rios late KO. hatton never had a great chin.. hatton felt comfortable and fought well when he was the bully, roughing up his opponents.. its why he looked like **** against pacquiao, pac was more then happy to take 1 hatton punch for 3 of pacs rios would not be hurt by hattons punches and would answer back eventually grinding him down to a late KO no doubt it would be a GREAT SLUGFEST
Hatton by KO, Hatton is highly underated, had some white dude tell me the other day that he nothing more than a bar room brawler at his peak, wtf
People would be shocked to see just how far Hatton is above Rios as a fighter, if such a fantasy fight ever actually happened. A prime Hatton (which was not the Pac fight, or the Mayweather fight for that matter) would outclass Rios in almost every way possible. He would even outfight Rios on the inside, ripping him to the body, and beating him to the punch throughout the fight both inside and outside, until a warry and beat up Rios gets saved by the ref or his corner in the championship rounds. Rios might have his moments, but they would be few, and would be short lived. Hatton gets underrated for whatever reason, and Rios is one of the most overrated fighters of this generation. Hatton would beat him up and stop him late....
very good post and a post i agree with. Hatton get completely underrated, i didnt enjoy his style, but he was world class and lets not forget, that his only 2 meaningfull losses, a bit past his prime, was against the aboslute best 2 fighters of this generation. Rios gets overrated because he comes to fight and is a mexican brawler, but if we take a look at them as figters, hatton comes out on top in nearly every department. The chin thing some might mention, is just as laughable. Pac has laid out and hurt guys who were or now are jmw. Floyd has done hte exact same thing. So calling hattons whiskers shaky - in his prime- is imo far fetched. Rios´ iron chin thing, comes from fighting smaller guys at 135. Now he is at 140, he isnt as strong. Alvarado is an okay puncher, but not in the league of may or pac, but he was clearly able to hurt rios several times. With that in mind, I´d actually call hattons chin slightly better and more proven, when it comes to fighting at 140 or above.
I think Hatton would be too fast for Rios IMO. He'd probably dominate every round against Rios with quick in and out movement and not letting Rios stop to throw back.
Of the two Rios is the Open Book, you know exactly what is going to confront you, not very fast, not very varied, not very educated - pressure, Hatton, at his best had a versatility within the "Pressure Fighter" Pidgeon-holing, its intersting to see what Mike Alvarado achieved with a bit of Tight-Circle angling of his attack, or responses, instead of moving back in a straight line, I just can not see Rios doing much with a Hatton who Angled the very Dangerous Juan Urango beautifully, until the effect of a chest cold started to take effect, earlier it was Ben Tackie who found Hatton hard to pin down, of course if Ricky comes at Brandon like he did Kostya Tzyu, i would expect his inside Shoulder work and Rag-Dolling, to be a prelude to his more precise inside fighting skills. the Educated Pressure that Brandon just does not have, when Ricky took out JL Castillo with that beautifully placed body shot, the move was initiated with a little unappreciated "Dummy Shot" to the head, Ricky's Scissor-step in-out footwork, Balance, and general Rhythm method attack boxing..would i feel contain a bit too much class for Brandon, and as good as his chin is...and as strong as his will is...a Billy Graham led ambitious Hitman Hatton would i feel have that bit too much Class in Boxing...in Fighting..and those patented Ripping left hooks to the body would eventually be responsible for Sinking Brandon... You can not keep walking through the cream of the crop face first...the cracks will become fissures...
Sure, if Hatton stood stock-still with his feet cemented to the mat and Rios was given free whacks he would probably knock Hatton out cold. That isn't how it would play out, though. Styles make 'em, remember. This doesn't boil down to anything so black and white as "both are brawlers, it would be rock'em sock'em robots and Rios has the better chin and power so..." Hatton would leap in, slap at Rios's sides, and cling to him like PVDC. Rios has never shown anywhere near the intelligence or adaptability to suggest he could neutralize this smothering/body-whittling attack before the clock ran out (or Hatton caused him to finally go to a knee or even a ten-count from damage piled onto his organs...far more realistic to envision than Rios' chin failing him)
Hatton almost went down in the Urango fight, Rios is too tough.. an old and past it Castillo was catching Hatton with everything unti he got caught with that bodyshot, Rios would bully the bully, rip him to shreds and stop a bloody Hatton in the mid-late rounds
