Stop judging Hatton on the Collazo fight

Too many people here are writing off Hatton's chances against Floyd based on the performance he put up against Collazo. OK it wasn't a great performance, I seem to remember scoring it close, 114-113, for Collazo, but seriously if your judging Hatton solely on that then your foolish, if not downright ignorant. Hatton still won, didn't he! I mean, it was close and hard but he won!

Everyone here saying that Hatton will lose coz all Mayweather has to do is step-off and counter, ala Collazo, are being stupid. For a start even if he did do that it'd still be a close fight, just like Collazo - Hatton was. Even though Hatton was getting countered stupid he had enough sheer determination and aggressive instincts to hurt Collazo and win rounds. If the Mayweather fight goes the same way then regardless of the result it'll be the hardest fight of Floyd's career, coz no-one (maybe Castillo) has run Floyd as close as Hatton did Collazo.

Secondly, judging him based entirely on Collazo and Urango is stupid. They're two poor performances. Against Collazo he fought a guy too big and too slick, he didn't prepare properly and he paid the price. Against Urango he totally outboxed him, won the first 6 rounds easily and then went into cynical survival mode and clinched and spoiled for the rest of the fight.

Ricky Hatton is a better boxer than some people here seem to realize. I think its a minority of ignorant, mainly american, boxing fans who've only seem him against Kostya Tszyu, Luiz Collazo, Juan Urango and Jose Castillo who say this. The Tszyu, Collazo and Urango fights contain more clinching and spoiling than just about any other Hatton fights. Against Tszyu it was perfect tactics and it won him the title, against Collazo it was out of desperation and survival and against Urango it was out of cynicism.

There are many other Hatton fights though which exhibit his boxing skills, where he barely clinches, where he shows other things. Yet people are saying that he just clinches, that he's one-dimensional, etc. All that does is show up their lack of knowledge, anyone who's really seen Hatton's career knows better. And they also know that Hatton has a great chance against Mayweather too.

 

Not quite mate.

Urango was nowhere near Ricky's level of talent, infact Hatton looked like Sugar Ray Robinson in the first few rounds. He wrestled and hugged because he was tired and had the fight in the bag, he didn't want to risk it against a big puncher and played it safe and boring.

Collazo seemed slick because he IS slick. He has fast hands and good skills. Just because Sugar Shane was slicker doesnt mean Collazo didn't have skills. Luiz Collazo will be back I have no doubt.

Against Kostya Tszyu he used lots of rough-hose tactics, and it worked. Thats called intelligent tactics, fighting to your strengths. The same tactics wont work against Floyd, because Floyd is very different to Tszyu. But people who think that he cant do anything BUT fight rough are mistaken, anyone who thinks he'll come out and try use the same gameplan against Floyd are mistaken, anyone who thinks he's that one-dimensional and crude are just way off the mark. Just remember, Hatton didn't win that Kostya Tsyzu fight only because he used rough-tactics, he outboxed Kostya too, he was quicker and consistently beat Tszyu to the jab all night. Yet people only talk about the referee! In-fighting is an art, it takes a skilled boxer to be able to do it.

Ricky Hatton is an excellent pure boxer. You cant get as far as he's got in this sport without being skilled. He's legit world class and his skills deserve more respect. He has good variation, fast hands, incredible footwork and a talent for in-fighting. He has short arms and is small in stature, so he fights to his strengths, which means getting up close and personal, but anyone here who thinks that he does that to compensate for a lack of skill is very badly mistaken. I think that only those who saw his career from the early days know this.

Your right though, the fight will bear no resemblence to the Collazo fight.

 

I've seen a few of Collazo's pre-Hatton fights and he's not a brawler. He throws sweet combinations, lots of punches, and loves to trade but its not mindless brawling. If he had real KO power he'd be a force to be reckoned with. He gets into brawls, but thats only coz he hasn't got the power to keep guys off him. He doesn't fight wild like Hatton or Duran.

And Hatton can box. He truly outboxed Urango, he outboxed Tackie, he absolutely outclassed Ray Oliveira and Mike Stewart using mainly boxing, he worked out the puzzle that is Carloz Maussa, he boxed excellent against Eamonn Magee who is cagey as hell. I'm not saying that he's Floyd Mayweather or Roy Jones, I'm just amazed at the idea that some people think he could've gotten this far without having more to his arsenal than just hook n hold. Any fighter that one dimensional gets exposed LONG BEFORE beating Kostya Tszyu.

It amazes me, there are people on here who know their fighting and I give 'em respect, but when it comes to Hatton all people can see is holding and a left-hook to the body. Hatton can do way more than that. He uses good footwork and angles to find shots on the inside that other fighters couldn't, getting yourself into the position to fire those hard left-hooks to the body takes more skill than just hooking and holding. He has a good jab for someone with such short arms, and he uses it well, finishing off combo's with the jab before making darting sidewides movements to get out of range. These are all just as important in his arsenal as the rough stuff, but it never gets a mention.

I dont deny that Hatton holds and mauls, its part of his game. But he does it well within the rules of the fight, and not only that he uses it to apply pressure and make his opponents untidy and disorganised. Even when he's in close quarters he's throwing punches and working away. He's not like John Ruiz, who really did used to hold and clinch because of a lack of talent. Ruiz used to cling on for dear life, Hatton throws punches up close. Ruiz didn't.

It wont have too much impact on the Mayweather fight. I personally dont see Floyd staying in front of Hatton long enough for him to hold, he's too mobile. Hatton will be cleaner with his work than most of his recent fights, he'll be more accurate and not wasting shots. Against Castillo he went right-up to Jose coz that the kind of fight that Castillo is, but Floyd is the polar opposite. Hatton will pressure Floyd by constantly coming forward and throwing punches, not by grabbing him and pushing him around.