Timmbo wrote:stujones wrote: Mayweather can hurt DLH , then Hatton might not easily walk through Mayweather.
DLH was over 35 and I had had him winning until he gassed out.Also I think DLH punch resistance not as good due to his age.I suppose same can be argued about Castillo but Ricky did crack four of his ribs and Mayweather couldnt put a dent in him.People keep going on about Collazo but forget that 1st time RH went up in weight and beat a good champ.
This fight will be about workrate and pressure from Ricky.Once FM finds out how tough Ricky is he will get back on his unicycle as he did with Baldimir and run the whole fight!
When prepared properly Ricky is awesome!
Well, firstly DLH had just turned 34 and not "over 35" as you said. Yes, I had him winning the fight till he gassed and scored the fight a draw anyway. However, this is Oscar De La Hoya - a man much bigger than Floyd/Ricky and, believe or not, isn't that bad a fighter himself.
Was his chin in decline, maybe... hard to say. He certainly took clean head shots from the bigger/stronger Hopkins well enough. I personally don't think DLH has had a hard enough career for his chin to start weakening... hand speed and stamina maybe, but not chin.
Secondly, since when was Collazo ever classed as a good champion. I tell you when, AFTER running Ricky close. He was never considered anything more than a paper champion before, and after Mosley SCHOOLED him that where he remains now.
Kostya WAS over 35 when he fought Ricky, 35 and inactive.... Kostya is/was a great fighter... but people tend to forget on that great night, that Kostya was winning the fight CLEARLY untill he gassed also, sometimes outclassing Ricky. Oscar never outclassed Floyd.
So I don't think the fact that DLH ran Floyd to the wire means that much.... DLH is an all time great in his own right and for me showed that a 1997 version of DLH at 140 would have beaten the 2007 version of Floyd. However, that doesn't mean that Floyd is useless or cannot be alot better than Ricky.