Quote Originally Posted by Memphis View Post
Quote Originally Posted by zhubin View Post
I don't mean to put down Hatton or his fans...they both are a spirited bunch...but Hatton was not an elite fighter. He has never been a truly GREAT fighter .
Elite and great are two entirely different things. Hatton was probably clinging onto a top 10 P4P ranking at the time of both fights and was certainly seen as the man at 140.
I think he was elite.. It wasn't because he was slick, or didn't get hit, or didn't have his fair share of weaknesses.... But at the top of his game, he had great footwork, as good of a workrate as you will ever see from a fighter, he was strong and could push around fighters, he had a decent chin when he used his defences correctly and was paying attention, and on most nights he had good enough head movement that a lot of fighters wouldn't bother him to much...

Mayweather is a total freak of nature in the boxing ring, and to lose to Mayweather in the way Hatton did does not take anything away from how you would rank him on his own merrit..

He was elite at 140. He was strong enough, workrate (read all of above) to beat anyone at 140, or give them one HELL of a night.. At 147 I think he was a bit out of his weight, but his heart and attributes carried him through all fights until Mayweather, and even that fight he was decent and had enough to trouble Floyd, but just Floyd is to much in the end for most anyone...

Even at the top of his game, focused and sharp, he would have given Manny hell.. Although I still think Manny could have landed good shots on hiim and perhaps got him out late, he would have made Manny very sore..

He just wasn't good enoough coming into and after Mayweather, and I don't take anything away from him or his opponents for their win over him..


For all his strengths though, I honestly put him as an elite fighter from the perspective of put in opposite anyone at Hatton's natural weight, and he will be an utter handful for them and probably too much..

I don't have any hesitation in saying he was elite in that respect... Others may have different criteria for "elite", so I accept arguements against as well.