I was watching Hilton vs Drayton and some other early Hilton bouts and was really impressed with the way Hilton really dug in his bodyshots-he threw them like he was trying to break his opponent in half.Its a shame Hiltons career went the way it did because for a short time he was a very powerful well conditioned champion-he should never have gone into the Hines bout injured the way he was.
He wasn't a very educated body puncher, but he had big power in general. His left hook was deadly. As for Titan's post...of the two, Tony Ayala was a lot more skilled... but I don't think he had as good a chin as Hilton and that might have been the difference. But it's also possible Ayala's better technique and skill-set would have been the difference. A 50-50 fight. Duran would have taken Hilton apart pretty easily. FAR too good and skilled for the crude Hilton.
Hilton's best performance was against Benitez. One of the all time brutal KO's and hard to watch as a Benitez fan. Prime Will would have done a number on Hilton though.
Hilton was very good but extremely well matched. He was very impressive against the underrated Drayton. Buster was still near his best form but Matthew was too much. I think Matthew got lax after that and had weight problems which affected his performances.
Years ago Doug Dewitt was interviewed and they asked him who was the strongest puncher he ever faced. He said Hilton hands down. If Matthew would have been disciplined he would have gone alot further . He let his weight get out of hand on alot of occasions but he had some power and he had a good chin .
