Did Hatton beat anybody better than Lamont Peterson?

[BIG H]

Obviously Tszyu and Castillo were better than Peterson, but were any of Hatton's opponents (at the time he fought them) better than Peterson?

[Beanflicker]

It's a good question. Malignaggi was a very good fighter (albiet without any punching power) who had only lost the tough Cotto fight at that point. Collazo was also a very good fighter. Are they better than peterson? I don't know.

[captainanddew]

It's a good question. Malignaggi was a very good fighter (albiet without any punching power) who had only lost the tough Cotto fight at that point. Collazo was also a very good fighter. Are they better than peterson? I don't know.

Peterson is in his prime and a good fighter. Dougie Fisher of ringtv commented in his mailbag that if he personally did a P4P top 25 as he did when he was at Maxboxing, Peterson would have been in the top 25 prior to this fight.

[Memphis]

Obviously Tszyu and Castillo were better than Peterson, but were any of Hatton's opponents (at the time he fought them) better than Peterson?

Depends what your view of Kostya Tszyu is at the time, actually your opinion of Kostya Tszyu probably depends on your opinion of Ricky Hatton

Take Tszyu out of the equation and its a fat no, and theres nowt wrong with that. Peterson has proved that he belongs up there with the elite of the 140 division, Hatton proved that he was too good for the rest of the 140lb worlds best. It was when he started bumping heads with 'Great' fighters he came unstuck, and like I said, nowt wrong with that.

[BIG H]

Obviously Tszyu and Castillo were better than Peterson, but were any of Hatton's opponents (at the time he fought them) better than Peterson?

Depends what your view of Kostya Tszyu is at the time, actually your opinion of Kostya Tszyu probably depends on your opinion of Ricky Hatton

Take Tszyu out of the equation and its a fat no, and theres nowt wrong with that. Peterson has proved that he belongs up there with the elite of the 140 division, Hatton proved that he was too good for the rest of the 140lb worlds best. It was when he started bumping heads with 'Great' fighters he came unstuck, and like I said, nowt wrong with that.

It's a good point mate and my opinion (as I've bored people with for years ) is that Tszyu was by no means past it, he just didn't like Hatton's tactics and met Hatton on his very best night (by a mile)

[iamasadlittleboy]

Collazo? (I think thats the closest)

[p4pking]

Yea I'm not certain on this either, good question. I'd say Collazo was at least on par with Peterson at the time Hatton fought him... I will also say though, I think Hatton would have beaten Lamont Peterson quite handily on a good night for him. Feel Khan vs Hatton couldve gone either way, I'm more comfortable picking Hatton after the weekend though. Khan really needs to develop some kind of inside game.

[Hulk]

Peterson fought the fight of his life against Khan, but Jesus Christ people...

He was dominated by Victor Ortiz and given a very corrupt gift draw which I thought was an outrage at the time.

He was soundly defeated by Tim Bradley.

Hatton STOPPED Kostya Tzyu, Castillo, Carlos Maussa (who one on one I think could beat Peterson), Paulie Malinaggi, and decisioned Juan Urango and got a very close controversial win over Lou Collazo. I thought he lost that one.

Khan overlooked Peterson, and fought stupid, but yes Hatton beat a fair share better men that Peterson.

[piye]

I think Ricky was overrated sure he only lost to the best but he never fought other good fighters in the division such as witter, Zab, cotto you have to think he avoided a certain type of fighter as his style was not suited to them. If I only fought Floyd and lost and was 0 - 1 then me bragging about only losing to the best wouldn't hold much weight.

[Memphis]

You know the more that time passes the more I respect Hatton as a fighter. He's a bit like Froch for me, doesnt do anything particularly well but manages to be successfull.

For a guy that couldnt box too good, defended with his face which now apparntly housed an OK chin at best, couldnt punch too good the man did alright.

Did Hatton beat anybody better than Lamont Peterson? No, but then again Lamont Peterson is a world class fighter, to beat someone better than Lamont Peterson/world class you're treading into 'great' territory and not too many victories are picked up over great fighters unless your great yourself.

[Fenster]

You know the more that time passes the more I respect Hatton as a fighter. He's a bit like Froch for me, doesnt do anything particularly well but manages to be successfull.

For a guy that couldnt box too good, defended with his face which now apparntly housed an OK chin at best, couldnt punch too good the man did alright.

Did Hatton beat anybody better than Lamont Peterson? No, but then again Lamont Peterson is a world class fighter, to beat someone better than Lamont Peterson/world class you're treading into 'great' territory and not too many victories are picked up over great fighters unless your great yourself.

This is bang on.

Many fans can't seem to differentiate between proven world-class fighters (those that win titles and are independently top 10 ranked) and the the very elite/greats.

All of Hatton's opponents post Tsyzu were independently top 10 world ranked. They were all proven world-class winners. The two that beat him were GREATS.

Same as Peterson. He's lost once in 30 fights to the no.1 guy in the division. He's a proven world-class fighter at 140. There's no disgrace in losing a close fight to him.

[ono]

You know the more that time passes the more I respect Hatton as a fighter. He's a bit like Froch for me, doesnt do anything particularly well but manages to be successfull.

For a guy that couldnt box too good, defended with his face which now apparntly housed an OK chin at best, couldnt punch too good the man did alright.
Did Hatton beat anybody better than Lamont Peterson? No, but then again Lamont Peterson is a world class fighter, to beat someone better than Lamont Peterson/world class you're treading into 'great' territory and not too many victories are picked up over great fighters unless your great yourself.

