I've always been somewhat interested in discussing rankings in boxings "newer" sub-weight classes. Super middle, junior welterweight, so on and so forth. More room for interpretation than some of the other weight classes that have already been discussed already ad infinitum Though I deplore how Hatton's promoters squandered so much time (Hatton's time really) fighting so many 40ish year old shot fighters without much left to give, he also accomplished plenty and has good names on his record. Though his career doesn't have much in the terms of longevity. I've heard heard it said about other fighters, and I suppose it applies here as well.... he burned brightly but briefly before going out all together. Anyway, in this forums opinion does his body of work place him in the top ten, or even top 5 all time at 140, one of boxing's oddball divisions? Love to hear some original and informative discussion here.
Hatton was a very good fighter. But he is definitely not in the top 10 best Junior Welterweights of All Time. Probably not top 20. Although he beat Kostya Tszyu, the version he beat was 36 years old, and Tszyu never fought again. Prime for prime, Tszyu starches Hatton for the full 10 count. So do a number of other fighters at this weight (Chavez, Pryor, etc.)
Hatton's career appeared to stall between 2003-4. I'm not sure if the scare against Magee made them wary, but there were a series of marking time fights with the WBU title being promoted as being something of value rather than a transitional trinket. There weren't too many viable options at the time to be fair. Tsyzu was on the shelf and Mitchell was busy earning a rematch to their inconclusive first fight. Gatti and Mayweather were building towards a big money showdown, and Hatton-Cotto was never going to happen at that point in their careers. Harris would have been the obvious step up, and Hatton would probably have won impressively. I'm not sure it would ultimately have made much difference to his actual resume though. Was Harris much better than some of the second tier names on Hatton's record? Hatton deserves a lot of credit for the Tszyu win. While Kostya was aging and clearly past his physical prime, he was coming off an impressive win in the rematch with Mitchell and was far from shot. There's a big drop-off after that though. Castillo didn't do much of note after the Corrales fights, and the likes of Urango, Malignaggi and Maussa were always going to lose to the top guys. Hatton's lifestyle and personal issues seemed to have caught up with him by the time of the Pacquiao fight; I doubt even a prime Hatton beats that 140 version of Pacquiao, but he would surely have gone in better prepared with some kind of game plan. 140 is a difficult division to rank due to how it has often been used as a transition from lightweight to welterweight, and many of the best fighters didn't stick around too long. In terms of resume, there isn't huge depth once you go past the top 5 or so, and there is an argument you could squeeze Hatton into the lower reaches of the top 10. One big win and half a dozen solid ones is pretty tight at 140. If you start to consider H2H though, it's a completely different story.
Those 3 are arguably all top 5 jww's of all time though. Are there 17 others who you'd place above Hatton, based on their achievements and abilities at 140?
By the way, would you mind scraping together a top ten if you have the time? Love to see whom you consider the very best at the weight.
3 at Jr. Welter that unfortunately can't be consider due to leaping Divisions. Duran, Jose Napoles, Henry Armstrong.
Chavez, Pryor, Benitez, Cervantes, Canzoneri, Barney Ross, Carlos Ortiz, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pernell Whitaker, Oscar De La Hoya, Eddie Perkins, Juan Coggi, Frankie Randall, Kostya Tszyu, Meldrick Taylor, Duilio Loi, Niccolino Locche, Pacquiao, Camacho, Cotto. And it looks like both Terrance Crawford and Danny Garcia have a good chance of establishing a better legacy than Hatton. I would definitely pick Crawford to beat Hatton head to head.
Missed your response. Was just trying to keep the discussion going and understand your position a bit more. I'm undecided re: some of the names you posted but agree that the vast majority of them would beat Hatton h2h and/or have better legacies.
That's cool. Just checking with you. About the only one on my list that I think Hatton might beat is Juan Coggi. But, on paper, Coggi has a slightly better resume. And, if the fight was in Argentina, no way Hatton gets a fair shake.
