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Granted I always Floyd would pick him apart however. I'm not sure how many of you have watched Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson? Everytime Tyson came in Holyfield would defend against his initial punches than hug Tyson, and from the hug he would hit Tyson off the clinch. Also Ali was a great fighter, and part of his game, especially when he came back was to hold. Hatton was fighting a guy who looks, and was extremely strong.
Have you seen Ali fight? haha Or did you even watch this Hatton fight? hehQuote:
Originally Posted by Taeth
You and just about 90% of fans never have seen 3 FULL Ali fight in your life!
To say a statement like that, I HAVE to make an assumption such as that.
You don't know Ali.
Cause he DIDN'T perform to the best of his abilities.
Or do you think thats the best that he can do?
I like your style, use their own arguments against them, clever :coolclick: :)Quote:
Originally Posted by CutMeMicK
Are you kidding me? You don't shit about how many fights I've seen of Ali's... I've downloaded 28 of his fights just a few weeks, and just RECENTLY watched all of them so if anything due to the proximity, and quantity of his fights I've just seen I know more about him than you do, and yes during the rope-a-dope portion of his career he would hold alot or when he couldn't get away in his younger years... he was actually very good at doing it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gyrokai
I think he was getting hit by Urango, and this was the best way to preserve his win. I think Hatton worked hard this fight and performed to the best of his abilities that could this night... I see a fight differently than some for example Mayweather-Baldomir I think Mayweather performed to the best of his abilities, and him only getting hit 12% of the time is a indication of that while others say that if he is so dominant why didn't he open up and destroy a guy, but I thought they were crazy because for one Mayweather's hand was hurt, and for two he knew that Baldomir didn't even flinch while getting by two harder punchers just previous of him. From the Hatton fights I've seen when he is against a tough opponent he likes to hold more like against Tszyu or even Collazo he would was able to tie Collazo sometimes, but Collazo started retreating and counter punching which caused him alot of problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by CutMeMicK
I think its part of the Expectation vs actual result
He said he wanted a "Massive" performance
to take the USA by storm and turn the Vegas fans into a mob of "blue moon singing" Manchesterites.
At that....he failed......miserably
Sorry man. I just won't stand for Hatton Ali comparisons, as to hugging.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taeth
That hugging was f*cking horrible, that Hatton did.
Sorry again.
I'm sorry to I wasn't meaning to compare Hatton's skill level to Ali's... I was just making a comment that hugging as annoying as it is, is in fact a beneficial tool to pressure fighters. anyways CC to you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gyrokai
Smart fighters( such as Ali, mostly after his comeback) would hold in between punching and use it momentarily simply to negate the other fighter from working on the inside.. With Hatton it's completely different.. You just said yourself that hugging is a beneficial tool to pressure fighters, well, sure, but Ali wasn't a pressure fighter, was he? Hatton's supposed to be at his BEST on the inside.. If Hatton were far better at fighting from the outside then sure his clinching would help him when Urango got inside... But what the hell is the point of working inside, then just holding on if that's where you can do your best offensive work? With Hatton on saturday, he wasn't even punching in the last 4 rounds.. His holding was not a strategy to allow him to get his punches off and move in and out, his SOLE intention, was to hold on and last the rounds. Not win them. It's black and white the way Ali would use clinching and the way hatton did on saturday.
Every fighter performs to the best of his ability at any given time, it depends on who and whats in front of him.
I don't think hatton has half the skill of Ali.....hatton was holding to hold...Ali used it as a part of his repertoire.
The fighting part Hatton did was good. The hugging part that Hatton did, bored the sh@t out of fans. If he didn't hug a lot then nobody would be criticizing. It is because of the excessive hugging, that Hatton is criticized. Other than that he fought a good fight. I had no complaints other than the one i just mentioned.
I think agaist Urango it wasn't a good call, but it saved him against Tszyu IMO... if he had foughten at the distance against a good boxer he would be screwed.
Maybe it was Hatton's plan to wear down Urango from the outside for the first 5 rounds then step in close and finish him off in the mid to late rounds. His plan didn't work out but he adjusted to it as best as he could. His corner probably told him to hold because they saw the damage being done to him on the inside. I think Hatton probably underestimated Urango in looking past the fight to his expected clash with Castillo. I think Urango earned his respect with the body punches and Hatton tried to negate that strength from Urango's repertoire by holding. I agree with Taeth that Hatton could have fought it out on the inside and still won but he was calculating his risks. He did give the fans an exciting first 5 rounds. It was good strategy but not crowd pleasing the way he held at the end. I'm not complaining because that is part of boxing. I think a better example than PBF's boxing clinics is Arturo Gatti. I don't remember anyone complaining when Gatti danced around, and stuck and moved against Mickey Ward in the 3rd fight or in other fights where he was outgunned. If a fighter has to cut out some action in order to win when they have a history of entertaining fans maybe we should let it slide. Anyways he earned my respect from the Tszyu fight and I see him as beating Castillo when they meet.
