BoxRec

This has probably been posted before, but hey.....lets hear your views on this one again...if it will ever come off.

I personally think that Cotto is a class act even now, and he has yet to peak. Cotto would be too much for Hatton even now.

Yes, Cotto is the world prospect of the year and I think has greatness written all over him. I think Hatton has the talent and potential to become one of Britians finest ever fighters and has looked excellent in his major outings against Phillips and Tackie - its just I can't find a fault in Cotto. Perhaps Hatton might expose it, but I doubt it.

It is like saying comparing Ken Buchannon with Roberto Duran from what I have seen.

Top Rank has reportedly offered Gianluca Branco a fight with Miguel Cotto in May. Cotto has been very well-matched to date. Even Hatton has met better opponents to date, which really is saying something. I agree, Cotto looks the business, but until he does a number on someone like Branco, I'll hold fire on him.

bennie wrote:Top Rank has reportedly offered Gianluca Branco a fight with Miguel Cotto in May. Cotto has been very well-matched to date. Even Hatton has met better opponents to date, which really is saying something. I agree, Cotto looks the business, but until he does a number on someone like Branco, I'll hold fire on him.

The left hook he smashed the very durable Rocky Martinez with was enough to make up my mind.

Stephen Smith had to take Martinez the full 12 rounds, before winning a home town decision. Cotto smashed him up in 2 rounds.

Cotto is the f*cking business...

bennie wrote:Top Rank has reportedly offered Gianluca Branco a fight with Miguel Cotto in May. Cotto has been very well-matched to date. Even Hatton has met better opponents to date, which really is saying something. I agree, Cotto looks the business, but until he does a number on someone like Branco, I'll hold fire on him.

Good post Bennie, i also made this point on the current scene a while back, yes he has the ability and yes he looks good but let's see him tested first before we all jump on the bandwagon. Some people were saying Hatton is over protected and that Cotto would smash him in 4 rounds etc etc WRONG! Cotto has fought decent guys like Juuko, Bazan, Ceballos but some of his more impressive wins have come against lesser guys. Hatton's attacking prowess is underrated, not only does he jab and move well when needed but let's see how Cotto copes with a ghost white midget constantly smacking home sickening body shots all night before we start hailing his greatness just yet...like you bennie i think the Branco fight will tell us a lot.

I agree that Cotto looks the mutznuts, but I also agree he hasnt been properly caught yet, and somone as murderous to the body as hatton would make him drop his hands and ship a few in so to speak so we will know more once he has been tagged.
However is cotto good enough to give Hatton the run around and pick him off? tell you what it aint gonna happen for a while but when it does its gonna be intriguing. But dont hold your breath!

Cotto is too young for hatton , billy and frank are not currently accepting fighters under the age of 30 just yet lol.
Stu I think you have the right idea

Hatton only comes in wide open when he is fighting guys he knows cannot hurt him, like Hutchinson, Smith and Rios. Against more dangerous opponents he has displayed a more reserved style, a good jab and showed he can box well off the back foot. Ok i am not condoning his better opponents like Magee, Philips and Tackie and saying they are all world beaters but he has shown he can deal effecitively with them. What's that saying, you can only beat what is put in front of you? If he was struggling with these so called weaker fighters then that would be cause for concern, but the fact is he is not.

Think Hatton would be the bookies favorite...just. Only because he's proven world class, and Cotto is a still relatively untested.
But yes he looks the real deal so far, and no doubt you'd get a lot of Brit punters putting cash on him to win - he just looks that good.

But is he as good as he appears to be at this stage??
If the answer is yes, then he's a future Hall Of Famer. Could be a few chinks in the armour yes to be exposed......we'll see.

blue I would be very happy no absolutely p*ssing myself with excitment if they were announce Cotto as Hattons opponent on April 3rd as will be there ringside haaha.
Agree with you though Hatton would have to box his naturally agressive style but to say he would cut Hatton to pieces is a little bit (in my view) strong. We havent seen what happens when cotto does get hit as he would do if he fought Hatton.
Undoubtedly Cotto is the silkier boxer but does he have the same heart, punch resistence and chin. Be good to find out.

They would never take that fight at this stage.

Blue wrote:Steve,
If Ricky tries to trade jabs or box off the back foot against Cotto, I predict he will get cut up & stopped by the mid rounds.

