Thread: Who (Out of Hattons previous Opponents) had the fastest hands

Sorry if you thought this was a poll.

Just tryin to prep up and re-evaluate.
I think its time i had another look at this whole Hatton v Mayweather thing (you know, with it actually being for real this time n all that.)

Thought id start with Hatton and the obvious threat to him. Hand speed.
I wanna see him in action against speedsters... Just trying to think if he's been in with any true blurry handers

Any help guys?

Collazo and maybe pep spring to mind off te top of my head but there nothing close to floyd, im sure the sparring partners will reflect the speed elament tho

Originally Posted by gally

Collazo and maybe pep spring to mind off te top of my head but there nothing close to floyd, im sure the sparring partners will reflect the speed elament tho

Pep was already an old man when Hatton got to him, his speed diminished greatly, I would say Collazo was definately the fastest.

Mayweather made Pep look slow, that was back in lightweight, but just look at the De La Hoya fight, he was as quick as ever...its gonna be a long punishing night for Hatton....

Defintely Collazo.

Yes Collazo. Its a problem him not having much experience against the speedsters!

Tackie & Thaxton aren't what i would consider slow. But he hasn't faced anyone close to the speed of Floyd.

Collazo? Is that it?

Woooow


Thanks guys. Gonna have to rewatch that fight i guess.

After that, i'll be watching Mayweather/Chavez/Castillo

I wouldn actually say Collazo had incrediby quick hands. I think it appears that way as he strings together combonations very well and there's always a punch coming. I'd say a number of Hatton's early opponents such as Thaxton, Pep and maybe Olivares were among his fastest opponents.

Originally Posted by bzkfn

Tackie & Thaxton aren't what i would consider slow. But he hasn't faced anyone close to the speed of Floyd.

I always thought Tackie had decent speed as well.

Tackie was a clubersome oaf and Thaxton was rigid and pedestrian. It would take a puff on a rather large crack pipe to think otherwise. Eamonn Magee probably had the fastest hands of any Hatton opponent pre Collazo, and the hand speed caused Ricky plenty of problems.

While i agree with your evaluation of Tackie wholeheartedly, i have to say i don't concur in relation to your comments reagarding Thaxton and Magee.
Thaxton is a fighter of a decent caliber, not outstanding in any one area, but a well rounded boxer and at lightweight he still posesses potential.
As for Magee, i never found him to be incredibly quick, even at the pinnacle of his career (which no doubt was the Hatton fight.)
Pep did possess some speed although his stamina was greatly diminished by the time he encountered Ricky.

Magee was deceptively quick at lightwelter. much much quicker than Thaxton. If in doubt then view Magee v Thaxton. Thaxton telegraphed his shots throughout his career and threw roundhouse hooks that were easy to evade. Magee was very snappy with single shot counters and was a very under rated fighter. Magee was often lazy in bouts and could sometime appear languid, but when he decided to uncoil he did so with considerable velocity.

Magee's speed is very under-rated but i think your making it sound better than it actually was, Oktay Urkal handled him well enough.

Most impartial observes had Urkal winning the fight by a round. It was a very close fight and Urkal was on his bike for most of the night. Urkal has very fast hands, his straight right in particular, whilst lacking concussive power was delivered with blistering speed. With Magee being an out and out counter puncher he was always going to struggle away from home against a fella like Urkal.

Interestingly enough Urkal traded with and at times had Tyzu on the back foot in their encounter, if he had a bit more firepower then he could well have pulled off the upset. Urkal had a granite chin at light welter and on his day could prove a handful for anyone. A pressure fighter such as Hatton was in essence tailor made for Magee, had Magee trained more diligently then Hatton would probably of lost his O.

Magee was without question one of the sharpest punchers that Hatton faced pre Collazo, Tackie and Thaxton don't even come close. Urkal fared well against Magee because Eamonn was forced to press the action and make the fight. It really has no bearing on Hatton V Magee as stylistically they were poles apart. And Urkal had faster hands than magee but without the pop.