50/50 in my eyes. Marquez was past his best at 140 (in the Bradley fight imo) I'll take Hatton on points in a great fight. But Marquez could definitely pot shot his way to victory against Ricky's none moving head
Hatton is one of the all time overrated fighters....it does help him that 140 is a bit of a mediocre division historically, with too many fighters just passing through the division on their way up to 147, or smaller fighters moving up from lightweight that don't really belong there. I think Pryor was the gold standard of 140, but I'll be honest, outside of Arguello I cant name one opponents from Pryors record. JMMs problem would be his size however....he was a true lightweight who had to resort to drinking his own urine or allegedly taking steroids later in his career to hang at the higher weight.... And when you really break it down, JMM is still best known for the Pac fights at the higher weights, which I think were more of a favorable style matchup than his dominance at higher weights. Still i think Hatton gets him at 140, as long as he mauls and fouls his way to victory like he did against Tyzu
With a competent referee Marquez wins. It would probably be a less aesthetically pleasing version of the first Diaz fight.
Juan Manuel Marquez picks him apart. It would look a lot like his fights with Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis
Hatton wins this one. Marquez had his hands full with Diaz at 135- a smaller, less talented, less powerful version of Hatton. I dont see Marquez beating many top guys at 140.
Honestly think Marquez wins with something to spare. Yeah, 140 suits Hatton more than Marquez. But whatever margin of advantage Hatton has in weight / size is more than eclipsed and offset here by the margin of superiority Marquez has in talent, skill and ring IQ. I remember before Hatton fought Pacquiao, his whole pre-fight shtick (and much of his fans') was about how he'd be too big for Manny. No talk of skills or tactics, just "I'm a natural Light-Welter, Manny's the smaller guy, never faced anyone as strong as me, I'll push him around" etc. etc. In the end, Hatton being 'too big' for Pacquiao didn't matter half as much as Pacquiao being too good for Hatton. Marquez is a very different fighter to Pacquiao, but I'd bet that even at 140 he hits hard enough to give Hatton issues. Ricky's chin wasn't as trusty as some say. Eamonn Magee had him down in round one and shaken up again in two; Laczano had him on unsteady legs. On both occasions referees bought him a vital few seconds recovery time. He's the only guy Mayweather ever stopped north of 140, the Ortiz farce aside (I point blank refuse to acknowledge the McGregor freakshow). We've seen what tends to beat Marquez - movement, good footwork, someone who doesn't play to his counter punching routine. I really don't see any of these qualities in Hatton. On the other hand Marquez flourished against come-forward guys of Hatton's ilk. And though Marquez in theory might be a little undersized as a Welterweight, he was never beaten inside-schedule there. So no reason to think he's automatically too small to be effective at 140 against the right kind of opponent...And I think Hatton is definitely the right kind of opponent. I see an even fight for a few rounds before Marquez takes control and has Ricky's code cracked. Around 2008-09 especially I'd have had him taking Hatton apart and stopping him late at 140.
Try to be mature in your opinions then. Juan Diaz was largely a hype creation. He was touted because he was a nice kid, college kid, ect. He was very well protected from the top lightweights of the time (Corrales, Castillo, Casamayor). His signature win was over a faded Frietas. Now, I dunno about you, but I'd say that a win over a faded Tszyu means a HELLUVA lot more than a win over a faded Frietas. Hatton also dominated Paulie, who TWICE outclassed Diaz. There's no comparison. Hatton was far better than Diaz.
You tell me what's more respectable - get taken apart by a prime Floyd, or getting taken apart by a past prime Nate Campbell?