What do U guys think the odds in England would be if Cotto-Hatton were to be announced for April 3rd?

Hatton would be a slight favorite and rightly so, he has beaten better fighters than Cotto.

IMO Hattons wins, he has got too much for Cotto at this stage.

The fight is 2 years off

Cotto won't be guided towards Hatton yet, Cotto is 18 months away from being ready for a title shot if not more.

Hatton wouldn't box Cotto off the back foot, that's not his style, he can box off the front foot however, which is precisely what he did against Tackie, he threw lots of jabs and a lot of straight shots to the head to keep tackie off balance, and didn't actually throw many body shots at all...

J Posted: 18 Feb 2004 09:09
blue I would be very happy no absolutely p*ssing myself with excitment if they were announce Cotto as Hattons opponent on April 3rd as will be there ringside haaha.
Agree with you though Hatton would have to box his naturally agressive style but to say he would cut Hatton to pieces is a little bit (in my view) strong.

If Ricky tries to trade jabs or box off the back foot He will be picked off by a faster & deadlier puncher.
Since Hatton cuts so easily…U do the math. 8)

We havent seen what happens when cotto does get hit as he would do if he fought Hatton.
Undoubtedly Cotto is the silkier boxer but does he have the same heart, punch resistence and chin. Be good to find out.

Haven’t U guys watched any tapes of Cotto’s fights?

Nice post but gotta disagree on a few points......

though the one thing we do know about Ricky is he can recover form a decent punch. He wasnt really in that much trouble against magee he got caught learned and moved on (anymore than when Calzaghe got tagged and got off the floor)........I still hark back to earlier posts and say while Cotto is undoubtedly the better boxer with silky skills, his chin, heart and desire are yet to be fully tested.....its the package that makes truly great fighters not just looking good.
I also disagree that the likes of Tackie / phillips are worse than Bazan (independently ranked 28 in the world I hasten to add) / Juko et al, not only have these guys had similar amounts of fights and of similar ages, phillips was challenging Sharmba mitchell the fight before Hatton, likewise with Tackie with Kostya and mitchell, to say guys that are ex world title challengers arent as good someone as Bazan strikes me as strange, have you ever thought it could be that Hatton is a bit better than you think and made them look bad? It is a possibility you know....time will tell bro!

Either way

I really look forward to these two meeting whenever it may be.....

yes blue I have everytime he shown over here , and he strikes me as more of a boxer than a brawler ? Who has nailed him then? No one Ive seen I havent seen him take a decent shot, sorry I dont get as much exposure to Cotto as you may do over that side of the pond dude but guess you aint seen as many of hattons fights as i have neither bud, so whats your point exactly?

I would also love to see this fight happen, Cotto looks quality but has proved nothing yet the same as Hatton. Poeple say some of us are blinded by Hatton and think he is god's gift and he will get exposed etc well the same can be said of Cotto's followers at the moment...it works both ways.

J Posted: 18 Feb 2004 09:09
though the one thing we do know about Ricky is he can recover form a decent punch. He wasnt really in that much trouble against magee he got caught learned and moved on

He wasn’t in much trouble against Magee because Eamonn mysteriously backed off and let him off the hook. Cotto would have finnish him.

(anymore than when Calzaghe got tagged and got off the floor)........I still hark back to earlier posts and say while Cotto is undoubtedly the better boxer with silky skills, his chin, heart and desire are yet to be fully tested.....its the package that makes truly great fighters not just looking good.

There’s the big difference between Coto & Hatton, Cotto is a whole level above Hatton defensively. Most of the truly great fighters had a good defense.

I also disagree that the likes of Tackie / phillips are worse than Bazan (independently ranked 28 in the world I hasten to add)

Cesar Bazan is only 29 and split two close fights with Stevie Johnson for the WBC title only 3 yrs. before his fight with Cotto. His ranking is distorted by inactivity (Frozen out) and the robbery in Gerena’s hometown. (Get the tape.) I’m sure he would love to cross the big pond and provide a “tune up” for any of the Britt fighters because none of the top fighters (Other than Cotto.) will face him.

No rankings that use subjective & unproven criteria to change actual results can show the real picture. These same rankings have the unproven Ricky Hatton rated #1 over at least 10 fighters who have proven themselves at top rung.

It blows me away when people complain about the ABC’s rankings and then use similar subjective criteria to justify their own.

