an ordinary Manchester lad snubbing the bright lights and glamorised boxing environment of Las Vegas. May 24th is supposed to be the day Hatton says “thank-you” to his fans, rejecting the gargantuan pay days of Vegas in preference of fighting at a time which suits his large British fan base. As Hatton himself says, “I could have made a fair few extra quid (fighting in Las Vegas), but it’s at a fan-friendly time, an English time. It’s my way of saying thank-you….It’s all about achieving my goals now and doing right by the fans. I want to be remembered as a fans’ favourite, a people’s champion.” In the midst of all this hype Lazcano’s threat has gone largely unrecognised by observers.
Perhaps surprisingly to some, the hard-hitting Mexican has an impressive professional career record of 37 wins from 42 fights, 27 of those victories by knock-out. Hatton’s opponent has also held the WBF lightweight crown, beating Daniel Lujan on points for the title in 1996. Hatton certainly has not chosen himself an easy fight in front of his home crowd, a brave move, but a potentially embarrassing one also. If Lazcano can thrive on the adversity of fighting in front of such a partisan crowd then Hatton could well find himself staring down the barrel of an unexpected defeat, a result that would put the Briton’s standing in the pantheon of boxing legends in jeopardy.
So what if the cannily nicknamed Hispanic does cause Hatton to panic next Saturday night? What if the unthinkable does happen and Manchester’s favourite son hits the canvas in the city which is such a part of his identity? I don’t mean to be a scaremonger, but a defeat for Hatton could see the end of his competitive career. If not the end of his career, then a loss will at the very least signal the end of his comparisons with some of the greatest fighters in history. It would be stretching it to categorise Hatton as a great of the sport if he suffered two consecutive defeats, the first of those a fight in which he was completely outclassed by Floyd Mayweather jnr to the point of embarrassment in Las Vegas. If Hatton is to lose then he will become less of an attractive prospect for fans and there would be a risk of him drifting through the final years of his career in relative obscurity. For Hatton to avoid potential disaster he will have to make sure he’s on top of his game throughout the fight and punishes Lazcano like we all know he can. But let’s not lose too much sleep over the outcome of the bout, as we all know defeats come around for Hatton once in a blue moon.