^^^^^ It's amusing how little credit Hatton gets, and how much support Cotto gets. In general. Reality has nothing to do with any of it.
At their peaks, I think it would have been competitive and likely produced the fight of the year (unless it occured in 2005). Take Cotto from the Bailey or Pinto fight and Hatton from the Phillips or Oliveira fights and you'd likely have one of the better fights of this decade . Though I think the stylistic advantage would favor Cotto. Generally pressure fighters give him the most trouble. But I think with Hatton's reckless aggression, his susceptibility to cutting, and Cotto's shorter, more compact punches..Hatton gets stopped on body shots or TKO'd on cuts. Only version of Hatton I'd favor over Cotto at 140 is the version who fought Malignaggi in 2006.
Heres a prediction and writeup I wrote in 2005 predicting a fight b/w the two. This content is protected
Cotto wasnt as good at 140 as he became at 147. He was also wobbled there pretty bad by torres. If they fought when Cotto was at 140 I would pick Hatton to win, he was more proven then and Hatton was at his peak at that time while Cotto hadnt reached his peak yet. I am surprised so many people are picking Cotto by KO when at the time Hatton always had a solid chin. I think people are forgetting what the scene was like about 4-5 years ago.
I dont mean to nitpick but some people continue to say Tzsyu landed bombs in that fight when he did not. He landed some decent shots but never connected full force on the button. Anyhow the Cotto before he started to struggle to make 140 would hurt Hatton. Remember how Ben Tackie forced Hatton to box and not brawl. The Cotto that struggled to make 140 would have a rough not with a prime Hatton. At 147 Cotto hands down even now. Cotto has only lost to pac at 145 and Marg no shame in that.
I like how people are picking Hatton. Cotto may not have had the same durability as at 147, but he wasn't knocked down, was he? But I don't know why I even bothered to mention that, when Hatton... well, take it like this. Hatton did have the power to KO Floyd, did have the power to KO Pacq, but you see, when fighting opposition 2 classes above your level, it's a bit different. Hatton has some frantic British support. I remember the build up to the Mayweather fight... Hatton this Hatton that. After the schooling he got, Hatton should retire and stuff like that. Then came the Pacq fight, Hatton this Hatton that... (Pacq's no Mayweather) then... When will people learn. Just read this lol http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120551 It's absurd how overrated Hatton was and still is. He's good, not great. Get over it.
:huh... :think... :huh... :think... Well, I guess you can say that. There's a difference in This content is protected and This content is protected . Especially when you're Cotto at MSG... But in any event, you're right about Cotto pre-weight problems and Cotto post-weight problems.
Great fighters sometimes get their ass whooped Joe louis vs schmeling 1 hagler vs hearns holyfield vs tyson pac vs morales 2 &3 get my point and yes i consider Cotto a great fighter
Yeah but the only difference is when you get your ass whoopped, you should come away with an "L", unlike Cotto against Clottey.
Hattons wins by chokeslam if it's n England. Out of England I'm picking Cotto to take this in a tough competitive highly entertaining fight.