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Good post, I agree with most of the analysis.
I must admit that I prefered the British commentary on Sentanta sports to the HBO commentary having seen both fights. The British one gave Castillo more credit throughout the fight and then didnt just immediately go to completely discrediting the victory for Hatton afterwards, which frankly was a ****ing disgrace considering they are supposed to be publicising him. Didnt give him his minute in the sun whatsoever.
The British commentary also did a better job of describing the action I found. Duke McKenzie quite rightly (in my opinion) stated that most of the 'holding' wasnt actually holding whatsoever. It was very close swarming fighting. Hatton was RIGHT in his face (something that both the British AND American commentators agreed was to Castillo's advantage rather than his own...though it seemed they were proven wrong there). There was very little 'hugging' in that sense meaning wrapping their arms around each other's shoulders. There was very little linking of arms/tying up (from what I honestly saw, most of it that was present came from Castillo, which is something that the American commentators completely neglected to admit). However, moreso than either of that, there was a lot of in-fighting where Hatton was using his shoulders to bully Castillo around, move him backwards and then look for angles with short punches.
Now I've got to admit, I'm actually quite growing to like that. I dont think that its boring, its not hanging on at all. Its pushing, using strength and creating openings with minimal space. I personally find that brutal bulldozer style more exciting than seeing a fight take place at distance.
Sure, its not Gatti vs Ward. Its actually quite a bit more tactical. Gatti vs Ward was a fight with virtually no defense, more like a drunken brawl where haymaker punches land because both fighters hands are down and they stagger around the ring hefting shots at each other. You'll never get a fight like that with Hatton because he quite sensibly takes a calculated risk rather than a crazy one. He'll take some hard shots coming in, to find his own openings, but rarely clean ones or flush ones, or one where the fighter has been able to generate huge amounts of power because of how close in proximity he is to his opponent.
Call me crazy, but I quite like that kind of educated aggressive fighting. It'll certaily lead to him having a more sustained career at a high level than the likes of Gatti or Ward or Morales.
I must admit that I prefered the British commentary on Sentanta sports to the HBO commentary having seen both fights. The British one gave Castillo more credit throughout the fight and then didnt just immediately go to completely discrediting the victory for Hatton afterwards, which frankly was a ****ing disgrace considering they are supposed to be publicising him. Didnt give him his minute in the sun whatsoever.
The British commentary also did a better job of describing the action I found. Duke McKenzie quite rightly (in my opinion) stated that most of the 'holding' wasnt actually holding whatsoever. It was very close swarming fighting. Hatton was RIGHT in his face (something that both the British AND American commentators agreed was to Castillo's advantage rather than his own...though it seemed they were proven wrong there). There was very little 'hugging' in that sense meaning wrapping their arms around each other's shoulders. There was very little linking of arms/tying up (from what I honestly saw, most of it that was present came from Castillo, which is something that the American commentators completely neglected to admit). However, moreso than either of that, there was a lot of in-fighting where Hatton was using his shoulders to bully Castillo around, move him backwards and then look for angles with short punches.
Now I've got to admit, I'm actually quite growing to like that. I dont think that its boring, its not hanging on at all. Its pushing, using strength and creating openings with minimal space. I personally find that brutal bulldozer style more exciting than seeing a fight take place at distance.
Sure, its not Gatti vs Ward. Its actually quite a bit more tactical. Gatti vs Ward was a fight with virtually no defense, more like a drunken brawl where haymaker punches land because both fighters hands are down and they stagger around the ring hefting shots at each other. You'll never get a fight like that with Hatton because he quite sensibly takes a calculated risk rather than a crazy one. He'll take some hard shots coming in, to find his own openings, but rarely clean ones or flush ones, or one where the fighter has been able to generate huge amounts of power because of how close in proximity he is to his opponent.
Call me crazy, but I quite like that kind of educated aggressive fighting. It'll certaily lead to him having a more sustained career at a high level than the likes of Gatti or Ward or Morales.
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