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Hatton’s Temporarily Shaken Awake From His American Dream?
Ricky Hatton flew to America a couple of weeks ago in a buoyant mood. Yes, he’d just had his hard-fought IBF Light-Welterweight title (taken from 140lb legend Kosta Tszyu) stripped from him because of his fast-tracked ambition to fight at 147lb, yes he had been involved in a bitter wrangle with his ex-promoter in an acrimonious split, but the Hitman was entitled to be in a confident; he had won his previous two fights, both for World Titles, both in quite impressive fashion, and he was about to make a highly-anticipated debut splash in boxing’s biggest pond, the United States.
But, this morning, Ricky may be a little dissatisfied, maybe even a little disheartened. Why? He has just beaten a World Champion in his first fight at a higher weight class, given him numerous problems and consequentially taken a unanimous decision in the process, and opened the door for a number of possible high profile bouts including the winner of Arturo Gatti/Carlos Baldomir, Miguel Cotto, and, eventually, even the number one pound-for-pound boxer in the world, Floyd Mayweather Jr. These are all major plus points following last night’s win, but the manner in which it came has taken the shine off of his trans-atlantic adventure for the time being at least.
In retrospect, the difficulty of last nights fight was predictable. Hatton has historically had some of his most difficult fights against southpaws- the way he likes to rush in against his opponents time after time with the most minimal of head movement leaves him susceptible to the lead right hand, and he also occasionally seems devoid of any preparation for the straight left which follows it. Luckily, his style also incorporates the controversial tactic of repeatedly getting close to his adversary and clinching constantly, adding a few short, hooking body shots, which in most cases prevents them from getting off many effective combinations and wears down the opponent over the length of the fight.
Luis Collazo was impressively prepared from this strategy from Hatton. Collazo possesses a range of good technique, quick hands and decent defense, and combined with his good reach, height and natural 147lb weight, turned Hatton’s first major fight on American soil into more of an acid-test than he would have liked. Collazo’s gameplan almost came to fruition; after being caught cold by a Hatton left hook inside the first half-minute, he went on to use his far superior reach advantage and awkward stance to land effective, hard, flush punches to Hatton’s face, and was able to land combo’s which put the Hitman into a spot of bother (albeit sporadically); in the 12th round Hatton deemed it necessary to hold onto Collazo longer than was normal in the to clear his head after he was caught with a hard left.
Inevitably, though, Ricky’s constant relentlessness, body shots and holding will take it’s toll to some extent on even the most conditioned of boxers. This was evident in rounds 6-9 in particular whereby Hatton was able to throw flurries of punches in close rather than the one-or-two he was able to put together earlier in the fight, and Collazo looked more tired than he had looked at any other point of the fight. But Collazo managed a second wind and was able to take the majority of the championship rounds, bringing a close fight even closer than the Englishman obviously would have wanted on the scorecards.
The term ‘robbery’ has, in my eyes, mistakenly been thrown around a great deal after the bout- it was an extremely close fight that in my opinion Ricky just sc****d through. It was quite clear that Collazo wasn’t prepared to accept defeat lightly in his post-fight interview, but the knockdown in the first round probably swayed the judges in Ricky’s favour, and it would have been harsh to give the last round as a 10-8 Collazo round, considering Hatton fought back admirably after he had been stumbled by Collazo.
Ricky was brave to take on a fight whereby success was so uncertain, and he has to be given credit for that. It also has to be remembered that he has come up a weight to fight a decent, young, large, motivated boxer, but another fight against a southpaw anytime soon would be a huge mistake at this point in his career, and for that reason a fight against the super fast Judah looks increasingly unlikely. In Ricky’s eyes, all roads lead to Mayweather, but that is another fight he should leave alone at this weight for a while at least. He need more experience at the higher weight, and to clearly work on his defense and movement if he is to stand any chance against the ‘Pretty Boy’.
An all-action ‘fight in a phone booth’ slugfest against Arturo Gatti should he beat Carlos Baldomir seems his most likely next option, or possibly moving back down to 140lb for a bone-crunching collision with the exciting young Puerto Rican pugilist Miguel Cotto. Regardless of last night’s fight, either of these fights would be a big draw in the US, and although Ricky’s star isn’t shining quite so brightly at the moment the dream remains on course. He would be well-advised to choose his next opponent a little more carefully to say the least.
As for Collazo, his stock has risen considerably following yesterday’s bout, and he has proven that he is able to fight amongst the elite in boxing’s toughest division. His size, technique and hand speed would've provided trouble for the vast majority of opponents and he has a ton of spirit to go along with those physical qualities. Luis Collazo is definitely a fighter that I will be keeping my eye on over the coming months.
