Ricky Hatton laughed during his Hall of Fame induction speech, marveling at where boxing had taken him and the thousands of fans who had always followed him.
– I’ve had a few wars, haven’t I? Hatton said on Sunday. “When I think back to the Kostya Tszyu fight, the Floyd Mayweather fight, the Manny Pacquiao fight and my hardest fight, my divorce.”
Michael Moorer took a more sedate tone, asking for safer conditions for boxers during and after their careers.
Hatton and Moorer, both two-weight champions, were the headline names at the 2024 International Boxing Hall of Fame Class induction ceremony at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, Novel York.
Moorer won the delicate heavyweight title in just his 12th professional fight and later moved up to become the first southpaw heavyweight champion. Given the size of today’s heavyweight fighters, who sometimes weigh over 250 pounds, with former champion Tyson Fury fighting over 270 pounds, Moorer called for the emergence of a super heavyweight division.
Moorer, who has a 52-4-1 record and 40 knockouts, said he has undergone 28 surgeries and has lost his sense of smell and taste. He said it was imperative for the bodies, managers and promoters sanctioning boxing to prioritize the welfare of fighters.
“The marks on a fighter’s body linger long after he hangs up his gloves,” Moorer said. “I am one of many retired players who have to deal with a long list of injuries without any significant insurance aid.”
Ivan Calderon and Diego Corrales, who died in 2007 two years after they defeated Jose Luis Castillo in the memorable 10th round in boxing’s “Fight of the Year,” were other major fighters in the category whose monument will be placed in the museum at the Canastota hall , Novel York.
Calderon, a two-division champion from Puerto Rico who still works with fighters there, noted the presence of the heads of three boxing organizations who were also from Latin America.
“So they are like a family here and I would like them to continue to work like a family for all these boxers,” Calderon said. “This is what we need. We need a family. Together we can do a lot.”
Women’s champions Jane Couch from Great Britain, who fought to allow women to box at home, and Ana Maria Torres from Mexico were selected from the up-to-date women’s category. The other competitors in this class were Luis Angel Firpo in the veteran category and Theresa Kibby in the women’s pioneer category.
Coach Kenny Adams, Jackie Kallen – the first manager appointed – long-time columnist Fred Sternburg, broadcaster Nick Charles and journalist Wallace Matthews completed the 13-person class. Matthews noted that he prefers boxing to the other sports he plays because of what the fighters endure.
“The code among boxers is, ‘We’ll fight until we can’t fight anymore,’ and there’s no other sport where that happens,” Matthews said. “There’s no timeout, there’s no tapping, there’s no relief pitcher, you don’t come off the ice to change an inning. That’s all. Once you’re there, you’re on the ship, you’re going to the end.”
It was quite a ride for Hatton, the Manchester, England fighter who upset Tszyu in 2005, who rose to the top of the junior welterweight division and lost high-profile welterweight fights in Las Vegas to Mayweather and Pacquiao. He recalled the thousands of his fans who flew in from Europe for those weeks – saying there were so many of them that the MGM Grand once ran out of beer – just as they had cheered him on at home.
Now they can see Hatton (45-3, 32 KO) hanging in the Hall of Fame, where he said he was moved to see that his plaque would hang twice as far away from Roberto Duran, the fighter who was his hero.
“I’ve always said my fan base is my greatest achievement ever,” Hatton said, “so it was great to spend the weekend with the fans.”
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