Hatton Collazo post fight Presser

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Fresh off of capturing the third world championship of his career, the new WBA welterweight champion, Ricky "Hitman" Hatton (41-0, 30 KOs) and the former champion, Luis Collazo (26-2, 12 KOs) took part in a post fight press conference for the media in attendance at the TD Bank North Garden, in Boston, MA on Saturday night. Neither fighter was at a loss for words, including their promoters, Arthur Pelullo of Banner Promotions representing Ricky Hatton, and Don King representing Luis Collazo.

Luis Collazo arrived to the podium first and stated to the media in attendance. "I would like to thank him (Ricky) for giving me the opportunity. I would love the chance for a rematch. He could not deal with my power as he was holding on the whole time. Well when the referee said break and he threw at the same time."

Collazo continued to recall being knocked down in the first round by saying, "Before the fight, the referee had a chance to visit the locker room. He said that I want a clean fight, and when I say break, take two steps back. He said break and Ricky stepped in and threw the punch. I don't know if he stepped on my foot or knocked me down, but whatever it was, it gave me a ten to eight round. I believe in the 12th round that I had him hurt and it should have been a 10-8 round."

"I am a warrior. It comes down to blood and glory. It is about whoever wants it most. If I have to bleed then I have to bleed, to come out with the victory, but I think I did that tonight," said Collazo.

A member of the media asked Collazo if there were things that he thought he could have done differently in the fight. Collazo responded by saying, "I could have boxed a little more, but I have to stand my ground, or otherwise the judges would have really taken me out of the fight. I believe that I came out victorious today, but the people know who really won the fight."

Collazo was then asked if Hatton's style caused him any problems during the fight. He responded by saying, "When he got inside and he was holding, I thought he was going to throw more combinations, but I thought that I kept my distance. After a while I was keeping my distance and jabbing him, and throwing combinations, and he could not do anything. I believe that he did not do enough to win. I still feel that I am the champion and he is the challenger."

"I knew that he was aggressive and a dirty fighter," said Collazo about Hatton. Collazo continued, "There were a lot of things that he did that he should not have gotten away with, but that's alright, I will be back."

Luis Collazo was then asked to give some examples of Hatton fighting dirty. Collazo responded by saying, "Pushing my head down, and coming in with his head. Those are the things that Ricky does. Like I said if he is a man of his word, then we can do a rematch and I will take care of it then. He should go back down to 140 pounds because I believe if he gives me a rematch, I will knock him out."

When asked if Collazo would fight a rematch against Ricky Hatton in Hatton's hometown of Manchester, England, Collazo stated, "We can go to Manchester. I am not worried about that. I believe that if he is a man of his word, he will give me a rematch."

Ricky Hatton's promoter, Arthur Pelullo responded to Collazo's statement by saying, "If Ricky Hatton wants a rematch, and then there will be a rematch."

Luis Collazo's promoter, Don King was then asked about his thoughts on the fight. King stated to the media, "They never thought that our guy would be in the fight, so he was in the fight, and it proved to be a great fight."

Collazo was then asked about the referee of his fight tonight, John Zablocki from Massachusetts, who also refereed last week's WBA super-welterweight title fight between Jose Antonio Rivera and Alejandro Garcia. "Last week he did a hell of a job. Where is he from, Massachusetts? Where is Rivera from," said Collazo?

He was then asked about if he thought the referee was too inexperienced to handle a fight like this. Collazo responded by saying, "He sounded fair in the locker room, but every referee sounds fair in the locker room."

Arthur Pelullo then read the Compubox stats from the fight to the media in attendance, in a sense to prove that Hatton won the fight, and that Collazo was treated fairly in the bout. Pelullo stated, "I just found my Compubox stats. I am sorry. I just thought you would like to know. Total punches thrown, Collazo 712, Hatton 741. Total punches connected, Collazo 213, Hatton 259. Connection Percentage for Collazo was 30 percent, Hatton 35. I am just reading the numbers for you."

There was a short delay in waiting for Ricky Hatton to arrive at the press conference.

The promoters then had a war of words as Arthur Pelullo and Don King argued about the assignment of the officials in the fight. Pelullo stated, "Concerning the officials for the fight tonight, I have an official letter from the WBA that was faxed to me, that these were the officials for the fight." Don King responded by saying, "Now, now, I have to challenge you. What they did is they did not have any judges, so Nick (Manzello, president of the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission,) in his own inevitable wisdom, appointed some judges and said, here write these names down. They did not appoint official judges. I am going to protest to the WBA, and whatever in their infinite wisdom they decide."

