Hatton and Welterweight!

Roars Like Me · Post by **Roars Like Me** » 25 Jun 2007, 10:32

Based on the Collazo fight it was recognised that Hatton just isn't a welter.
Being 5ft 6 and a fairly short reach were a couple of the reasons.

Could it be possible(I fear the reaction here) that this may not be true?

I'm sure he is short for a LW too and has a short reach compared to other LWs' also.

The general consensus is that Hatton likes to bully his opponents.
With the move upto Welter, Hatton did actually push Collazo about but it sapped his energy alot more than usual hence the fact he was absolutely buggered at the end and could have been knocked out.

At the time people were judging Ricky by saying Collazo isn't a ko artist and he should get back down before a hard hitting welter gets hold of him.

Obviously people have a valid point based on that performance.

Has the fact that Kerry put all that extra muscle on him in such a short space of time been looked into enough?

A lot of muscle/weight makes it harder on the lungs/heart to pull the frame around and tires you out alot quicker.
I'm not saying he neglected his road work(although I hear running is not his favourite) but number one priority was to get the muscle on and quick.

So my point is 'Did Ricky look bad because his prep was less than ideal' or simply 'Ricky is no good as a welter'?

If it's the first point, for all we know he could be great welter!
If the latter then the opinion is still as it is now!

lurkyshaka · Post by **lurkyshaka** » 25 Jun 2007, 11:21

Hatton went upto welter at late notice last time, he like many people underestimated Collazo, he had plenty of outside the ring distractions as it was his first major fight in the States etc.....all added up to a less than stellar performance. But he still won the fight whilst not at his best and that says alot about him.

Truth is Ricky is a monster at 140 and nobody will beat him at that weight.....but if he adds the weight correctly then he can be a force at 147 aswell.

Rocky Balboa · Post by **Rocky Balboa** » 25 Jun 2007, 13:30

After the Collazo fight, Ricky said he felt he didn't have enough time to adjust to the higher weight. In my view, 7lbs extra should not matter at all. There's been plenty of fighters down the years who have moved up & won titles at higher weight classes than they started out at.

Maybe Ricky will move up to Welter, given the fact that he'll be given ample time in respect of training camp. More time than was the case for the Collazo fight anyway.

If anything, wouldn't it be a case of Ricky not having dehydrate himself as much if he were campaigning at Welter?

josh fg · Post by **josh fg** » 25 Jun 2007, 14:51

TBH I think there are still a few options left for him at LW such as witter, also spotted this on fight news:

Casamayor targets Hatton!

Monday, June 25 2007

WBC interim lightweight champion Joel Casamayor, whom many including Fightnews.com rank as the world's #1 135-pounder, announced today he is willing to move up in weight and challenge IBO 140-pound champion Ricky Hatton or Floyd Mayweather. "I have waited patiently for all these so-called lightweight 'champions' to fight me," says Casamayor. "I challenged Juan Diaz at the Freitas fight, but he is hiding behind his promoter's skirt. I'm running out of patience waiting for this boy to grow into a man. Ricky Hatton says he wants big fights. I'll give up the weight and fight him. Floyd Mayweather says he wants big fights. I'll give up the weight and fight him – at any weight."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I respect Hatton, I respect Mayweather," says Casamayor. "I believe they are men, that they will fight. These other boys, these phony champions, they hide behind their managers and promoters and duck me. Since when does a true world champion have to chase his challengers? These other lightweights who have belts, they should be ashamed to call themselves champions." Casamayor is currently mandated to fight the winner of the Aug. 4 Erik Morales-David Diaz match. Casamayor says he will fight either man, but added there is no guarantee that the winner will simply duck him, as others have since his October win over Corrales. "I will fight anyone," emphasized Casamayor. "I gave up five pounds and beat Corrales. I'll do the same with Hatton. I'll give up any weight for Mayweather – let him name it. I am not going to go away. I'm a real fighter – a real champion – and I know someone will accept this challenge."