He did have half decent boxing skills as shown against Urango, and at a lesser level, against Thaxton. I think when he moved up to world class level, he seemed quite cautious about getting hit, so he began holding a lot. He used to be a much 'cleaner' fighter, albeit it against lesser opposition. I don't know if the holding started because of the Tszyu fight and ultimately his success from doing so in that fight, but he never really showed his boxing skills at world level.

As for his defence, being honest, it wasn't great. Against fast, slick fighters it was really shown up. Against guys like Urango and Maussa is was fine, because neither were particularly good fighters. Against speed, he didn't have much of an answer - case in point: Collazo, Pacquiao and Mayweather.

His chin, at world level again, not brilliant, but not noticeably bad either. Just average. He got through the Tszyu fight but not allowing Tyszu to set himself to get any leverage on his shots. In any case, Tszyu didn't really land anything clean. He was rocked twice by Lazcano, out on his feet several times against Collazo (neither were big punchers), Knocked out quite badly by Mayweather and knocked out cold by Pacquiao, after being hurt pretty much everytime Pacquiao connected. I don't see how his chin can qualify for anything other than being just average. I don't even mean average in a negative sense. I just mean, it wasn't a great problem, but it wasn't a particular strength either, imo.

As for his power, apart from the Castillo bodyshot (which was excellent) and i suppose the Maussa KO, he never really shown it at world level. It wasn't noticeably any better or any worse than most other top ten contenders. Just good power, but nothing special.

His best two wins were without doubt against Tyszu and Castillo and in their primes, they were much better fighters than Peterson. But he didn't fight them in their primes. Infact, aside from Pacquiao and Mayweather, he fought probably only 4 prime world level fighters and those were....

Urango

Looked very good for the first 6 rounds, but then held for the last 6. Was suffering with illness during the fight so he just did what he had to to win.

Maussa

In truth, shouldn't be anywhere near being a world level fighter, but he beat Vivian Harris (another fighter who shouldn't have been anywhere near 'world level'. Great knockout glossed over quite a poor performance. Maybe too eager to impress, but didn't look great. Won every round mind.

Malignaggi

Looked really good against Paulie, but Paulie for some reason fought one handed. Still Hatton showed his boxing ability and this fight highlighted how good he was at closing the distance and not allowing Malignaggi to set himself.

Collazo

On a round by round basis, i had Hatton winning, but he struggled badly. He was on the verge of being knocked out a few times late on in the fight. Collazo is the only 1 out these 4 who i'd consider to be 'World Class' in terms of ability. The other 3 have to technically be considered 'World Class' because they were in and around the top 5-6 in the world in their division, but that says more about the depth of the division at the time than it does about their own abilities.

Are any of these fighters better than Peterson? Probably only Collazo. And Hatton looked terrible for the most part. So while on paper he has a win over a prime 'World Class' fighter, you couldn't conlusively gaugue how the win would compare to Khan beating Peterson (if that were to happen).

In any case, i think Khan and Hatton are probably on similar levels. I don't think Hatton would be as dominant in this 140lb division as he was whn he was in his prime. The division is stronger now and there are a few slick fighters who'd have given him trouble style wise. Khan included.

[Mattyhitman]

You know the more that time passes the more I respect Hatton as a fighter. He's a bit like Froch for me, doesnt do anything particularly well but manages to be successfull.

For a guy that couldnt box too good, defended with his face which now apparntly housed an OK chin at best, couldnt punch too good the man did alright.
Did Hatton beat anybody better than Lamont Peterson? No, but then again Lamont Peterson is a world class fighter, to beat someone better than Lamont Peterson/world class you're treading into 'great' territory and not too many victories are picked up over great fighters unless your great yourself.

He did have half decent boxing skills as shown against Urango, and at a lesser level, against Thaxton. I think when he moved up to world class level, he seemed quite cautious about getting hit, so he began holding a lot. He used to be a much 'cleaner' fighter, albeit it against lesser opposition. I don't know if the holding started because of the Tszyu fight and ultimately his success from doing so in that fight, but he never really showed his boxing skills at world level.

So the world class opponents ya referring to then is Floyd and Pacman, and these are the only two world class fighters he has ever faced in your opinion

Just trying to understand your argument thats all

[ono]

You know the more that time passes the more I respect Hatton as a fighter. He's a bit like Froch for me, doesnt do anything particularly well but manages to be successfull.

For a guy that couldnt box too good, defended with his face which now apparntly housed an OK chin at best, couldnt punch too good the man did alright.
Did Hatton beat anybody better than Lamont Peterson? No, but then again Lamont Peterson is a world class fighter, to beat someone better than Lamont Peterson/world class you're treading into 'great' territory and not too many victories are picked up over great fighters unless your great yourself.

He did have half decent boxing skills as shown against Urango, and at a lesser level, against Thaxton. I think when he moved up to world class level, he seemed quite cautious about getting hit, so he began holding a lot. He used to be a much 'cleaner' fighter, albeit it against lesser opposition. I don't know if the holding started because of the Tszyu fight and ultimately his success from doing so in that fight, but he never really showed his boxing skills at world level.

So the world class opponents ya referring to then is Floyd and Pacman, and these are the only two world class fighters he has ever faced in your opinion

Just trying to understand your argument thats all

No i think my full post demonstrates that 'world class level' pretty much started when he faced Tszyu and it finished the minute before he stepped in the ring with Juan Lazcano.

By definition, Urango, Collazo, Malignaggi, Maussa (yes i know) and the like are all 'world class' because they were either belt holders or they were in and around the top 3 or 4 in their division (maybe Paulie was slightly lower).

But this thread is a comparison thread, and out of the above, i'd only consider Collazo being as good (probably better) than Peterson.

I'd seperated Tszyu and Castillo because, although they were great wins, i was talking about the 'prime world class' fighters Hatton had beaten.

[piye]

Double post, damn iPhone