Hatton Late KO, If Malignaggi had some KO power I would go with him but Ricky all the way in this one. Haye Calzaghe, Calzaghe UD, Pavlik-Hopkins, Pavlik, easy UD, Hopkins will tire earlier and this time the ref won't let Hopkins spend half an hour pretending to be hurt. Taylor-Lacy, Taylor, UD Pac-ODLH Pac SD. Bit of a risky prediction but Pac just seems to get better and better whilst DLH gets worse so why not. Bute-Andrade, Bute UD.
i have said it from the day the fight was suggested. its a mix of mallignaggi being under rated, hatton being over rated, hatton being over the hill and the fact mayweather is completley the wrong trainer for ricky, and mallignaggi being completey the wrong sort of fighter for ricky. hatton will try and boxer one of the worlds best boxers, and be out classed in the first 4. he will revert back to type which will work for a round or so but then mallignaggi will just up the pace and start picking shots. Hatton will cut and the fight will go to scorecars will mallignaggi way ahead. (in my eyes that counts as a stoppage) mallignaggi is the best light welter hatton has faced, apart from kostya.
If Paulie didn't have his image and the NY Italian American heritage no one would give a **** about him and he'd be back in the pack with the rest of the (not so hot) contenders at 140. Based on what he's actually done, who he's beat and how he's beat them I'd say he's overrated, not underrated.
Interesting point Rob, but sorry I can't agree. Paulie has been very hittable in his last two fights, and seems to have slowed - now whether that was due to a lack of motivation I have no idea, but if that is true then I see your point of view. I stick to my original pick, Hatton brutal KO - I feel Paulie is grossly overrated, and is not on Ricky's level. Brave yes, skilful yes - but B- level for me.
only seen malliagnaggi a couple of times,and going off his last fight,hatton will knock him over,pick him up,cut his hair,then knock him out haye ko 7 calz UD hopkins SD taylor UD odlh KO 11 bute SD
I may well put my faith in Mayweather Sr that he has taught Ricky some skill in this short period. Maybe something novel like throwing a jab.
I think the head movement will return, but not a jab. Against a feather fister like Paulie, the jab isn't really necessary for Hatton's style. But sight of one would be nice - after all, it is hardly the worst jab is it? He looked pretty sharp in training, so fingers crossed..... Did anyone see the show last night, I saw about half..... He even has a couple of new jokes as well, and I don't recall him using the passport and babe jokes :good
A jab always makes a difference. For his style it should be a key element and he'd be far more effective defensively especially. It should distract his opponent and get him into range, instead of just wading through punches blindly. He could get cut off Malignaggi's type of punches, so just because he can't punch his way out of a greasy bag of chips it is still important to think about defence. Also its better to get into good habits. If he's thinking about De La Hoya especially he's going to get killed.
Good point - defence won't be as relevant in this fight as it would in future challenges, but may as well use this fight to get it right. It would also allow him to frustrate his opponent and make THEM reckless - allowing him to counter and get his own shots off easier and cleaner. Unless DLH slips plenty I simply cannot see Hatton winning, unless he is able to take Oscar's left hook out of the equation and wear DLH down - because his chin ain't good enough (DLH punches harder than Floyd - though not as accurate) and there is a HUGE size and reach advantage in DLH's favour.
There is such a danger of cuts against the ****** though. His punches have a quick slashing action to them. With Ricky's paper machet face it could look like a teenager who just burst all his zits if hes not careful.
Maybe...... Will he have Mick Williamson though? If he does I don't see too much of a problem, but if not.....
Yep, cuts are the only way I can see PM getting a stoppage, although Hatton hasn't had a bad cut in quite a while (since they shaved the bone down on his eyebrows?). I don't see the jab being big weapon for Hatton in this fight, if he's at the range to throw a jab too often then he's spending too much time at the wrong range and fighting Paulies fight.