Quote Originally Posted by X
I have always said that Hatton is a bit like Barry McGuigan used to be. His effort against the great Tszyu was eerily similar to McGuigan's title winning bout against the (also) great Eusebio Pedroza

A very very good fighter going forward, excellent high-pressure all action style. relentless marauding style that bulldozed everyone in front of him as he went to the top. Great body puncher. I'm cynical enough to think that it probably helps being white, as well. Weaknesses are a slightly porous defence, a lack of real one-punch power and a propensity to get cut.

Hatton also fell out with his promoter, as did McGuigan before his US unveiling, and (if he had been stopped in the final round, which was a close run thing) we would be drawing all sorts of parallells with McGuigan-Cruz.

I think that going up a weight is a bit of a lazy response to his lack of discipline in ballooning in weight between fights, and that, at 5'6", Hatton is not a full welterweight. He can't use his physical strength to bully people, he's going to be at a big reach disadvantage etc. I think Hatton's style does not lend itself to a long career at the top, and he needs to maximise his earnings now. Fighting Collazo, who is a good fighter, an awkward southpaw and a full welterweight, was incredibly poor matchmaking and simply a bad fight for Ricky.

So, as often happens, I think the truth is somewhere between the more hysterical extremes that have been posted throughout this forum.

Hatton is a world class fighter, with a good chin and a great heart. he has some technical and physical deficiencies, but he is as qualified an anyone out there to step into the ring with the PBFs and DLHs of the world.
Alot of people are making a lot of excuses for a world class fighter. The weight,the guys a natural WW, hes a southpaw. Thats alot of excuse for a guy who is ranked by many as high as #5 lb4lb. The truth is this for the elite fighter & pounds shouldn't matter that much. Its not as if he was coming from 130 or 135.Then i would agree with the weight thing. Hes been at 140 his whole life and 7 pounds shouldn't make that much of a difference especially for a guy who walks around above 170 pounds. If anything he should of felt stronger being that its much easier to sweat down to 147 than to 140.The south paw thing holds a little weight but once again an elite fighter should be able to figure out a southpaw. And people act like all of a sudden he was fighting the best southpaw in the world. Please i like collazo but I rank corley and even judah over him and I hate judah. Then you say hes a natural WW when the truth is I would bet that hatton walks around heavier than collazo. The truth is he struggled against a mediocre fighter and maybe even loss. That don't cut it for world class fighters. What if floyd looked like this against collazo what would hatton fans think about him? If hatton never fought collazo and this was pbf with this showing what would you say? Honestly