Arthur Pelullo then responded to King's comments, "First of all, you have a mastery of the English language that I do not have. Luis Collazo is a great fighter, he was the welterweight champion. Ricky Hatton went up to welterweight. Everybody knows about the legal battles going on in the 140 pound division. This title was available. He was available to fight. Collazo was a great champion and it was a great fight. I would have no problems with a rematch, Ricky Hatton won the fight. The outcome was the outcome and I thought that Hatton won the fight clearly."

Don King then retorted by saying, "It was great but the rematch is going to be even better."

The new WBA welterweight champion, Ricky Hatton arrived to the podium with his left eye swollen from his highly competitive fight with Collazo. Collazo's camp immediately started shouting for a rematch. Hatton stated in response, "Well sure as soon as my left eye is better. It was a great fight tonight. I don't think anybody deserves as much credit as Luis Collazo does tonight, and he showed what he is all about. Sometimes when you are a champion you have to fight the best, and be the best. This is my third world title fight in consecutive fights. In moving up in weight, I think I showed what I am all about."

A member of the media asked Ricky if he thought if this was the toughest fight of his career, Hatton responded by saying, "Yeah I would say so, I mean this was my first fight at this new weight. I think he showed his toughness tonight. He was moving well and throwing punches at me pretty well. Whenever you move up in weight and your first fight is against a world champion, you can expect that it is going to be a very difficult fight."

When asked by the media who he would like to fight next, Ricky Hatton responded by saying, "I will fight anybody out there, and I approve of a rematch with Luis."

In regards to being hurt by Collazo in the 12th round Hatton stated, "It wasn't just the 12th round, he hurt me several times in the fight. He hits a lot harder. I still believe that I am a junior welterweight and I moved up to welterweight. I did notice the difference. He hit me several times. He hit me and hurt me in the last round and I was able to stay close, smother him, and keep my wits about me."

Ricky Hatton summarized his performance tonight by saying, "I think I went a full twelve rounds and it wasn't about the decision, but I definitely feel that I won the fight. The fight was a fantastic fight. Everybody asks me before the fight, to predict a victory, and I never make a prediction, because being a professional at this level, you cannot ever take any opponent for granted. It was a big, big night for me, my first fight in the United States, moving up a weight division, and fighting in my first fight at this new weight division for a world title."

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Originally Posted by P.G.H Angel Eyes

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Fresh off of capturing the third world championship of his career, the new WBA welterweight champion, Ricky "Hitman" Hatton (41-0, 30 KOs) and the former champion, Luis Collazo (26-2, 12 KOs) took part in a post fight press conference for the media in attendance at the TD Bank North Garden, in Boston, MA on Saturday night. Neither fighter was at a loss for words, including their promoters, Arthur Pelullo of Banner Promotions representing Ricky Hatton, and Don King representing Luis Collazo.

Luis Collazo arrived to the podium first and stated to the media in attendance. "I would like to thank him (Ricky) for giving me the opportunity. I would love the chance for a rematch. He could not deal with my power as he was holding on the whole time. Well when the referee said break and he threw at the same time."

Collazo continued to recall being knocked down in the first round by saying, "Before the fight, the referee had a chance to visit the locker room. He said that I want a clean fight, and when I say break, take two steps back. He said break and Ricky stepped in and threw the punch. I don't know if he stepped on my foot or knocked me down, but whatever it was, it gave me a ten to eight round. I believe in the 12th round that I had him hurt and it should have been a 10-8 round."

"I am a warrior. It comes down to blood and glory. It is about whoever wants it most. If I have to bleed then I have to bleed, to come out with the victory, but I think I did that tonight," said Collazo.

A member of the media asked Collazo if there were things that he thought he could have done differently in the fight. Collazo responded by saying, "I could have boxed a little more, but I have to stand my ground, or otherwise the judges would have really taken me out of the fight. I believe that I came out victorious today, but the people know who really won the fight."

Collazo was then asked if Hatton's style caused him any problems during the fight. He responded by saying, "When he got inside and he was holding, I thought he was going to throw more combinations, but I thought that I kept my distance. After a while I was keeping my distance and jabbing him, and throwing combinations, and he could not do anything. I believe that he did not do enough to win. I still feel that I am the champion and he is the challenger."

"I knew that he was aggressive and a dirty fighter," said Collazo about Hatton. Collazo continued, "There were a lot of things that he did that he should not have gotten away with, but that's alright, I will be back."

Luis Collazo was then asked to give some examples of Hatton fighting dirty. Collazo responded by saying, "Pushing my head down, and coming in with his head. Those are the things that Ricky does. Like I said if he is a man of his word, then we can do a rematch and I will take care of it then. He should go back down to 140 pounds because I believe if he gives me a rematch, I will knock him out."