Written by Lpurchase
Ricky Hatton flew to America a couple of weeks ago in a buoyant mood. Yes, he’d just had his hard-fought IBF Light-Welterweight title (taken from 140lb legend Kosta Tszyu) stripped from him because of his fast-tracked ambition to fight at 147lb, yes he had been involved in a bitter wrangle with his ex-promoter in an acrimonious split, but the Hitman was entitled to be in a confident; he had won his previous two fights, both for World Titles, both in quite impressive fashion, and he was about to make a highly-anticipated debut splash in boxing’s biggest pond, the United States.
But, this morning, Ricky may be a little dissatisfied, maybe even a little disheartened. Why? He has just beaten a World Champion in his first fight at a higher weight class, given him numerous problems and consequentially taken a unanimous decision in the process, and opened the door for a number of possible high profile bouts including the winner of Arturo Gatti/Carlos Baldomir, Miguel Cotto, and, eventually, even the number one pound-for-pound boxer in the world, Floyd Mayweather Jr. These are all major plus points following last night’s win, but the manner in which it came has taken the shine off of his trans-atlantic adventure for the time being at least.
In retrospect, the difficulty of last nights fight was predictable. Hatton has historically had some of his most difficult fights against southpaws- the way he likes to rush in against his opponents time after time with the most minimal of head movement leaves him susceptible to the lead right hand, and he also occasionally seems devoid of any preparation for the straight left which follows it. Luckily, his style also incorporates the controversial tactic of repeatedly getting close to his adversary and clinching constantly, adding a few short, hooking body shots, which in most cases prevents them from getting off many effective combinations and wears down the opponent over the length of the fight.
Luis Collazo was impressively prepared from this strategy from Hatton. Collazo possesses a range of good technique, quick hands and decent defense, and combined with his good reach, height and natural 147lb weight, turned Hatton’s first major fight on American soil into more of an acid-test than he would have liked. Collazo’s gameplan almost came to fruition; after being caught cold by a Hatton left hook inside the first half-minute, he went on to use his far superior reach advantage and awkward stance to land effective, hard, flush punches to Hatton’s face, and was able to land combo’s which put the Hitman into a spot of bother (albeit sporadically); in the 12th round Hatton deemed it necessary to hold onto Collazo longer than was normal in the to clear his head after he was caught with a hard left.
Inevitably, though, Ricky’s constant relentlessness, body shots and holding will take it’s toll to some extent on even the most conditioned of boxers. This was evident in rounds 6-9 in particular whereby Hatton was able to throw flurries of punches in close rather than the one-or-two he was able to put together earlier in the fight, and Collazo looked more tired than he had looked at any other point of the fight. But Collazo managed a second wind and was able to take the majority of the championship rounds, bringing a close fight even closer than the Englishman obviously would have wanted on the scorecards.
The term ‘robbery’ has, in my eyes, mistakenly been thrown around a great deal after the bout- it was an extremely close fight that in my opinion Ricky just sc****d through. It was quite clear that Collazo wasn’t prepared to accept defeat lightly in his post-fight interview, but the knockdown in the first round probably swayed the judges in Ricky’s favour, and it would have been harsh to give the last round as a 10-8 Collazo round, considering Hatton fought back admirably after he had been stumbled by Collazo.
Ricky was brave to take on a fight whereby success was so uncertain, and he has to be given credit for that. It also has to be remembered that he has come up a weight to fight a decent, young, large, motivated boxer, but another fight against a southpaw anytime soon would be a huge mistake at this point in his career, and for that reason a fight against the super fast Judah looks increasingly unlikely. In Ricky’s eyes, all roads lead to Mayweather, but that is another fight he should leave alone at this weight for a while at least. He need more experience at the higher weight, and to clearly work on his defense and movement if he is to stand any chance against the ‘Pretty Boy’.
An all-action ‘fight in a phone booth’ slugfest against Arturo Gatti should he beat Carlos Baldomir seems his most likely next option, or possibly moving back down to 140lb for a bone-crunching collision with the exciting young Puerto Rican pugilist Miguel Cotto. Regardless of last night’s fight, either of these fights would be a big draw in the US, and although Ricky’s star isn’t shining quite so brightly at the moment the dream remains on course. He would be well-advised to choose his next opponent a little more carefully to say the least.
As for Collazo, his stock has risen considerably following yesterday’s bout, and he has proven that he is able to fight amongst the elite in boxing’s toughest division. His size, technique and hand speed would've provided trouble for the vast majority of opponents and he has a ton of spirit to go along with those physical qualities. Luis Collazo is definitely a fighter that I will be keeping my eye on over the coming months.
Written by Lpurchase
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