Seems like a sensible fight to me

hitman_hatton1 · Post by **hitman_hatton1** » 25 Jun 2007, 15:01

casamayor's a very good fighter.

one of the better fights to be made at 140 for hatton.

mayweather and cotto are still the big 2 to aim for though.

hopefully the homecoming is scrapped and serious negotiations with mayweather begin.

josh fg · Post by **josh fg** » 25 Jun 2007, 15:16

hitman_hatton1 wrote:casamayor's a very good fighter.

one of the better fights to be made at 140 for hatton.

mayweather and cotto are still the big 2 to aim for though.

hopefully the homecoming is scrapped and serious negotiations with mayweather begin.

There is a lot of money in a home comming... if Calzaghe can fill a stadium so can Ricky.

Carbo · Post by **Carbo** » 25 Jun 2007, 15:22

Juan Diaz is a common sense fight and one that would be guaranteed to sell given the two men's styles. However, I fear Ricky will be put in with another C-class opponent like Urango before we get a decent fight.

Ricky will sign a new promotional deal now, and whoever he signs for will want a money maker before a mega fight. The same thing happened with his last deal, where, I believe, he was given a fortune and the promoters needed to cheap opponents to guarantee some return before the biggie.

I would guess that HBO, though, will only tolerate one such fight this time after the Collazo and Urnago fights proved such let downs in terms of building Hatton's reputation.

Whatever happens, I expect a gimme against a C-level guy before stepping into a big match -- probably against Diaz, who, by March next year will have built further on his already burgeoning reputation.

josh fg · Post by **josh fg** » 25 Jun 2007, 15:25

Well the papers seem to be talking up Paulie Mallingie (sp) so I imagen his people are breafing quite strongly

rhino222 · Post by **rhino222** » 25 Jun 2007, 19:24

hatton needs to seriously keep away from malignaggi

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 25 Jun 2007, 19:57

But Mayweather is a guy who concentrates on 70% or more defense. He's a guaranteed stinker and no one can afford him now except de la Hoya. He's best off in retirement.

Fights I hope for

Immediate future - Malignaggi, Juan Diaz - sensible risk/reward ratio for good fights & to milk Hatton name
In 15-18 months - Cotto, and heck, for history, Mayweather
Curiosity value - Kermit Cintron (basic but big & powerful welter), Casamayor (old, small class act that nonetheless has a big fight way overdue)
For Britain - Witter
No thanks - Demetrius Hopkins, Juan Lazcano, Zab, Steve Forbes
Too dangerous - Margarito, Clottey (and we don't want to worry about another guy making weight), DLH/Mosley (bit too big at this stage though I fancy Hatton over a 140 rake thin DLH)

Carbo · Post by **Carbo** » 26 Jun 2007, 00:15

rhino222 wrote:hatton needs to seriously keep away from malignaggi

I agree; he's nowhere near as good as Hatton yet, but it's just a bad, bad style matchup for Hatton. I also question whether Hatton can ever be at his best against that level of opponent again.

Captain Hook · Post by **Captain Hook** » 26 Jun 2007, 10:21

How motivated would he get for Paulie Malignanni? Not very...

Probably the same he was for Urango...whereas when he gets a massive fight he's given his two best performances. He needs a HUGE name next, nothing else will do IMO.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 26 Jun 2007, 19:16

Disagree, Malignaggi is a class act. He showed that in going the distance with Cotto, despite not being very experienced, and totally outclassed N'dou, which is a good performance, as N'dou is usually very competitive.

It's another belt, and a good showcase fight, but one where this is a genuine risk if Hatton is off his A-game, and I think Hatton needs that knowledge to get properly motivated in training.

Hatton looked so much fitter, leaner and stronger for this fight, than any other I can remember, and that includes the Tszyu fight.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 27 Jun 2007, 03:56

Captain Hook wrote:How motivated would he get for Paulie Malignanni? Not very...

Probably the same he was for Urango...whereas when he gets a massive fight he's given his two best performances. He needs a HUGE name next, nothing else will do IMO.

it's too much to ask of someone to have nothing but megafights especially when they're all at a weight he's not comfortable at.

also, the word is there's no HBO dates left this year so how does he get a mega-bout opponent?

best bet is to fight on Showtime in a one-off vs someone like Malignaggi to close the year.