When asked if Collazo would fight a rematch against Ricky Hatton in Hatton's hometown of Manchester, England, Collazo stated, "We can go to Manchester. I am not worried about that. I believe that if he is a man of his word, he will give me a rematch."

Ricky Hatton's promoter, Arthur Pelullo responded to Collazo's statement by saying, "If Ricky Hatton wants a rematch, and then there will be a rematch."

Luis Collazo's promoter, Don King was then asked about his thoughts on the fight. King stated to the media, "They never thought that our guy would be in the fight, so he was in the fight, and it proved to be a great fight."

Collazo was then asked about the referee of his fight tonight, John Zablocki from Massachusetts, who also refereed last week's WBA super-welterweight title fight between Jose Antonio Rivera and Alejandro Garcia. "Last week he did a hell of a job. Where is he from, Massachusetts? Where is Rivera from," said Collazo?

He was then asked about if he thought the referee was too inexperienced to handle a fight like this. Collazo responded by saying, "He sounded fair in the locker room, but every referee sounds fair in the locker room."

Arthur Pelullo then read the Compubox stats from the fight to the media in attendance, in a sense to prove that Hatton won the fight, and that Collazo was treated fairly in the bout. Pelullo stated, "I just found my Compubox stats. I am sorry. I just thought you would like to know. Total punches thrown, Collazo 712, Hatton 741. Total punches connected, Collazo 213, Hatton 259. Connection Percentage for Collazo was 30 percent, Hatton 35. I am just reading the numbers for you."

There was a short delay in waiting for Ricky Hatton to arrive at the press conference.

The promoters then had a war of words as Arthur Pelullo and Don King argued about the assignment of the officials in the fight. Pelullo stated, "Concerning the officials for the fight tonight, I have an official letter from the WBA that was faxed to me, that these were the officials for the fight." Don King responded by saying, "Now, now, I have to challenge you. What they did is they did not have any judges, so Nick (Manzello, president of the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission,) in his own inevitable wisdom, appointed some judges and said, here write these names down. They did not appoint official judges. I am going to protest to the WBA, and whatever in their infinite wisdom they decide."

Arthur Pelullo then responded to King's comments, "First of all, you have a mastery of the English language that I do not have. Luis Collazo is a great fighter, he was the welterweight champion. Ricky Hatton went up to welterweight. Everybody knows about the legal battles going on in the 140 pound division. This title was available. He was available to fight. Collazo was a great champion and it was a great fight. I would have no problems with a rematch, Ricky Hatton won the fight. The outcome was the outcome and I thought that Hatton won the fight clearly."

Don King then retorted by saying, "It was great but the rematch is going to be even better."

The new WBA welterweight champion, Ricky Hatton arrived to the podium with his left eye swollen from his highly competitive fight with Collazo. Collazo's camp immediately started shouting for a rematch. Hatton stated in response, "Well sure as soon as my left eye is better. It was a great fight tonight. I don't think anybody deserves as much credit as Luis Collazo does tonight, and he showed what he is all about. Sometimes when you are a champion you have to fight the best, and be the best. This is my third world title fight in consecutive fights. In moving up in weight, I think I showed what I am all about."

A member of the media asked Ricky if he thought if this was the toughest fight of his career, Hatton responded by saying, "Yeah I would say so, I mean this was my first fight at this new weight. I think he showed his toughness tonight. He was moving well and throwing punches at me pretty well. Whenever you move up in weight and your first fight is against a world champion, you can expect that it is going to be a very difficult fight."

When asked by the media who he would like to fight next, Ricky Hatton responded by saying, "I will fight anybody out there, and I approve of a rematch with Luis."

In regards to being hurt by Collazo in the 12th round Hatton stated, "It wasn't just the 12th round, he hurt me several times in the fight. He hits a lot harder. I still believe that I am a junior welterweight and I moved up to welterweight. I did notice the difference. He hit me several times. He hit me and hurt me in the last round and I was able to stay close, smother him, and keep my wits about me."

Ricky Hatton summarized his performance tonight by saying, "I think I went a full twelve rounds and it wasn't about the decision, but I definitely feel that I won the fight. The fight was a fantastic fight. Everybody asks me before the fight, to predict a victory, and I never make a prediction, because being a professional at this level, you cannot ever take any opponent for granted. It was a big, big night for me, my first fight in the United States, moving up a weight division, and fighting in my first fight at this new weight division for a world title."

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if the rematch occurs Hatton might pick me up as a fan.....only if a rematch occurs...he seems to be quite a stand up guy and was pretrty honest in saying Collazo hurt him.....that takes bullocks....cudos to him for it...but Collazo still won that fight.......

