Matthew Hilton - How good (and hyped?) was he?

He definitely got mileage out of those wins but he was a legit puncher with some skills kind of a lesser Sibson...he had the power he could fight but I think he was a little hyped but he was a short time top guy....the Hiltons were tough guys but a little undisciplined for that level the power and ability was there but kind of wild they had a tendency to self destruct

 

His signature win was definitely the Buster Drayton fight. That was an all out 15 round war and Drayton was a tough, solid guy. Of course, Drayton is probably best known for getting iced in style by Julian Jackson... when Jackson infamously pointed down to the canvas as soon as he landed that hook.

The Benitez KO was violent, despite the fact that Will was totally shot. It goes without saying however, that prime Benitez would have beaten Hilton easily.

Hilton also brutally beat up and stopped a totally shot Antuofermo. But just like Benitez, that's a fight Matt would have lost if Vito was in his prime.

Matt Hilton was fun to watch, and was a legitimately big puncher. I'd liken him to a better version of David Lemieux, but as the above poster correctly stated, a lesser version of Tony Sibson.

Besides power, he had a solid chin, but the problem was... he was incredibly easy to hit, he only fought in spurts (suspect stamina), and he was totally one dimensional.

Robert Hines exposed all his weaknesses in what was another brutal war. After the Hines loss, he was never the same.

Doug Dewitt then beat him up pretty bad in yet another war, then he was effectively done. Following the Hilton win, Doug DeWitt was totally destroyed by Nigel Benn, in probably Benn's best performance.

Oddly enough, as he was coming up the ranks, Canelo reminded me a lot of a young Hilton, but Canelo has clearly proven himself to be in a different league than Hilton was.

I think the mythical matchup many often contemplate with Hilton is him versus a young Tony Ayala. Two young, powerful bulls who peaked at 20-21. Ayala was definitely more skilled and talented, but he might not have had the toughness of Hilton.

 

He was very good for a short period of time.

He was the first guy to drop Benitez for a 10 count. Benitez was fading but sill competent.

The Drayton win for the title was a great win. Buster was a good fighter and a decent champion.

Hilton had a myriad of out of the ring problems that seemed to catch up to him.

He started having to cut huge amounts of weight to make 154 lbs.

He was a shell stamina wise when he lost to the mediocre Robert Hines and lost his title in late '88.

He had Hines hurt badly early but couldn't finish him, then gassed badly.

After that, he moved up to 160 lbs. but looked past prime.

Basically, he peaked at 22 yrs. old

 

I thought he was very good and had a great left hook.. Dangerous punch.

 

Was talk of a fight with Benn before the Dewitt fight in Canada for big bucks .Lucky for Hilton it didn't happen he would of been destroyed .

 

LOL. Nice sarcasm.

 

Davey Hilton's story is even worse than Matthew's. Davey was probably the most talented of the Hilton bros. He was a rising Welterweight around 1985 and then went off the rails due to personal problems. He was never as good again but somehow did win the WBC Super MIddleweight title over an overweight South African Dingaan Thobela who was a natural Lightweight. Then, Hilton went to jail for raping his daughter!!

 

You should ask to get these threads HIGHLIGHTED as they bring back great memories of fights forgotten/gone by.

Pretty sure I have a few of his on tape, will look watch and let you know.