Former British professional boxer Ricky Hatton was not happy with the exhibition between Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather. Like many purists of the sport, he dislikes the money-minded dealings of boxers.
In a post uploaded to his Instagram page, Ricky Hatton revealed his thoughts on the entire event and explained how it was a debacle for the entire sport and its fighters.
"WTF was all this about? What happened to the days where fighters would put there lives on the line to try be the best and at least fight the best. Now we have fighters calling out youtubers as that’s where the most money is these days due to the social media world we live in?"
The former champion held multiple titles in the light-welterweight and welterweight divisions. Ricky Hatton had a record of 45-3, and his three losses came against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, and Vyacheslav Senchenko. He retired after the Senchenko fight and is one of the greatest British boxers of all time.
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Hatton opined that exhibition matches between retired boxers like Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. were fine in the post. However, the fact that the greatest fighter of all time was doing it for Logan Paul's clout did not sit well with the retired pugilist.
Ricky Hatton believes that money is becoming more important than a legacy for fighters these days
Hatton continued and explained why he thought that the priorities had changed for a boxer these days. Like most boxing fans, Ricky Hatton also believed that this wasn't any good for the sport of boxing and showed his displeasure.
"Money is important that’s why we went from the amateurs and turned pro. But these days money seems more important than the legacy. Floyd and Logan, hey Everyman to there own. Good luck to both. My personal opinion that was s*** for boxing."
Several boxers like Andy Fowler showed their support on the post and agreed with what Ricky Hatton said. It is an indictment of the direction the sport is taking, and while this may be good for retired fighters and those at the pinnacle of the sport, it harms those who aren't there yet.
Then again, there are reasons to believe that the Paul brothers could be good for combat sports as a whole and could benefit the dying sport of boxing.
Also Read: "Just f***ing genius" - Joe Rogan reacts to Floyd Mayweather's boxing match against Logan Paul