The general consensus among Hatton fans is that he would have either won or at least done better (maybe lasted the distance and dropped the decision) had the fight been at 140. My question is simply what are you basing that on? I am sure that the extra weight would have helped Hatton in the strength department and he didn't seem any slower or more sluggish in any way. People point to the Collazo fight and say that Hatton is not a true welter which is true but Floyd is FLoyd. Whether Floyd weighs 147 or 140 the day before the fight seems irrelevant to me. It's not that Hatton is a different fighter at 147 it's that the opponents are bigger and his main strength which is bullying guys around the ring is completly nullified by the bigger men.
Hatton is 5' 6", that's short for a welter. Weight classes are there for a reason. Not everyone can go up in weight and be effective. It's not rocket science. However, I think 140 is more Floyd's optimal weight so he would have done better against Hatton there as he would have been faster. Though, at 147 he did enjoy the advantage of being the bigger man.
first off, floyd outclassed hatton....and does it in any weight class.... hatton is genetically challenged, he is 5'6 like a previous poster said, is a very small welter.....but at jr. welter hatton is a very large 140 fighter, with his mass.....thats why ricky is a good 140 fighter but average at 147.
After the Collazo fight I generally thought that Hatton looked a lot more busier at 140 than 147…there was a noticeable bounce to him. But I think collazo was just an off night. About a 2 months ago I re-watched Mayweather v Hatton and have since changed my mind. Hatton looked very lively in the early to mid rounds and was very quick on his feet. What really amazed me about watching the fight again was floyd body language, Other than the jab that caught him off balance in the first he looked sooo relaxed throughout the fight, he really didnt have nothing to worry about. Rounds 4 through to round 7 was ricky allowed to fight inside but floyd defence and awkwardness rendered anything hatton tried pointless In conclusion yes 140 or 147 Hatton would have got beat the same way, (Collazo was an off night and Mayweather is out of this world)
I don't disagree with this one bit. You can use that explanation to say why Hatton was not succesfull at 147 but like you said in the second half of your post at 140 it would still be floyd that he is fighting. If he is truly bigger then he would still be bigger at 140. Just means he would have had to cut a few more punds for the weigh in but only been off by a pound or 2 on fight night. He arms wouldn't shrink and take away his reach advantage, he wouldn't shrink an inch our 2 in height. All the advantages that he had over Hatton at 147 he would still have at 140
The perfect time for Hatton would have been after the Tszyu fight. That was his prime. He still would have lost, but his mental level would have been raised. Swarmers dont usually have long careers.
What's funny is that at that time Floyd would have been considered the smaller man going into the fight.
Things is Mayweather had grown into a true welterweight by this time. He'd fought three fights at welter and one at junior middle, before coming back down. Therefore against a non-natural 147lber in Hatton, Floyd did enjoy a size/weight advantage in their fight. Could Mayweather have made 140 and been effective at that point in his career? We'll never know, but he knew Hatton didn't carry the weight as well as he did.
PBF would have beaten Hatton if it was at 154, 140 135 you name it. He's the superior boxer at the end of the day. In fact had it been at 140 when both were there in 2005 he woud have beaten much worse than he did at 147.
To me it wasn't the weight in the fight that hurt Hatton it was the ref. I don't think Hatton would've won but I can see him winning a few rounds and making the final bell.
