Around the time they we,re meant to fight hatton could have beat him only because cotto was struggling badly at the weight. Outside of that short time frame tho i think cotto would have won it. Some fight tho either way.
At the time I was a blind Hatton fan and would have backed him to win. Reality is that Cotto was the far better fighter however as pointed out, Cotto was struggling with the weight at 140lb, if Hatton timed it right then he could beat Cotto at 140lbs, but this would be in or around the Tyszu fight. Hatton ruined himself going upto 147lbs and ballooning in weight in between fights. Went from having an incredible engine to tiring down the stretch and clinching constantly.
Yeah as has been said, Cotto was struggling at 140 and looked a little vulnerable, when Hatton was firing. Aside from that window and also if the fight was up at 147, Cotto takes it.
Cotto. Far more to his skillset, and Ricky was too small to be as effective as margarito was with pressure. Cotto was a huge 140lbs. Used to come in near 160lbs
Cotto's straighter sharper punches should get there before Hatton's, most of the time. Cotto's left hook and uppercut should also match Hatton as his ideal range. Before he fought Tyszu he was 12-13 stone during the initial press conferances IIRC. He always seemed to baloon up and down, he could just get away with it better when he was younger. Trained like a maniac for Tyszu too. I think that was a bit of mountain top for him. Collazo seemed like a bad performance but I don't think it was. Ricky just always had issues with southpaws.
I remember around 2004 Hatton was signed to fight Kelson Pinto and it never happened for the WBO strap, then a few months later Pinto boxed Cotto instead and that’s when the rumours of Hatton–Cotto really started swirling. At that stage Cotto didn’t look the finished article at 140 either – he went life and death with Ricardo Torres and looked vulnerable at the weight. Hatton had beaten Tszyu by then and I actually think he beats that version of Cotto at 140, just on pressure, pace and making it messy. But anything after that, and especially up at welter, I think Miguel beats Ricky pretty comfortably. Would’ve been a cracking fight in Vegas circa 2004–05.