/ Juko et al, not only have these guys had similar amounts of fights and of similar ages, phillips was challenging Sharmba mitchell the fight before Hatton, likewise with Tackie with Kostya and mitchell, to say guys that are ex world title challengers arent as good someone as Bazan strikes me as strange,

Hatton fought 39 yr old Phillips who had only won 5 of his last ten which was 4 years after Vince’s peak.)
Though official results say he lost a majority decision to Mitchell, the tape will show it wasn’t that close.
30 yr old Ben Tackie who’s biggest win was over a faded little (Two divisions down.) Garcia coming off a debilitating beating by Corrales. Tackie never deserved his shots at Tzyu & Mitchell and proved it by virtually being shut out by them. He also flunked against Vargas & Molina who came up from lightweight because they couldn’t get fights.

have you ever thought it could be that Hatton is a bit better than you think and made them look bad? It is a possibility you know....time will tell bro!

Like most on the board I base my evaluations on evaluation of reports, records and tapes. I also have learned to distinguish reports from press releases.
Though the comparison of records show them on the same level. The tapes show the difference in defence, speed, power and overall ring generalship favoring Cotto.

yes blue I have everytime he shown over here , and he strikes me as more of a boxer than a brawler ? Who has nailed him then? No one Ive seen I havent seen him take a decent shot,

So you’re saying that, because he has not been hit as much as Hatton his chin is suspect?
Cotto is not a brawler, He is an excellent boxer with a deadly punch. 8)

sorry I dont get as much exposure to Cotto as you may do over that side of the pond dude but guess you aint seen as many of hattons fights as i have neither bud, so whats your point exactly?

I have seen 15 of Hatton’s fights on TV or Tape and almost all of Cotto’s.
My point is an answer to the title of the thread.
Hatton’s style is tailor made for Cotto.

Here is a recent evaluation of Cotto by compubox for Cotto’s fight with Soto who is another fighter the top contender’s are avoiding.
http://www.compuboxonline.com/analysis/cotto-sosa.shtml

Fair enough balanced argument and cheers for giving your perspective even if I dont agree with all of it, Magee did back off and you say Cotto would have finished him I guess we will see down the line my friend, that comment is purely subjective and at this stage hypothetical but understand that is the nature of the beast. But I still stand by the fact that Ricky wasnt in that much trouble and his head cleared a la Calzaghe when he kissed canvas.
Re Cotto being better defensively I agree, if you read my earlier comments I say Cotto has better boxing skills including defence, however and im not keep repeating myself here, its the whole package that makes great fighters and to an extent I think Ricky has breen tested on this front more than Cotto. (heart, chin, agressiveness etc) Jury on Coto has yet to be given eveidence on this cos he simply has taken the piss out of most of his opponents as he has been too good.
Re Bazan well you state Tackie and Phillips failed at the top level so did Bazan so again I find this slightly mystifying that you use this as an argument.
Re the ranking these were actually off this site and what was quoted here so as an editor would have thought you would have supported these.
Nuff said. Additionally dude be fair I havent moaned about ranking as yet so think its a bit harsh to use that as a defence.
I agree cotto is a great silky boxer and no Im not saying as he hasnt been hit as much as hatton his chin is suspect, hat I am saying is We dont know if his chin is suspect. Cos he hasnt been tagged properly yet. But if you think he would get in the ring with hatton without getting caught at least a few times by decent shots then Im afraid you cant see past your own opinion dude (sorry no offence meant here but please be realistic) Someone like hatton bases 99% of his ring work on being on the attack and work rate and aggression. If Cotto went to war with him then I see only one winner and if he boxes him I dont believe he is good enough to go through the fight without getting hit.
In response to fights well Ive seen probs 20 of rickys and 6 or seven of Cottos so havent seen as much as you no and I do agree Cotto is great prospect I jhust feel that Hatton is ahead of him at present in terms of what we know and where he is in the world scene, and that to say he would cut Ricky to ribbons by the middle rounds is somewhat one sided view of the future greats in the light welter division.

Can we agree to disagree dude? Though cheers for the link interesting stuff.

EDITING ORGINAL HERE NOW: See Hatton is fighting Pinto who beat Cotto as an amateur not that that means anything but thought I would get the jibe in (just messing). Whats your take blue, dangerous as sosa Cotto's next opponent? I and plenty of others would say so even if his record is a little ambiguous to anyone outside Brazil?