Paulie to Retire?????

[Fenster]

I think Paulie was trying to be as honest as he could be here. I understand the argument that Hatton bounced him around the ring for 10 rounds, but he is trying to say Cotto was the better fighter. If that's his opinion so be it. Paulie performed better against Cotto true, but he also put a lot more effort forth. I don't think that takes anything away from Hatton though. Hatton was amazing in there, still a beast, but a more patient beast, and Paulie acknowledged that. He even admitted Hatton hurt him, how often do you hear a fighter admit that? And who can better judge the abilities of two different fighters than one that's been in with both.

I'm pretty sure lots of fighters don't regard the guy that thrashed them as the best they've faced, simply because, i think, they believe they underperformed instead of getting outclassed.

Like tons of fighters who have been knocked out say it WASN'T the hardest they've been hit.

Paulie had success against Cotto.. so understandably would class his OWN performance as better.. and inturn naturally think Cotto was a better fighter than Hatton.

Following that vein of thought, would you say Paulie did perform as well as he could have against Hatton? I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone that would say Malignaggi gave it his all in that fight. And furthermore after he received a "thrashing" from Cotto do you remember what he said? "Miguel hits hard man" and in this interview he stated he would have trouble with Cotto even on his best night. Regardless of your opinion of how it went down. This seems to be an honest interpretation by Paulie to me.

I agree. I don't doubt he is being honest. I'm just looking at it from a different perspective.

He's probably no different a fighter now, than he was for Cotto. Difference is - he was a big underdog in the Cotto fight. No-one really gave him much chance. And i think that includes Cotto. Not only was Cotto suffering from the weight but also was probably undermotivated, and therefore underperformed. So, Paulie's success was amplified. And naturally, left the fight with a far better reputation.

SO.. Paulie, Hatton and Cotto all entered their fights with a different mindset.

For instance - (as you point out) Paulie said after the fight "Miguel hits hard man." But he EXPECTED that going in. Everyone knows Cotto is a hurtful puncher. So the fact he took Cotto's punches is a victory for himself.

Whereas before the Hatton fight Paulie said "Ricky is not a big pucher." In just the 2nd round he gets badly rocked, which he admits, but afterwards still says "Ricky is not a big puncher," even though it was clear Ricky was hurting him. Obviously, the fact that Paulie was hurt by Ricky, when he didn't EXPECT to be, he sees as a failing. So he sees it as himself underperforming instead of Hatton being much BETTER than he expected.

It's a psychological thing.

And I'm even boring myself with this tosh now