Obviously I'm a huge Hatton fan but I cannot understand recent career choices and tactics.
1. The move to up to welter whilst extremely commendable I think was made in haste, Hatton is the king at light welter in my opinion and should have had one or two more fights to tie up the remaining belts.
2. He (or his team) picked a no win type fight, Collazo was underrated in my book, he is a tricky, quick, heavy handed (although his record does not reflect it) southpaw and most importantly he is a natural welter, also Don King usually picks good fighters with qualities that eventually shine through so...
3. To compensate for the change in weight, Ricky seems to have concentrated heavily on strength training and weights, this for me has taken some of the speed and snap out of his shots.
4. He has began to rely heavily on his stamina and work rate, this will not be as effective against the bigger men, add into that the time adjustment and jet lag when fighting in the states which will only hamper his natural conditioning and recovery unless he make a semi permanent move across the water.
I think perhaps the Hatton camp will study the tapes and jump to the obvious conclusions and address them, I do not think Billy Graham will readily look for a southpaw again and I expect a sharper more defined performance next time out.
The positives I feel are that Hatton is now a two weight world champion, he has opened his account in the higher division and in the states, outside of the performance I think we should applaud the fact he has travelled(when many don't), he took on a dangerous fighter in a higher weight division which for me was the hard route, many would have had a warm up fight or two first, he has been dignified and excepts his short comings in this fight like the champion he is without excuses or regrets.
I believe this experience will make him a better fighter in the long term whoever he fights next!
Obviously Hatton was exposed. If Collazo had continued to get off first and maintain side-to-side movement, as he did in the middle rounds, he would have won this fight easily. Hatton looked almost dwarfish out there compared to the much bigger Collazo. And lots of objective people think Collazo did enough to win the fight. He definitely had Hatton hurt in the last round and, by rights, Hatton should be required to "take" the title, not receive a "gift" because there are lots of big paydays at stake. I was a huge Hatton fan also, but he needs to stay at light welter. He is too small to go any higher, regardless of anything else he does, training or otherwise, although it wouldn't hurt if he learned a bit more boxing and less walking in (which is not "pressure", but "suicide").
I agree with you, robberies have been an everyday thing for us, I'm almost use to it, in the 9th or 10th round I called it, they were gonna steal it from him, after Collazo rocked Hatton, and they cerdited Hatton for landing...
i said it before it even started, Luis had to win by a KO or a wide maring, there was no way Hatton lost a close decition on his american debut
I agree with you, robberies have been an everyday thing for us, I'm almost use to it, in the 9th or 10th round I called it, they were gonna steal it from him, after Collazo rocked Hatton, and they cerdited Hatton for landing...
if Collazo was a Mexican-American, or Mexican, nobody would be playing the race card, but it just so happens this guy is a Puerto Rican-American(not Puerto Rican cuz hes from Brooklyn), i think thats kind of fucked up. i think old white judges would much rather an American win a close decision then a Brit
I agree with you, robberies have been an everyday thing for us, I'm almost use to it, in the 9th or 10th round I called it, they were gonna steal it from him, after Collazo rocked Hatton, and they cerdited Hatton for landing...
Please, everyday thing for "us"? You mean the fake Nuyoricans down in new york? Who gives a shit. I think you can make a case for Collazo losing the fight or winning it, however, basing the argument on race rather than circumstance takes away any logic from the argument. What about Trinidad and De La Hoya? Arguably our biggest star even to this day was given the gift desicion of his life against De La Hoya.
Desicions are based on circumstance, not on race (anymore at lease).
It was a very close fight but I think Hatton pulled it off. That knock down in the first round for hatton made the difference. It really could have gone ethier way but their is no way you could call it a robery.
so true. a close fight cannot end in a robbery. period.
It was a very close fight but I think Hatton pulled it off. That knock down in the first round for hatton made the difference. It really could have gone ethier way but their is no way you could call it a robery.
you're full of shit. there is no such thing as the champion deserving to keep his title in a close fight. it's a 10 point must system, meaning the fight is scored by rounds, not as a whole fight in general. if one guy nearly KO's the other in the final round, but loses most of the other rounds, he loses the fight, champion or not. good thing you're not a judge or Mayweather and Hatton probably wouldn't be undefeated, and that's just fucked up
I'm playing the prejudice judges card. Hatton lost the fight
Three inexpierenced old white judges aren't going to give a spanish guy from brooklyn with tattoos all over his body a close decision.. Plain and simple..
Collazo was the champ.. He deserved the decision..