Hatton is an honest likeable down to earth type of foghter,in the Tszyu mould,very humble and likeable. Mancunain charm. CC for the pics.Hatton looks slightly..well,mashed up!

I'll be surprised if there's a rematch...very very very very very very very very super dooper fantasically surprised if there's a rematch....

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Originally Posted by JonesJrMayweather

I'll be surprised if there's a rematch...very very very very very very very very super dooper fantasically surprised if there's a rematch....

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Why is that?

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Originally Posted by SecondRoundKO

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Originally Posted by JonesJrMayweather

I'll be surprised if there's a rematch...very very very very very very very very super dooper fantasically surprised if there's a rematch....

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Why is that?

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i think hatton won, so there is no real need for a rematch, it should only go ahead if hatton has doubts himself and wants to silence any critisism...

Might as well have a rematch...Hatton can fight MUCH better than how he fought that night. Collazo was right he had reason to expect Ricky to throw more combos when he got on the inside....Ricky could have banged him out of there had he picked his shots better.

Collazo is definantly gonna make more money because of this fight though so you can't feel THAT bad for the guy. Maybe he can fix those teeth...geez, which one is from England again HAHAHAHAHAHA

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by SecondRoundKO

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Originally Posted by JonesJrMayweather

I'll be surprised if there's a rematch...very very very very very very very very super dooper fantasically surprised if there's a rematch....

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Why is that?

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i think hatton won, so there is no real need for a rematch, it should only go ahead if hatton has doubts himself and wants to silence any critisism...

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I'd be surprised because hatton himself said that he was hurt several times... I think there's not much he can do stylistically to change what he would do in a second fight ...collazo can come prepared to box for 12 rounds and stay on the outside...and beat hatton up until the bull wears down and possibly knock him out...This fight was closer than Castillo-PBF first fight..and PBF gave him a rematch...Hattton won't do the same..if he does great, but i doubt it..and i 'd hatton winning 7-5 with the extra point for the knockdown..

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Originally Posted by Lyle

Might as well have a rematch...Hatton can fight MUCH better than how he fought that night. Collazo was right he had reason to expect Ricky to throw more combos when he got on the inside....Ricky could have banged him out of there had he picked his shots better.

Collazo is definantly gonna make more money because of this fight though so you can't feel THAT bad for the guy. Maybe he can fix those teeth...geez, which one is from England again HAHAHAHAHAHA

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if there is to be a rematch i hope hatton can do his homework more thoroughly and this time manage to have a few ideas for when collazo starts to move and use his jab. seriously, hatton looked listless in those middle rounds. very infuriating. little side to side movement, no head movement and no serious attempts at slipping the jab with any purpose. when ricky got inside, instead of pounding away to the body, he would just hold....frustrating.

hatton can be much better than that and if it happens again he must be focussed solely on collazo. forget any mayweather dreams, just beat collazo as badly as you can, make a statement....

and lyle, you're right Collazo should probably fix teeth....hattons teeth are a shining example of how far british dentistry has come...

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Originally Posted by JonesJrMayweather

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by SecondRoundKO

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Originally Posted by JonesJrMayweather

I'll be surprised if there's a rematch...very very very very very very very very super dooper fantasically surprised if there's a rematch....

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Why is that?

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i think hatton won, so there is no real need for a rematch, it should only go ahead if hatton has doubts himself and wants to silence any critisism...

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I'd be surprised because hatton himself said that he was hurt several times... I think there's not much he can do stylistically to change what he would do in a second fight ...collazo can come prepared to box for 12 rounds and stay on the outside...and beat hatton up until the bull wears down and possibly knock him out...This fight was closer than Castillo-PBF first fight..and PBF gave him a rematch...Hattton won't do the same..if he does great, but i doubt it..and i 'd hatton winning 7-5 with the extra point for the knockdown..

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i had ricky stealing it by 1 point...

Like I have said before Hatton's biggest flaw was he didn't do enough work on the inside...those body punches would end up either hurting Collazo or making him drop his hands either way Hatton would have been able to win more convincingly.

Collazo didn't do anything special, it's what Hatton DIDN'T do that made the fight that close

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Originally Posted by Lyle

Like I have said before Hatton's biggest flaw was he didn't do enough work on the inside...those body punches would end up either hurting Collazo or making him drop his hands either way Hatton would have been able to win more convincingly.

Collazo didn't do anything special, it's what Hatton DIDN'T do that made the fight that close

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agreed. i fighter with hattons style has no excuses for not pounding to the body at every given opportunity...