I'd like to respond to the vast array of criticism leveled at hatton by a lot of people over his last two fights. I dont wanna be all divisive and trying getting into sides, instead I'd just like to say a few things we can all agree on.
Firstly Ricky been mixing it in world class for the last 3-4 years. The accusations that have appeared stating Hatton takes soft options and easy fights are stupid and badly thought out. Sure back in the day he met a few journeymen, but for every Joe Hutchinson and Carlos Vilches on his record there's tough guys like Ray Oliveira, Ben Tackie, Eamon Magee and Vince Philips, men who were world class champions in their prime and who always come to fight. You don't fluke your way past guys of that quality unless you have some class, and we must all surely agree that Hatton has class. These accusations have been around Ricky for a long time, but remember the guy dumped frank warren and his WBU bollocks, went to America, and then took on three world champions in a row at two different weights winning against all three. Name one british fighter bar lennox who's done that? Naz? Benn?
Then there's people who deny him respect by saying that Kostya Tszyu was old, past his best, rusty and that he caught him on the slide. Age may have played a factor in it, but give the credit to Ricky for walking through Kostya's biggests bombs and forcing a stoppage! Kostya Tszyu was one of the best champions of the 1990's, he defended his title numerous times, all this revisionism about how good Kostya was is pathetic. Kostya was a goddamn bonfide all-time-great, end of story.
Hatton fans should acknowledge that he's had difficulty in his last two fights, and that he needs to stay in better shape between fights, because every Hatton fan felt queasy watching the last few rounds of the Collazo fight. Aganst Urango he was obviously in some sort of distress, luckily he was fighting a strong-but-limited opponent and he could ride out the storm by clinching, but there is no way he was looking comfortable. Admit it. go on, its good for you.
Finally Junior F****** Witter. Firstly let me say Witter is a fine boxer with great skills. I'm a fan of the Ingle style of training/fighting and Witter is one of the best examples of that style. Its not always edge-of-your-seat stuff but I get a kick out of seeing it. Witter used to knock people out, he went through a stage of being more aggressive, but he's gone from fighting like Naz to fighting like Johnny Nelson. Both his best victories, N'dou and Corley, were boring fights. And that guy he fought last was S*** but he didn't even dispose of him well. Face it, Junior might have a belt now but there's no way he's in Hatton's league. Junior fights in school gyms on saturday nights in south yorkshire for $20k against S*** unknown fighters and Hatton has just co-headlined in Vegas with Jose Luis Castillo on PPV. Hatton is a superior fighter through and through. Witter couldn't stand the workrate and aggression that Hatton brings to a fight, coz Witter fights a slow pace and takes little rests all the time. I dont think Witter is any better than Collazo was, I alsothink Eamonn Magee in his day was a better fighter than Witter. They both managed to give Hatton trouble, but were beaten on points by superior boxing. Witter would be no different in my opinion.
There are also a lot of other fights out there for Hatton that would be much more competetive than a Junior Witter fight. Floyd Mayweather would be an intriguing bouts coz he is one of the only men out there who could pose Floyd trouble. Floyd starts a big favourite but I think Hatton will win good against Castillo and maybe then people with re-think that. Miguel Cotto is also a fighter I'd love to see fight Hatton because it has war written all over it. Cotto has looked better than Hatton has recently but I still think of this as a 50/50. Then there are guys like Acelino Freitas, Demtrius Hopkins, Juan Diaz, Juan Lazcano who would stand a better chance against Hatton than Witter would. Hatton just doesnt need Witter, after all the years of baiting and trying to annoy Hatton into the ring Witter has got nowhere and I'd find it highly amusing if Hatton just froze him out forever, ruining his big payday.
I wish people would be more chilled and just enjoy watching a young world champion prove himself rather than get all partisan and fanboyish over fighters. When people boo Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather for fighting smart I think serious questions need to be asked about boxing fans and what they expect from a fight. just pure bloodust? go watch UFC. Just coz fighters aren'y always going for it like Gatti and Ward doesn't mean there's nothing there to enjoy