BoxRec

Hatton was brilliant, he is so strong at 140... That is why I would still favour the 147 guys over him and I still think of those mentioned its DLH (too big, too fast) that would be the most wrong for him. Although, if he delievers a punch like that again then anyone will go.

Possibly why I am so chuffed with the display. Since Hatton has stepped up, even to the Magee, Olivera, Tackie level the body shots haven't made a dent on anyone. For the first time, he has KO'd someone clean with a body shot. Before, I had no proof that he could hurt a world class with his pet punch - now he has and you have to say that Mayweather, DLH, Cotto, Mosley, Margarito etc - COULD all suffer the same fate. I do fancy all of them to hurt Hatton more easily than Hatton can hurt them, but I give Hatton much more of a chance now.

I give Hatton more of a chance now than I did immediately after Tszyu. He busted old Tszyu up, but never looked close to stopping him during the action. This performance also shows just how blooming strong Kostya Tszyu was and also Urango at 140... cause at times both outstrengthed Hatton, but Castillo couldn't budge him.

I agree with the calls for Witter as the homecoming.... bit of a backward step, but then isn't that what homecomings are about (remember Lewis vs Botha). Hatton should try and stick at 140 for as long as possible... Hope another super fight could be made.

I still hope that in 2 years time we get to see Khan vs Hatton.

i have flirted with that thought stu - i still dont think it will ever happen though and i certainly would not want a faded champion trying to find some old magic in the tank to beat off a new pretender. thats a sight in boxing i have always disliked.

hatton may yet make his mark at 147 though. his body blows up between fights largely because of his lifestyle, when he naturally puts extra pounds on with age then i believe he'll be a force at 147lbs. this is of course commensurate with other factors like battle wear and tear, facial skin frailty, desire/ambition and such.

Belter of a shot: Grade A Ricky Hatton body punch.

He got the early rounds - Castillo very uncomfortable with the pace, pressure and strength of Ricky (not to mention desire) - but the later rounds were looming ominous when the KO came, though his corner were, and will always be, on the ball with that type of situation.

Next? He could possibly look good versus Cotto, whereas he would probably look bad against Moseley or Mayweather - not to say he would lose those fights, more how he would approach them. A good plan would be, imo: 1) Witter in England 2) Cotto in MSG.

the weight issue now makes witter an almost perfect opponent. theres no doubt ricky would be up for it too. i dont think witter has ambitions at 147
and hatton would go into this fight with sky high confidence, something i dont think he had concerning JW a year/18months ago. no worries about witters weight either, junior wont be a better fighter by putting on more pounds.
ricky could do worse than taking him on before the end of the year.

harrygreb wrote:i have flirted with that thought stu - i still dont think it will ever happen though and i certainly would not want a faded champion trying to find some old magic in the tank to beat off a new pretender. thats a sight in boxing i have always disliked.

hatton may yet make his mark at 147 though. his body blows up between fights largely because of his lifestyle, when he naturally puts extra pounds on with age then i believe he'll be a force at 147lbs. this is of course commensurate with other factors like battle wear and tear, facial skin frailty, desire/ambition and such.

Well, I'd be hoping that in 2 years time at Light Welterweight Hatton would still be king. It will be a story of young Lion vs old Lion, but not shot Lion vs young Lion. What will Hatton be 30.

Just a bit sad that you are suggesting (and I'm not saying you will be wrong) that Hatton will be faded in 2 years time. His time at the top has only just started, damn those countless meaningless WBU fights. Robbed him off about 2 years in which he could have been called A geniune world champion, maybe not THE champion - but I'm blooming sure he could have destroyed Mitchell and/or Harris years before the Tszyu fight.

I too don't think it will happen in the time scale I would like to see it happen by, but it would nice to see.

Incidently, on the HBO version of Calzaghe vs Manfredo.... Larry Merchant did a section on "sure fire" prospects... prospects that were pretty much guarenteed to win a world title. Khan was amongst the 6 mentioned. Now, there was two glaring ommitions from Merchant's list... Rey Bautista and Abner Mares. Mares for me is the best prospect in world boxing. However, that list made me think a bit.... Apart from Khan none of the others mentioned by Merchant have made sit up and take notice. So is Khan well and truly the 2nd or even best prospect in world boxing. I think he is.

harrygreb wrote:the weight issue now makes witter an almost perfect opponent. theres no doubt ricky would be up for it too. i dont think witter has ambitions at 147
and hatton would go into this fight with sky high confidence, something i dont think he had concerning JW a year/18months ago. no worries about witters weight either, junior wont be a better fighter by putting on more pounds.
ricky could do worse than taking him on before the end of the year.

The problem is still down to finances from the US side of things. I'm pretty sure that if Gary Reid fought Hatton pretty much any stadium in the UK would sell out... Might not be as quick as if it was Witter, but would sell out. So really the UK revenue wouldn't be great. One of the biggest selling UK shows and one of the fastest selling shows in recent years in the UK was for Tyson vs Francis.

Witter STILL doesn't mean shit in the states and that what counts ultimately. Thats why Paul Dempsey in the over long post fight analysis was thinking of US names who might be tempted to come to the UK for a homecoming.

