collazo: hatton....hatton to cream collazo

www.eastsideboxing.com

10.06.06 - By David Douse: I am hoping for Luis Collazo’s sake that Saturday night will see Luis in the best and strongest condition he has ever been in, as, without doubt, he is going to have questions asked of him by relentless Ricky Hatton that may never have been asked of him before. At least not with the same brutal rib cracking intensity that the Hitman will bring to Banknorth Garden the way he does to all his fights.

Collazo is a classy boxer who is well able to fire excellent combinations and function well as a clever counter puncher, but come Saturday I believe those assets will not be sufficient to save Luis from the buzz saw pressure that Hatton will put on him. Frankly, I just don’t think that he has the kind of firepower that will disturb Hatton more than a tiny tad. Let us not for one moment deny Collazo his skills, but that boxing ability is never what this fight is going to be about; the real question here is ‘’who is the tougher man?’’ and of that I have no doubt. Sorry Luis, but I think you’re in for a rough night..

Despite Collazo’s immediate height and reach advantages, and that he is a natural 147 pounder, I still feel that although Hatton is moving up a division the strength and power advantages will definitely be with the Hitman. Perhaps more easily than most pundits would predict, I am backing Hatton to first walk Luis down and then blast through him from round seven or eight on to take a belt in a second division.

On pure boxing ability, and a southpaw stance which might take Hatton a little time to figure, I would fancy Collazo to be competitive for the first two or three rounds, with perhaps not much on the scorecards. Hatton, however, is always nothing but business from the word go and Luis is going to find himself on the backfoot from minute one of this fight with no chance to use his height and reach to dominate from the centre or set the pace in the way he likes to. From here on it is going to be the Hitman doing his thing, grinding forward, not minding what he has to take to get inside, and brutalizing Collazo’s body with those savage left hooks and uppercuts to bring down the hands, break the heart, and demolish all resistance.

Although Collazo has twelve KO’s to his credit there is nothing in his record to suggest that he has the power to seriously hurt a man of Ricky Hatton’s proven durability, whereas the one loss Collazo has suffered was by knockout. Admittedly that was in the blistering Las Vegas heat in an outdoor match, which was probably not the best of conditions in which to fight, but I think the blowtorch Hatton will put to him will be unpleasantly reminiscent of that occasion against Edwin Cassiani.

In his taking of the title from Kostya Tszyu Hatton didn’t seem to have any trouble absorbing what Kostya had to offer, even if Tszyu was not at his best on that night. Tszyu is a man who can most definitely hit big time. That being the case I fail to see that Collazo can hit Ricky with anything that will cause much more than a ripple on the pond, and so it simply comes down to how long Luis can last against the relentless aggression and power of Hatton’s throwback style.

Hatton does need to be careful to avoid head clashes as he does have a habit of getting cut, with the scar tissue to prove it, but so far this particular vulnerability has not seriously inconvenienced him, but only spurred him on to further heights of ferocity.

Sorry again Luis, but actually I meant a really rough night.

CC,good read and somevalid points too.

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Originally Posted by The Game

CC,good read and somevalid points too.

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clicked you back...

hatton will beat collazo, but a tricky fight nonetheless....i envisage a tricky opening stanza but hatton will begin to assert his will as the rounds go on....

hatton 8th round stoppage...

I agree,maybe a few rounds to get used to the style but Collazo has NEVER faced anyone of Hatton's level,does not have the power to hurt him and there is just waaaaay to much at stake for Ricky to fail. I just hope he impresses all those watching.