15. Rick Hatton (45-3-0, 32 KO)

Born October 6, 1978

 

Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton is one of the most popular figures in the history of British Boxing. Regardless of where he fought, Hatton would bring an army of passionate Manchester fans with him that would tear the house down in support of their man.  The charismatic Hatton also had a habit of eating junk food and binging on alcohol when not in training, and would balloon up in weight between fights often shedding 30 to 40 pounds in training camp preparation. This habit earned him the nickname "Ricky Fatton."  Hatton is also a huge fan of Manchester City Football Club, and entered the ring to their anthem "Blue Moon."

 

The Manchester-born fighter turned professional in 1997 and fought at Madison Square Garden in only his second fight.  In 2001, Hatton won the WBU Light Welterweight Title from Tony Pep with a fourth-round stoppage.  He defended the belt successfully against the likes of Freddie Pendleton, Eamonn Magee and Ben Tackie before he produced one of his biggest career wins in 2005.

 

Hatton was a huge underdog when he faced Kostya Tszyu in 2005, as the Australian fighter was one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world at the time. Hatton put relentless pressure on Tszyu all night, and won the fight when the Australian failed to answer the bell for the 12th round.

Later that year, Hatton stopped Carlos Maussa in nine rounds and was given the prestigious Ring Magazine "Fighter of the Year" award for 2005.

 

Hatton then moved up in weight and won the WBA World Welterweight Title with a win over Luis Collazo, and then followed that up with gritty wins over Juan Urango and Jose Luis Castillo. The win against Urango gave Ricky the IBO and IBF Light Welterweight Titles, while the win over Castillo saw Hatton hand the Mexican fighter the only knockout loss of his career to date.

 

In 2007, the Hitman lost a much-hyped fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. by way of a 10th-round TKO. He bounced back to win the IBO Light-Welterweight Title from Juan Lazcano, and also stop Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas.

 

Hatton was brutally knocked out by the great Manny Pacquiao in 2009 so announced his retirement,  After two and a half years, the draw of the square circle was too much and he annouced his return would be no warm-up.  It is to his credit that he took on Vyacheslav Senchenko, a very  live opponent, alas it was not to be.

 

Over the course of his career, Hatton held six different world titles, including the prestigious Ring Magazine "World Light Welterweight Belt."