By Cliff Rold (photo by Tom Casino/Showtime)
Heading into the weekend, the pre-fight report card started off by saying the matches on tap didn’t “get much better than that…on paper” and further that “as good as the fights are ‘on paper’ there are elements in each which give reason for pause.” Instead of outstanding fights this weekend, fans were treated to excellent performances by World Jr. Welterweight Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KO) and newly unified Jr. Featherweight titlist Celestino Caballero (31-2, 22 KO).
That’s not so bad. In the absence of a good, competitive fight, dominance has an entertainment value of its own.
Let’s go to the report cards.
Steve Molitor-Celestino Caballero
Speed – Pre Fight: Molitor B; Caballero B/Post-Fight: Caballero B+/Molitor B
Power – Pre-Fight: Caballero B+; Molitor B-/Post-Fight: Same
Defense – Pre-Fight: B for Both/Post-Fight: Caballero B+; Molitor C+
Intangibles – Pre-Fight: B for Both/Post-Fight: Caballero A; Molitor D+
There will be another day, another test. For now, the 28-year old Molitor (28-1, 11 KO) of Canada will have to ask himself what his fans will ask and the question is clear: was he as bad as he looked being knocked out in the fourth round on Friday night?
For now, it is but a single loss on an awful night made so by a world-class fighter. 32-year old WBA and now IBF 122 lb. titlist Celestino Caballero of Panama made a clear, devastating statement that he is ready to be the top threat to recognized World Champion Israel Vasquez. From the opening bell, it was all Caballero who was the best he’d been since capturing his first belt against tough Thai Somsak Sithchatchawal. At 5’11, he towers over the bulk of Jr. Featherweights and, allowed to fight at full range, is a monster.
Molitor allowed.
Caballero, who held a vast experience edge in terms of competition faced, showed why that matters. He was better in every way. He got to his man first; he finished the few exchanges in the bout; and he never let Molitor land a serious combination in the four rounds of action. Prior to the fight, it was noted that Friday was to be Molitor’s first serious test of chin and it was dented but moreso it was Molitor’s psyche that seemed affected. By the third, the young hometown favorite looked lost and even intimidated. He was in over his head figuratively and, looking up four inches, literally.
Caballero, who made his sixth successful WBA defense, deserves a ton of credit for exposing some of the flaws Molitor will now have to work to improve. In his three biggest step-up fights in recent years, against Daniel Ponce De Leon, Sithchatchawal and now Molitor, he has excelled. Can he do the same against the very top of the division? It’s time to find out and, at 32, he deserves to find out sooner than later.
Caballero wasn’t the only success story.
On Saturday night, under the bright Las Vegas lights, drunk Manchester-based Brits singing and banging drums (God Bless ‘em), there was another bit of overwhelming victory on tap.
Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi
Speed – Pre-Fight: Malignaggi B+; Hatton B/Post-Fight: Both B+
Power – Pre-Fight: Hatton B; Malignaggi C-/Post-Fight: Hatton B+; Malignaggi C-
Defense – Pre-Fight: Malignaggi B; Hatton B-/Post-Fight: Hatton B; Malignaggi B-
Intangibles – Pre-Fight: Malignaggi B+; Hatton B/Post-Fight: Hatton B+; Malignaggi B-
Brooklyn, New York’s Malignaggi (25-2, 5 KO) fought his heart out in defeat against Miguel Cotto a couple of years ago. When he’d fallen into a deep scoring pit halfway through the bout with Hatton, he decided hell wasn’t a place worth going back to. Instead he sought the solace of a completed twelve rounds and was oddly denied that by his own trainer, insult heaped on a night of injury. No one can say he wasn’t gutsy; he just didn’t have any answers and at some point stopped looking.
The 30-year old Hatton, conversely, may have been the best he’s been since defeating Kostya Tszyu for his crown some three years ago. His fifth title defense saw him using his jab a little more than he had recently and it’s a punch he needs even more of with harder hitting foes down the road. He got off quicker than Malignaggi when it mattered and showed real power. Malignaggi was never the same after a second round right hand had him just missing the deck.
Hatton’s defense remained loose. He got hit often early on but Malignaggi never utilized the combinations and movement that were his hope for victory. It just was never a fight because Hatton wouldn’t let one break out. After his loss to Floyd Mayweather last year, and near disastrous follow-up outing against Juan Lazcano that saw a referee sympathetic to an untied shoelace saving him from dire straits, Hatton appears mentally and physically back on his game.
That’s good for the gate of a potential showdown with the winner of Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao. It could be bad for other Jr. Welterweight aspirants like Timothy Bradley and Kendall Holt. Their hopes for a shot at the top of the class will likely wait until deep into 2009 if ever. All they can do is hope for a chance because, well, there’s only one Ricky Hatton payday.
On Saturday, fans got a look at why he remains worthy of his following.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
