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Everywhere Around The World – Ricky Hatton Impressive Win 40!
TUE November 29, BUSTER PARIS - The tent next to the cotton candy machine belongs to Little Suzie – the Worlds Fattest Woman. She weighs almost 830 pounds. In the tent directly across from hers and performing live this evening is “Sideshow” Carlos Maussa.
Come one come all and witness this amazing freak of nature. As you’ll notice placed beside “Sideshow” Carlos are 2x4s, 50 lb sledgehammers and 6 – yes 6 - solid steel anvils. Smash him on the head with any of these and watch him shake it off in less than 3 seconds.
Interestingly Maussa has a side gig too – he’s a prizefighter and is one of the oddest, always underrated and most successful ones you’ll meet this side of the big top.
Saturday – November 26th, “Sideshow” Carlos Maussa met Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton at Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield - England for the IBF and WBA Light Welterweight championship and titles and the outcome of this fight is more than just another win for Hatton. It’s a shinning example of his ever-growing talent at this game.
The fight:
Round 1 – Carlos came out boxing and Ricky was searching for, but not able to find the body as much as he wanted to. Due to a clash of heads Hatton suffers a cut above his left eye.
It was a physical 1st round for both fighters, but I gave round 1 to Carlos which is the only round I thought he won.
Rounds 2 & 3 – Pretty much the same action for rounds 2 & 3 with the engagements being held in close and on the inside. Maussa would flurry bunches of punches at Hatton’s midsection and Hatton would land rock solid punches, but not his usual body attack. He was all over Carlos’ head.
At the end of round 3 Hatton had another cut, this time above the right eye.
Round 4 – For the first time the pace slowed down. Ricky and Carlos would get tangled up around the arms, elbows and shoulders. Carlos seemed tired and Ricky seemed as fresh and alive as he did at the opening bell. Hatton was landing the much harder and cleaner shots, but again not his usual body assault - he was all over Maussa’s head.
Ricky’s cuts were still bleeding, but they seemed to be holding up well. Nevertheless there was still a strong sense that the cuts could play a role in the outcome of this fight.
Rounds 5, 6 & 7 – These rounds were exciting and very similar in action and pace. Hatton was constantly coming in and throwing more left hooks upstairs and snapping out more sharp upper cuts than I’ve ever seen him throw before. His mission was Carlos’ face and head. Maussa would throw and land shots and then fluidly wind up in strange and awkward positions. Carlos would also start grabbing and holding more.
Hatton continued throwing and landing bombs. He was head hunting and powerfully connecting causing Carlos to wobble and hold on. At times it would seem Maussa was in serious trouble, but part of his charm is that he always seems in trouble and then out of nowhere he turns it on. He leads you to believe he’s hurt or in dire straights, but that’s his freakish gift. You can’t take it for granted that the blows to his head are actually affecting him as they would a normal fighter.
Ricky’s cuts throughout rounds 5, 6 and 7 were slightly bleeding, but not as dangerous an issue as had been felt earlier on. Hatton fans could breath a sigh of relief, as it seemed the cuts were under control.
Round 8 – Ricky was on the attack with the same relentless energy he had in round 1, Carlos seemed to be getting tired, but you can never tell with him. The exchanges were sloppy, but damage was being done. The dominant factor in this round was that Ricky kept slamming Carlos in the face and head with these enormous deep-impacting punches.
Round 9 – Maussa was on the body attack as Hatton hammered away at his dome. Ricky gets Carlos against the ropes and slowly floats up a whispering right hand, crouches down to avoid the incoming punch and violently uncoiling he explodes upwards with a beautiful left hook to Carlos’ face that collapses him to the canvas.
That’s it – it’s all over – Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton is the IBF and WBA Light Welterweight Champion of the world.
This isn’t just another typical win for Ricky. It’s not just another knockout.
This fight showcased that Ricky Hatton is more than just a one-punch fighter, is more than just a one-technique puncher – specifically – Ricky Hatton is more than just relentless left hooks to the body.
Mentally - Ricky remained calm once he was cut and stayed calm after being cut a second time. He was poised, balanced and unruffled as well as simultaneously being unyielding, unafraid and unrelenting.
Ricky demonstrated that he’s able to adjust to a given situation. He is able to change his game plan and adapt to whatever he is faced with.
Hatton could not get to Maussa’s body so he smartly adapted and began a very successful assault on Carlos’ skull and consistently throughout the night showed us some brutally harsh uppercuts.
I always thought of Hatton as a big hitter, but he accomplished something that no other fighter has been able to do when facing Carlos Maussa – Ricky Hatton knocked him out. No other fighter has ever done that. Maussa has never lost via the big KO
This is one of the reasons that Carlos is such a freakishly unique fighter. You could swing him by his feet and smash his head from ring post to ring post and he’ll shake it off instantly as if nothing happened. You could use his head as the mallet at one of those ‘Test Your Strength’ games at any carnival and he’ll just eerily shoot you over one of those sly smiles.
So the very fact that Ricky Hatton knocked out a guy that’s never been knocked out is impressive. What makes this even more remarkable though is that it’s “Sideshow” Carlos Maussa and that tells me that Hatton’s really packing much more power in those fists than I thought.
It was a great win for the Hitman – win number 40 and I believe the quality and caliber of this victory puts an exclamation point right next to that number 40. This conquest really punctuates where Ricky Hatton is at right now. What’s next then you ask.
I think Ricky should unify all the Light Welterweight belts and alphabet titles before chasing “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather - and before it becomes a major struggle to make the weight at 140 lbs.
I would love to see a Miguel Cotto fight, but not just yet… Next for Hatton?
In my head I hear Neil Diamond’s “America” – and I think that’s what Hatton will do next, he’ll come to America – by the way – this is the perfect end or credits music to this article so please feel free to hum along:
Everywhere around the world
They're coming to America
Every time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to America
Buster Paris can be reached at: bparis@talkingboxing.com - and always enjoys receiving your thoughts, comments and questions.
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