I personally wouldn't be AT ALL surprised that there is some kind of rematch clause and we will see Jose Luis Castillo fight Hatton in the UK. Regardless if US fight fans think he is shot or not, it is still a much bigger name than Witter... Just like Gatti can still sell an arena, just like Tyson can still sell a stadium... Castillo vs Hatton II would do much better than Hatton vs Witter. Even though it was generally regarded as a dissapointment the biggest fight in boxing at the moment is Mayweather vs DLH II.

I think Malignaggi is a MSG fight, but aside from him I think the biggest 140 lbs fight for Hatton is Castillo.

I would be absolutely stunned if Hatton-Castillo 2 was made after that. Flabbergasted even.

Castillo would need to win something before he gets back in a ring with Hatton, personally I think he retires now.

I think US TV would have absolutely no interest in a rematch of last nights fight.

I don't agree that Ricky should fight Witter now.
He has fought back to get himself up there again after the two prior and poor fights in the U.S.
Witter will be on his bike all the way through and spoil the fight horribly.
The U.S have finally warmed to Hatton, they will go ice cold gain with this fight.
I think we want it in Britain as it's a big british fight and the majority want Witter to get knocked out.
I can't see it happneing anyway, it will worse than watching the Witter/Corley fight.
Just let Witter get dismantled by somebody else, maybe Harris, who knows!
I agree he should stay at 140 but I think he is willing to risk it and go up as Cotto and Mayweather are there.

Cotto imo is a laid back fighter and Hatton would be all over him. I would rate Hatton's chin above Cotto's too. It's just the size thing that would worry me for Hatton. If Cotto was still getting to 140 then I would bet on Hatton in a heartbeat.
Mosely and PBF are a hard push for Hatton, although you can't underestimate a pressure fighter, they can put you off your game.

jeej wrote:I would be very disappointed if Hatton took ANY fights at 147. You could call it brave... or stupid, but he really isn't suited to that weight. The evidence is plain to see, Ricky likes to man-handle his opponents, it's just his style and he cant do it at 147.

He took one fight at Welter and Isn't suited? He was still pushing Callazo back and we know Ricky doesn't like Southpaws.

stu, in no way did i suggest hatton was over the hill or even approaching it. i merely said that i did not want to see a young lion matched with a fading one. a bout between khan and ricky can only be made IMO in the next two years as hatton if he keeps on boxing will go up to welter again. this time taking his strength with him.

two things we do agree on though;
i have thought for a long time that hatton lost 18months-two years of time twidling his thumbs with the WBO when he could have been competing at the level you said. when he beat TZOO i had a rethink but it keeps coming back to me what could have been achieved had he been managed better during that period.

abner mares - great future contender

harrygreb wrote:stu, in no way did i suggest hatton was over the hill or even approaching it. i merely said that i did not want to see a young lion matched with a fading one. a bout between khan and ricky can only be made IMO in the next two years as hatton if he keeps on boxing will go up to welter again. this time taking his strength with him.

two things we do agree on though;
i have thought for a long time that hatton lost 18months-two years of time twidling his thumbs with the WBO when he could have been competing at the level you said. when he beat TZOO i had a rethink but it keeps coming back to me what could have been achieved had he been managed better during that period.

abner mares - great future contender

I think if Khan is managed well, he could be ready to challenge Hatton in two years - but that would have to be his main target and he would need to gear towards it now. He would need to start to train with the Light Welter devision in mind.

Its been 3 years since the Olympics.... the majority of the Olympians who go on to win a world title - do so before the following Olympics. I think if managed well, Khan (who was a prodigious talent) could manage it in 5.

If he is managed well.

Alot though will depend on Ricky, will Billy Graham manage to talk him into staying at Light Welter. Whilst not the big money of the Welters... There could be still one or two intriguing fights - enough for him to stick around for2 years without claiming "I've beaten EVERYONE".

Malinaggi, Witter, Mbaye, Torres, Harris (if the Witter fight doesn't happen), Juan Diaz, Casamayor, Zab Judah (he can move down), Eric Morales (yes, horrible match I know.... but its one that will do well in terms of gate if Morales beats David Diaz).

I reckon Hatton-Witter is just about due, then if Hatton wins he can move upto 147 as Witter is the last real viable challenge at 140 IMO.

khan will have to move away from warrrenn if he is ever to have an audacious career. frankie wastes precious time for boxers IMO. he's a bit like lawless in that respect, although terry made decent careers for quite a few average fighters frankie does it with his best guys

Katon! wrote:

jeej wrote:I would be very disappointed if Hatton took ANY fights at 147. You could call it brave... or stupid, but he really isn't suited to that weight. The evidence is plain to see, Ricky likes to man-handle his opponents, it's just his style and he cant do it at 147.

He took one fight at Welter and Isn't suited? He was still pushing Callazo back and we know Ricky doesn't like Southpaws.

It was Ricky himself that said fighting at 147 was not a good thing for him, said it was a bit of a nightmare and he just couldn't operate like he does at 140. But yeah, I know, it was one fight.

he was right. but in time he will go up again, no doubt whatsoever.