So you watched a guy fight Meldrick Taylor and Roger Mayweather (both of his fights are on youtube) and saw him hold his own with both of them and concluded that he wasn't on a world class level? How did that happen? Hatton to me hasn't done anything that's better than holding his own with a prime Roger Mayweather and a young though still advanced Meldrick Taylor.
I saw Brazier fight live on TV as far back as '85 against Joey Ruiz. I also saw the Taylor and Mayweather fights. I didn't think the Taylor fight was too competitive, what I saw was a young Taylor outwork Brazier. Brazier blocked alot of punches with good defense but was made to concentrate more on defense than offense because of Taylor's speed. I wouldn't say he nullified it. Against Mayweather, Harold fought in spurts. This was partly due to Mayweather's long reach and speed. Harold just couldn't do much from long range. He was effective when he could get inside, which wasn't often. I like Harold alot, and usually rooted for him in his fights. I loved seeing the blue-collar underdog upset the "house" favorite, which he did quite often. But the guys he beat in his prime were fringe contender types who were themselves overhyped like "White Lighting" Brown, Baronet, a faded Robin Blake. I also think Hatton was a bit over-hyped as well, and did beat a faded version of Tzyu. But from seeing both Brazier and Hatton fight many times, I think Ricky is too fast for him, and gets on the inside and outhustles Harold for the decision.
I tend to focus on punches landed rather than punches thrown. With that in mind, I didn't think there was much in it. In some respects, it was like a lesser version of Don Curry vs. Marlon Starling. A lot of people that see that fight (talking particularly about the second) tend to think that Curry won it easy, but if you look closely at what was and what wasn't landing, you can see the fight being much closer and contested. Seriously, after seeing that fight, I don't think Brazier has anything to worry about at all in terms of speed in facing Hatton. I'd say his cautiousness was more out of respect for Mayweather's power. Again, not something I think he has to worry about against a grinder like Hatton. If Hatton wins the fight, it will be due more to physical strength than it will to speed imo. I don't see speed being a factor at all really. Workrate might come into it as well, though personally, I'm not convinced that he'll make Harold clam up like Roger Mayweather did or Meldrick Taylor (though Brazier was still quite active in the latter). Brazier will see many holes in Hatton's game, which by the midway point I expect him to exploit.