Hatton is not nearly as good as his fans make him out to be..
Nor is he as one Dimensional as his detractors would have you think..
Well said, good points.
I think it will be a close fight and I’ll definitely buy it. I was hesitant but as soon as Mora-Forrest 2 was on the undercard it seemed worth the money.
I don’t think MAB is shot (tonight might prove me wrong, I’m hoping not) but he’s not what he once was. Shot to me was Gatti in the Gomez fight or Morales in the third Pacquiao fight (I’m not questioning his heart he just looked a shadow of him former self).
Also, if Barrera didn’t care and only saw this as a payday, why take tune-up fights and why push for this fight to be for a belt? A belt in a fourth weight class is something that he has spoken about for ages. I remember he spoke about fighting Jesus Chavez and more recently Nate Campbell. I don’t think he sees this as just a money fight.
A great clip thanks for putting it up. I wonder if there is a difference between what he says he did and what actually happened. What I mean is, did he actually train for 15 days or does he want Khan to think that? Is he trying to lure Khan into something?
just reread thread, guess i'm a little late with that.. It wouldn't make sense otherwise to let your opponent know such a major weakness.
I totally agree, why tell your opponent something like that?
Thanks, I’ve said this before, I think MAB’s playing a little bit of opossum. He did that in the Hamed fight and the second Juarez fight. He said one thing and did the opposite.
I think this (the 15 days training and most of the buildup to the fight) can be seen in two ways. Barrera is laying the groundwork in case he loses or he’s going to surprise Khan (and a lot of others) with how much he has left. I don’t think it’s the former because if needed, he already has excuses, the move up in weight, his age, Khan’s youth, and so on. I think it’s the latter because to me it’s all part of the mind games played in boxing.
Also, I don’t think he’s being paid to make Khan look good because he doesn’t need the money, he has far too much pride and if Khan wins there will always be the idea that MAB was too old and he won’t get the credit.
I think there were some really good points here concerning MAB. He’s my favorite fighter so I’m bias but I think this will either be a decision for Khan (due to his jab and/or movement) or a knockout for MAB. I do think he wanted a glorified sparing session in his last two fights and we don’t really know what he has left in the tank. The original poster mentioned he was average against Manny but that’s average against the best P4P in the world and Khan is no Pacquiao. Added to that, I thought the fight with JMM was close and even if it wasn’t, Khan is no JMM. Granted that was 1 ½ to 2 years ago but Khan hasn’t been in with this level of opposition and most of Khan’s previous opponents left a lot to be desired. One of the moderators on this site mentioned a while back that he though MAB was maybe playing a bit of opossum and letting people think he was a lot older and more worn-out than what he actually is.
I have a feeling he will come out looking for a knockout. He has gone the distance in his last two major fights (again against the #1 and #2 fighters in the world!) so he could last but I don’t think he will for several reasons: 1) he must know that if it’s a close decision it won’t go to him and 2) remember how tired he was at the end of the third Morales fight? I think we’ll see him going for a knockout and I hope (no offense to the Khan fans) that we see another Mzonke Fana. As an aside, I’m not comparing Fana to Khan, it’s more I’m hoping for a quick knockout.
Good for Khan for taking this fight but I think MAB will beat him. He’s not what he once was but I don’t think he’s as shot as people think he is. Two years ago he fought Marquez and less than 1 ½ ago he fought Pacquiao. Neither knocked him out or down. Granted he’s aged since then but I think he still has enough to win.
That’s a tough question. Historically, to be the first to do it says something but a lot of it depends on who he beat. As of now, looking at the list of belt holders, none of them are ATG or just plain great. Maybe in a few years once they’ve built up their records and have some good wins but as of now they are good wins but not great wins.
Thanks for posting this, I thought I missed an announcement or something. I agree, I can’t see this happening on such short notice but it would be an interesting fight.
Campbell's always worth watching and his emails to BS are gold. Seriously, if he's fighting on a Saturday night it's worth staying in. Recently, except for Bradley, he's always been competitive and his 'bucket-head' comment made that worthwhile.
I agree, it would have been a tough, close fight. I don't know if it would have gone the distance but it would have been good. Except for that whole Peden thing his record would have been okay.
I was there when he beat Ndlvu the first time, it was a good fight. I'm wondering if TSN will pick it up live? Molitor's last fight was shown on tape-delay.
Good question! Cotto hasn’t looked the same since Margarito, I mean mentally not physically. Hatton on the other hand doesn’t exactly ‘live right’ between fights, who’s to say how he is mentally? Added to that Cotto seems really big at WW, where Hatton didn’t look so good. I’d go with Cotto and it’s a fight I would pay to see.