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by Lyle

Might as well have a rematch...Hatton can fight MUCH better than how he fought that night. Collazo was right he had reason to expect Ricky to throw more combos when he got on the inside....Ricky could have banged him out of there had he picked his shots better.

Collazo is definantly gonna make more money because of this fight though so you can't feel THAT bad for the guy. Maybe he can fix those teeth...geez, which one is from England again HAHAHAHAHAHA

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if there is to be a rematch i hope hatton can do his homework more thoroughly and this time manage to have a few ideas for when collazo starts to move and use his jab. seriously, hatton looked listless in those middle rounds. very infuriating. little side to side movement, no head movement and no serious attempts at slipping the jab with any purpose. when ricky got inside, instead of pounding away to the body, he would just hold....frustrating.

hatton can be much better than that and if it happens again he must be focussed solely on collazo. forget any mayweather dreams, just beat collazo as badly as you can, make a statement....

and lyle, you're right Collazo should probably fix teeth....hattons teeth are a shining example of how far british dentistry has come...

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DAMN!! his grill was pretty jacked up, even his teeth were like yellow and gray, his breath must be BANGIN!!!!!!

They were all crooked and out of place too...like a bunch of old tombstones!

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Originally Posted by Lyle

They were all crooked and out of place too...like a bunch of old tombstones!

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the good thing is during the fight we are hidden from such abominations through the wonder of the mouth guard....but when that final bell rings, the gnashers are unleashed to the bewilderment and astonishment of all....

very remarkable teeth....

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by Lyle

Like I have said before Hatton's biggest flaw was he didn't do enough work on the inside...those body punches would end up either hurting Collazo or making him drop his hands either way Hatton would have been able to win more convincingly.

Collazo didn't do anything special, it's what Hatton DIDN'T do that made the fight that close

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agreed. i fighter with hattons style has no excuses for not pounding to the body at every given opportunity...

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Thats because after the 4th round he just shot in and grabbed because he was worried about Collazo's flurries. Asevident to the time he DIDN'T hold when he threw in the 12th, see what happened ;)

I don't think he was scared of Luis' power, I think he just didn't throw his punches short enough and it took too much stamina from him.

It wasn't about Luis' power it was about taking punches from him.

Wedll he took them...he still did enough to win Starr.

I don't think he did enough to TAKE the title from Collazo ;D And despite that I still had him losing.

How many rounds did he need to win Starr? I mean he also had that LEGIT knockdown...off balance or not, a knockdown is a knockdown, if that was Wlad everyone would be all over him for getting knocked down but all of a sudden it's Collazo and he's just not the kind of guy who gets knocked down

Hatton needed 6 to ensure a win and 5 which would have ensured a draw. last night I had him winning 4.

I had him winning 6...a case could be made for 5 or 7 though

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Originally Posted by Lyle

Like I have said before Hatton's biggest flaw was he didn't do enough work on the inside...those body punches would end up either hurting Collazo or making him drop his hands either way Hatton would have been able to win more convincingly.

Collazo didn't do anything special, it's what Hatton DIDN'T do that made the fight that close

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Nothing special. So I guess ricky came in the ring with his face looking beat up.And hattons biggest flaw was his lack of defense which he has been displaying for a while.I said after the tszyu fight that he needed better defense if he wanted to fight floyd and I feel the same way now and i've seen quite a few of his fights. The only thing that looked different about this fight is he didn't throw as many punches as usual. Which makes me think he didn't like what was coming back.Please don't discredit Collazo cause he gave your boy the hardest fight of his life and you know you didn't think it was possible.

Hatton is not "my boy" Cotto is more so than Ricky. I like Ricky though, he's a good fighter.

I'm not trying to discredit Luis, I just think he didn't do enough to keep his title. He definantly looked the best by far vs anyone else who has fought Ricky. By "nothing spectacular" I mean he didn't do ENOUGH...he fought Ricky's fight more than he should have. To win he needed to stay on the outside and use the jab, he did well in the clinches though because Ricky didn't do anything in close later on.

Ricky's body punches were enough to win the fight for him, that is what won it for him

Wait a minute.

Collazo didn't do enough to keep his title ??? Collazo did enough to TAKE the title ;D

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Originally Posted by Starr

Wait a minute.

Collazo didn't do enough to keep his title ??? Collazo did enough to TAKE the title ;D

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Collazo was the title holder princess

Thats my point ;)

So all Collazo had to do was NOT LOSE and he didn't do enough to NOT LOSE which is why Hatton won.

Collazo definantly didn't do enough to take the title

What I'm saying is that if Hatton was the champ Collazo did enough to take the title. Hatton did enough to defend it which isn't enough to win it