BoxRec

Hatton has a tough assignment in Castillo next. One that he could lose, although I don't expect this to be the outcome. Mayweather says he's retiring after De La Hoya & Cotto is scheduled to face Judah on June 9th.

One wonders whether we'll see Hatton in the ring against the likes of Mayweather, Cotto etc?

If Ricky were not to face these two fighters, in your view, how would that have any bearing on Ricky's status & recognition in the boxing fraternity?

Never say never in boxing. But it all depends what money is on the table and what other options are available.

The general consensus is that 2 easy fights for the same money as 1 hard fight makes better financial sense because the gravy trail can dry up if you lose the hard fight.

Mayweather may be retired after DLH if he keeps his word.

I really think Hatton beats Castillo. Castillos been rated highly off the Corrales win he cheated to get. But Corrales has been beat up twice since then and Castillo himself doesn't look the fighter he was 18 months ago and I had him losing his last fight (many disagree). Ricky will be too fast, too fit and too strong for the old man. Then agains Hatton may also be on the slide so that makes it all more interesting

I think Hatton is going to tear Castillo a new a'hole, I can only concur.

Think that Castillo is going to find fighting a big, strong, aggressive and fast 154 lber which is what Hatton will be on the night, a very unpleasant experience.

Will probably go the distance, as Hatton isn't a massive knockout artist.

i think mayweather will stick to his word and retire.

so u have to say that waiting it out for the mayweather fight has been a mistake from team hatton.

the cotto fight will happen i think. i reckon bob is waiting on that one cos he wants to get hatton towards the end. he's a sneaky old bugger is bob.

I think Hatton will get mauled if he fights Cotto, I don't think he's strong enough at 147, although Cotto didn't look that good against Urkal, Urkal is a different kind of figther.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I think Hatton will get mauled if he fights Cotto, I don't think he's strong enough at 147, although Cotto didn't look that good against Urkal, Urkal is a different kind of figther.

i've always been split on the fight.

what tactics would cotto employ.

against n'dou (a fellow slugger) he boxed and moved. cotto only won by a couple of pts in my opinion that night.

or would he stand in there and bang back. if he does he could fornicate ricky up with those combo's.

i think he'd move though and hatton would win. :)

The N'dou fight though, Cotto broke a rib early on, so had to box conservatively. I think you're right though, Cotto prefers movers to brawlers, but at 147, I think it might be a different case.

At 140, I would have favoured Hatton to bust Cotto up, but not at 147.

To be honest I think this ship has sailed. Hatton has only got two maybe three fights after which he will retire....there was a point where all three fighters(cotto,mayweather hatton) were lightwelters but now they are all in different weight classes I cant see these fights happening and after Ricky's last showing at welter he wont move up again, and cotto will never see 140 again. Thats what I think anyway.

Not sure about Mayweather, he said a while ago before the retirement talk he was fightign for another 5 years or so. If he 'changes his mind' on retirement hes back at 147. Hes either rematching DLH or defending the Welterweight WBC strap against Mosley and possibly unifying against Cotto. If he comes back to 147 the Hatton fights a possibility and 1 I think Mayweather would want.

hitman_hatton1 wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I think Hatton will get mauled if he fights Cotto, I don't think he's strong enough at 147, although Cotto didn't look that good against Urkal, Urkal is a different kind of figther.

i've always been split on the fight.

what tactics would cotto employ.

against n'dou (a fellow slugger) he boxed and moved. cotto only won by a couple of pts in my opinion that night.

or would he stand in there and bang back. if he does he could eff ricky up with those combo's.

i think he'd move though and hatton would win. :)

cotto has good footwork and hits way harder than luis collazo, so i expect him to do at least as well against ricky as collazo did, probably better!!

You dont honestly believe a super ego like Mayweathers going to retire do you? Hes just going to give up all the money and adrenalin rush and sit around twiddling his thumbs?

Mayweather will fight on and on, just like RJJ and co.................!

I find it hard to believe that a planet sized ego like Mayweather is going to retire in his prime.

I think what is far more likely is that he will stop fighting regularly, and do a Sugar Ray Leonard style retirement, where he stays in the gym, sparring regularly, before calling out other fighters for megabucks fights.

If he announced his retirement, then I anticipate a comeback within 12 months of said retirement, against the likes of Cotto, Hatton, Winky Wright, etc.

shoutout wrote:

hitman_hatton1 wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I think Hatton will get mauled if he fights Cotto, I don't think he's strong enough at 147, although Cotto didn't look that good against Urkal, Urkal is a different kind of figther.

i've always been split on the fight.

what tactics would cotto employ.

against n'dou (a fellow slugger) he boxed and moved. cotto only won by a couple of pts in my opinion that night.

or would he stand in there and bang back. if he does he could eff ricky up with those combo's.

i think he'd move though and hatton would win. :)

cotto has good footwork and hits way harder than luis collazo, so i expect him to do at least as well against ricky as collazo did, probably better!!

Collazo is quicker and slicker than Cotto though, who isn't the hardest to hit. Cotto wins by a war of attrition, busting his opponents up. Collazo fights off the back foot more, they aren't really similar fighters.

Collazo is also 5' 9" with a 72 inch reach
Cotto is 5' 7" with a 67 inch reach.

Cotto fights small, out of a crouch, and walks his opponents down, totally different to Collazo's style.

Still think it's a good comparison?

Hatton will probably fight another Inexperienced Columbian Road sweeper and It will be billed as the Ultra Hyper Mega fight he's always dreamed of.

Hatton hasn't fought someone like that in quite some time. Those days are over, even his 'marking time' fights have been of decent quality, Collazo is a decent opponent at Welterweight, and both he and Maussa held belts.