I have been talking down Hatton throughout my time here and I think it looks like I am right AS USUAL.
Obviously hardcore fans want a PBF/Hatton or Margorito,but I doubt that he's gonna be fighting PBF next. I know alot of ppl hate Judah but I would love to see him fight Judah, it would be a good fight and if Zab is in shape to withstand Hatton's pressure it could possibly go either way. I'm sure they don't want anymore lefty's for the time being but I would love to see this fight especially more then Gatti/Hatton or Hatton/Baldomir.
I would never want a hatton/mayweather fight next. He says all he needs to do is grow into the welterweight division, and i completely agree. A strong fight against gatti or boldimir will prove that he can fight with the best. Once he gets used to the good welterweights, he can start taking on the greats.
Normally i wanted a hatton/mayweather fight in early 2007, now i want it in mid to late 2007. I didnt think hatton would misjudge the weight difference the way he did. He'll get used to it after 2 more fights in the division at least, then he'll be ready to take on mayweather.
Obviously hardcore fans want a PBF/Hatton or Margorito,but I doubt that he's gonna be fighting PBF next. I know alot of ppl hate Judah but I would love to see him fight Judah, it would be a good fight and if Zab is in shape to withstand Hatton's pressure it could possibly go either way. I'm sure they don't want anymore lefty's for the time being but I would love to see this fight especially more then Gatti/Hatton or Hatton/Baldomir.
hatton didn't have much of a choice....he wanted an easy opponent at 147 and that was either going to be Collazo or Baldomir...they wouldn't even fight the shot Judah........
all this about collazo having a certain style is crap, he is your pretty average slick southpaw, but nothing special at all and his record shows that....the only 147 lb winnable fights out there for hatton is against baldomir and gatti, who both are fighting each other...
apart from these two, i'm sure hatton's team wants none of margarito or mayweather...not even judah!
The way I see it, Hatton and his team has no choice but to climb up in weight because Ricky might be having difficulties trimming his weight back down to 140 lbs. Ricky bloats to about 160 lbs when not training and there are a lot of pictures posted in this site before that will prove my theory.
Just my opinion. :)
You could be right although they state that they intend to float between the two divisions when needed so I think he can still make the weight OK!
i disagree that his move to Welter was made in haste; he's chasing the big money fights with Gatti, Cotto and Mayweather, there's no reason to stay at LW where there are so few names all of a sudden, personally i think the move was right for him.
Having said that i agree wholeheartedly that it was an odd choice of opponent, i think 'no win situation' was going a bit far, Hatton needed to prove he could hang with natural welters without being out muscled and he did exactly that, although not in as convicing a fashoin as i would have liked.
Im not sure that he lacked 'snap,' i think it was just a case of hitting a bigger man will obviously have less effect, and hatton is a small welterweight irrespective of his focus on weights.
I think it was a pretty good nights work in all, he proved everything he needed to, i personally thought it was a pretty conclusive win and going overseas to fight just erradicates another criticism that has been made of him. its onwards and upwards from here!
I think perhaps you have misinterpreted my comments, what I meant by him moving to welter too soon was that there are one or two big fights down at Light Welter (Castillo, Corrales, Casamayor)before risking the bigger men.
By 'no win situation' I meant that he would always look awkward against Collazo, if he won easy then it would have been regarded as Hatton taking the hand picked route, if it was hard (as it turned out to be) then the questions would be asked (as they are)
As for the snap of his punches, take a look at the fights in 2004, his shots were crisp and sweet. The last couple of fights especially his shots have looked slower and laboured, the fluidity has dropped slightly, I'm certain as a coach myself that this is down to over weight training, however this can be turned around and I think that it will be!
i disagree that his move to Welter was made in haste; he's chasing the big money fights with Gatti, Cotto and Mayweather, theres no reason to stay at LW where there are so few names all of a sudden, personally i think the move was right for him.
Having said that i agree wholeheartedly that it was an odd choice of opponent, i think 'no win situation' was going a bit far, Hatton needed to prove he could hang with natrual welters without being outmuscled and he did exactly that, although not in as convicing a fashoin as i would have liked.
Im not sure that he lacked 'snap,' i think it was just a case of hitting a bigger man will obviously have less effect, and hatton is a small welterweight irrespective of his focus on weights.
I think it was a pretty good nights work in all, he proved everything he needed to, i personally thought it was a pretty conclusive win and going overseas to fight just erradicates another criticism that has been made of him. its onwards and upwards from here!