5 fights that made Ricky Hatton one of the biggest legends in British boxing history

Kostya Tszyu

The biggest and best win of Ricky Hatton’s career came against Kostya Tszyu in June 2025.

It was the first time Manchester’s favorite fighter got the chance to fight for a world title.

Tszyu was regarded as one of the best boxers on the planet after capturing the IBF and The Ring light-welterweight titles and beating the likes of Zab Judah and Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.

Amazingly, Hatton made the heavy favorite quit on his stool 11 rounds into their world title clash.

Tszyu never fought again, while Hatton went on to establish his legacy with more big fights.

Luis Collazo

After adding a third light welterweight world title to his collection by beating Carlos Maussa, Hatton moved up a division to face Luis Collazo.

They squared off for the WBA welterweight belt at the TD Garden in Boston on May 13, 2006.

Hatton scored an early knockdown before eking out a decision in the toughest fight of his career.

“That was my toughest fight,” Hatton told talkSPORT of the fight that made him a two-weight champion.

“I’m 5ft 6in. I’m not tall for junior welterweight. So, to move up to welterweight… Billy Graham, my trainer, said, ‘No, don’t do it, Rick. Don’t do it.’ But I wanted to do what my heroes had done. I wanted to try to become a world champion in two weight divisions.”

Floyd Mayweather

Hatton moved back down to 140lbs and picked up two more wins to secure a massive fight.

The 43-0 British fan favorite travelled to Las Vegas to face 38-0 Floyd Mayweather in December 2007.

‘Money’ was in his fighting peak and widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet.

More than 30,000 Hatton fans descended on Sin City to watch him try to score another monumental upset.

Mayweather had some problems dealing with Hatton early, but he ultimately scored a 10th-round stoppage win in a fight many fans look back at as one of the best performances of his legendary 50-0 career.

Paulie Malignaggi

The final win of Hatton’s career saw him beat a future two-weight world champion.

Paulie Malignaggi vacated his IBF light welterweight title before fighting Hatton in November 2008.

The IBO and The Ring belts were still up for grabs when Hatton TKO’d Malignaggi in round 11.

Hatton won every round and wobbled his opponent several times before the towel was thrown in.

It was a fight that proved Hatton was still one of the very best 140lb fighters after his Mayweather loss.

Manny Pacquiao

Hatton’s career as a top fighter came to a devastating end against Manny Pacquiao in May 2009.

The 45-1 Brit bravely stepped up to face ‘Pac-Man’ at the height of his Hall of Fame career.

In doing so, he delivered another huge event for his legion of fans to get extremely excited about.

Pacquiao, unfortunately, was too good when they clashed at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Hatton was wiped out by Pacquiao, who scored a sickening faceplant KO inside two rounds.

Three years later, Hatton returned to face former world champion Vyacheslav Senchenko, who had recently lost his welterweight world title to Malignaggi.

Hatton looked a shadow of his former self and suffered a body shot KO loss to Senchenko in November 2012.

It proved to be the last time we saw Hatton in the ring as a professional fighter, but he went on to enjoy a glittering coaching career to further cement his legacy as one of the greatest boxing legends England has ever produced.