Now, i'm one of Hatton's biggest fans. I think he could potentially beat PBF (actually, if I were honest, there were enough flaws in PBF's fight vs ODLH that if he fought like that again, I think Hatton would win well - if he fought as well as he did vs Baldo, different proposition) and would be 50:50 with Cotto. . Over the past few fights he had lost his footwork particularly and the handspeed looked a little off. whilst I don't think the footwork was at his very, very best, it was at least closing on that level that was head-and-shoulders above all his rivals. And handspeed was good. However, he used to have this wonderful, subtle defence. He got caught big vs Tzsyu once, arguably twice, because his headmovement took some of the power off the punches. he used to do this in all his fights, but since Collazo he doesn't use these subtle feints that were integral to his defence nearly so well. there were a few signs vs Castillo, but I still didn't feel it was anywhere near his best. and this would worry me vs an accurate puncher like PBF and a power puncher like Cotto. He's back though, and that was a good, good fight - particularly the competitive third round.
I think Hatton has had to be more smothering against higher level opponents. I don't think Hatton necessarily has a world class chin, but his smothering style takes a lot of starch off his opponents punches. Just like I don't think Floyd necessarily has a world class chin, he just uses his style to take away from his opponents' power. I've never seen either of them get caught with a whole lot of really clean punches from known kockout artists to test their chins.
Head movement is still a problem. So is wading straight in without a guard up or behind a jab. Against stationary or slow guys it's fine, because he's quick. But someone like Mayweather could easily overcome that.
I've seen him use a short distraction type of jab before to get inside. He even will feint the jab sometimes and slip in. He didn't do any of that against Castillo, but I think he knew from the start he didn't have to.
hmmm... you make a good point. i would like to see the Tszyu fight head movement back, though. i think it's the best defence for his aggressive style. still, for me the most important thing was the footwork, and that was somewhere near its best. That's as important to Ricky as Tyson's head movement was to him. Roll on PBF and Cotto. These need to happen - all three would go up in people's estimation if they fought, win lose or draw, provided it wasn't a complete demolition.
I doubt Mayweather would accept a Hatton fight. Mayweather likes to 'sit' on the ropes and invite body attacks off which he can counter. If he did this against such a furious body puncher like Hatton(or Cotto for that matter) he'd go the same way as Castillo
I just don't think he's that good. Hatton is a tough, strong bully type-fighter, but whenever he steps up in class he's gotta resort to jab&grab tactics. I think with a fair ref, Mallignacci beats him
