Thanks: 
Likes: 
Dislikes: 
5 Reasons Why Ricky Hatton Can Beat Floyd Mayweather Jr.
14.09.07 - By Derek Cowan: Okay, I'll admit it right of the bat, I am a huge Ricky Hatton boxing fan. I like his fighting style, his attitude, and I think he's funny! There is really no other reason that I can think of. I have no allegiance to Great Britain. I actually live in Texas, and have never even visited the UK. It all started a few years back as I was getting back into following boxing when I happened to stumble across a bout between Hatton and Vince Phillips. I had never seen Hatton fight before, and knew nothing of his record or previous opposition.
What I saw was a kid with an unbelievable workrate staying busy for nearly every minute of every round, and throwing punches with bad intentions while being completely respectful and humble following his lopsided decision over an old fighter.
I became an immediate fan and have followed him up until now with the biggest fight of his career less than three months away, against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Having said that, I'll be equally honest in admitting that I don't care too much for Floyd Mayweather. I think he is cocky, arrogant, and disrespectful. I think he runs too much. I get tired of hearing how he wants to be considered as one of the all-time greats while watching him set up fights with lesser opponents when much better one's could be made. As a fan, I really want to see Hatton beat him up bad.
So how, you may ask, can I possibly write an objective article on this upcoming bout? Well it's simple. I believe you can be a fan of a fighter, player, or team without losing a sense of reality. I pick football games every week, college and pro, and I have no problem picking against my personal favorite. Bottom line: I like to be right, and when prognosticating, you leave your heart at the door and rely on the brains God gave you, period. To prove my point I admit that I picked Kostya Tszyu to beat Hatton back in 2005. I simply thought that Tszyu's power would be too much, and that Ricky's level of competition at that time was lacking. I really didn't think Hatton had much of a shot, and because I like being right I predicted that Hatton would suffer his first loss. Whoops!
So, to the question: Does Ricky Hatton have a legitimate chance of winning this fight. Relying on brains alone, I say yes, and here are 5 reasons why.
1.) Style's make fights. We have all heard this before, haven't we? This fights pit two opposites against one another. We have seen it many times in Boxing's history. The fluid, speedy boxer, against the straight ahead, aggresive slugger. To be fair we have seen both sides come out on the winning end over the years. It is my opinion that the only type fighter that can beat Mayweather in his prime is a fighter that possesses Ricky's style. Sure there will be a day when Mayweather will grow old and venture a little too far up in weight and be defeated by several younger, stronger foes if he chooses to hang around too long (and most do), but until then, no one will come close to out-boxing PBF while he remains at weights between 140 and 154 pounds. Floyd is simply too gifted and too poised in the ring. Many have predicted a Hatton fight with Mayweather to look something like the Mayweather/Gatti match. I think that is silly.
First of all, Gatti has always been overrated on boxing skill. He has become a fan favorite based on his courage alone with his greatest fights coming against average fighters, and any time we saw him in the ring against a truly skilled fighter he was easily beaten. Gatti was also way past his prime, although Mayweather would have easily beaten Gatti at any age. And finally, Gatti, under the strange instruction of Buddy McGirt, deployed a horrible strategy in that bout by attempting to box from the outside, and got cut to ribbons for his troubles. To be fair to Mayweather, he capitalized on that mistake a beat Gatti as badly as anyone ever has. However, Hatton comes at you non-stop, cuts off the ring with the best, and then manages to stay close with speed and clinching. Like it or not, it is a style that will make it much more difficult for Mayweather to find the space he needs to land flurries of unanswered combinations with pinpoint accuracy like we saw against Gatti. Jose Luis Castillo had as much success against PBF as we have seen with a similar style, but Ricky's is even faster paced and more relentless.
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=12422&more=1
I don't agree with quite a few of these points but i'll give my opinion after a few comments from you boys and girls.
 |
|
Reply With Quote
got to win back what Oscar lost! 
Originally Posted by Taeth
Bookmarks