Castillo for me is not the mega-fight it's being billed as, but he's still an elite level fighter, who may or may not be shopworn and on the way down.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

shoutout wrote:

hitman_hatton1 wrote: i've always been split on the fight.

what tactics would cotto employ.

against n'dou (a fellow slugger) he boxed and moved. cotto only won by a couple of pts in my opinion that night.

or would he stand in there and bang back. if he does he could eff ricky up with those combo's.

i think he'd move though and hatton would win. :)

cotto has good footwork and hits way harder than luis collazo, so i expect him to do at least as well against ricky as collazo did, probably better!!

Collazo is quicker and slicker than Cotto though, who isn't the hardest to hit. Cotto wins by a war of attrition, busting his opponents up. Collazo fights off the back foot more, they aren't really similar fighters.

Collazo is also 5' 9" with a 72 inch reach
Cotto is 5' 7" with a 67 inch reach.

Cotto fights small, out of a crouch, and walks his opponents down, totally different to Collazo's style.

Still think it's a good comparison?

cotto's quick combo's are the only comparison to collazo really.

sod all else.

as i say i'm very split on the fight.

a few months ago i was tipping cotto.

keep changing on it.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Hatton hasn't fought someone like that in quite some time. Those days are over, even his 'marking time' fights have been of decent quality, Collazo is a decent opponent at Welterweight, and both he and Maussa held belts.

Castillo for me is not the mega-fight it's being billed as, but he's still an elite level fighter, who may or may not be shopworn and on the way down.

i agree he's not a mega fight.

but on the other hand he's achieved more than the likes of cotto and judah.

castillo would work judah's balls off.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

shoutout wrote:

hitman_hatton1 wrote: i've always been split on the fight.

what tactics would cotto employ.

against n'dou (a fellow slugger) he boxed and moved. cotto only won by a couple of pts in my opinion that night.

or would he stand in there and bang back. if he does he could eff ricky up with those combo's.

i think he'd move though and hatton would win. :)

cotto has good footwork and hits way harder than luis collazo, so i expect him to do at least as well against ricky as collazo did, probably better!!

Collazo is quicker and slicker than Cotto though, who isn't the hardest to hit. Cotto wins by a war of attrition, busting his opponents up. Collazo fights off the back foot more, they aren't really similar fighters.

Collazo is also 5' 9" with a 72 inch reach
Cotto is 5' 7" with a 67 inch reach.

Cotto fights small, out of a crouch, and walks his opponents down, totally different to Collazo's style.

Still think it's a good comparison?

It is and it isn't a good comparison - Cotto has size and strength advantages at 147 similar to Collazo. Cotto is a good outside boxer with a very good jab and straight right. He throws every punch well and is a destructive mid-range to inside fighter - things Collazo is not. HE is also a KO Puncher and combination thrower whos very accurate

Would be an esciting fight but Cotto beats Hatton for me. But Rickys proved me wrong before

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Hatton hasn't fought someone like that in quite some time.

Well he only fought Urango In January.

Whoops! I completely forgot about Urangotango! That was just a tune up for the Castillo fight though in fairness.

Hatton-Castillo is almost the fight that nobody wants. Both guys have slipped off the p4p top ten because they've eached looked like a pile of shit in their last 2 fights.

I think Hatton's had his day. He probably ruined his own career with that lifestyle. If he has, there's no one to blame but himself. Makes you wonder where he can go. His fights are messy and if his engine is packing in, he needs all the good luck he can get.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Whoops! I completely forgot about Urangotango! That was just a tune up for the Castillo fight though in fairness.

I think at this stage Urango maybe tougher than Castillo. Urangos pretty underated. Yes hes limited and not too quick and may or maynot have gift against Rabah. But his strength and power is unsurpased at 140 I could imagine him pushing a middleweight around, Hattons always been the stronger man - against Urango that wasn't the case.

You may be right. Castillo really didn't look very strong in his foray at 140 last time out, physically he looked dwarfed by his opponent, and Hatton is a very strong 140 lber. His arms, shoulders and back looked very slight indeed.

Castillo brings certain things to the table that Urango can't - such as a jab, timing, pressure, a wide range of compact punches, combinations, workrate, footwork.

Questions to ask:

Could Castillo have beat Tyszu in 2005 like Hatton did? It doesn't seem too likely to me. Styles do make fights but this is a good gauge

Who has aged more since 2005? Castillos been in 2 wars, Hattons stamina has faded but Castillo looked faded last time and is now 33/34.

Whos the better boxer? Hatton has faster punches, Castillos seems to have better quality punches. Hatton has better movement. Who has the better defense? Castillo doesn't seem to take punches quite so flush as Hatton does and has a tighter guard.

Whos the best physically? Strength favours Hatton, Hatton should have a better workrate and better speed. Castillo may have better power and may have the ability to take Hatton out late.

Castillo is the bigger hitter, certianly with single shots, and is technically a far better head puncher. However, Hatton walked through what looked like bombs against Tszyu, does Castillo puncher harder than Tszyu? I don't think so.

The main concerns for Hatton are cuts (which have surprisingly not been a major issue since his plastic surgery following the Vince Phillips fight), which could surface again against a spiteful hooker like Castillo.

The other would be if Hatton's stamina fades in the latter half of the fight like it did against Collazo, because Castillo does tend to carry a dig into the latter stages of a fight.

I don't think this will be an issue however, as I cannot believe that Hatton won't have trained like a demon for this fight, and seems to have finally taken on board the notion that he cannot afford to treat his body like a garbage dump between fights, and still remain at the top, with a style that demands that his engine is running full chat for the duration of the fight.