BoxRec

I watched the first round of Hatton/Magee the other day which then triggered me to watch the first round of Hatton/Castillo. It was obvious to me that there was a difference in Hatton's overall movement. In the Magee fight Hatton looked wired, his feet were constantly skipping in and out of range, gloves constantly twitching ready to fire, shoulders constantly fainting. This is what made Hatton, he was so exciting to watch back then. Watching the first round of the Castillo fight i personally see a difference in his overall movement. He seems to have aged a little, overall he seems a little slower than he was back then. It can be argued that he is more seasoned now, that he has learned to settle down and not be foolish early on. Its open to debate!

I do recall Hatton took criticism for his over-eagerness to rush in in the Magee fight, but even still, i think its a good example to take when comparing him then to how he looks today. I should say that i watched several of Hattons opening rounds from back then and a few of his latest post Tyszu, so i am not just drawing my opinion from the two fights i've used in my comparison here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jRb7XTeJ8w
The full first round of Hatton/Magee can be watched in the above link. Wait 1 minute until the opening clips have finished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDO0g44E ... ed&search=
The first round of Hatton/Castillo


I'm a big Hatton fan and i'm certainly not out to pour criticism on him before his biggest ever fight. He's still Mr Excitiment and great to watch. I dont believe he has changed dramatically in any way, but i do think some of the spark he had back then has faded a little. Age has taken that i believe!

What do others think?

ALI wrote:He seems to have aged a little, overall he seems a little slower than he was back then.

I hear time can do that to a man. Probably just a rumour though.

jeej wrote:

ALI wrote:He seems to have aged a little, overall he seems a little slower than he was back then.

I hear time can do that to a man. Probably just a rumour though.

Its not a romour jeej, time catches up with us all. Question is, how much has it caught up with Hatton? I notice a difference and i've pointed this out. Do you?

In his last four fights, he hasn't looked anything like he looked back then. People forget that there was talk of him fighting the Tszyu-Judah winner. It's taken so many years and fights for him to get this far (or step up), and his lifestyle outside the ring (and the extreme yo-yoing of weight since early 03) has definitely caught up with him in the last few years.

All about peaks and troughs. Hatton may be slowing down a little bit, but then again, so is Mayweather. He doesn't punch as hard since moving up to 10stone and hasn't really cracked since he was at superfeather.

All world champions go through ups and downs (For every Ali v Frazier there is an Ali vs George Chuvalo II or Mac Foster) where they look great one fight, not so great the next. It's impossible to look you're best every time you fight.

Hatton looked very well-prepared vs Castillo and I don't think he put the usual three stone on after it so he should be in great nick for Mayweather and let us not forget: Hatton's a top fighter and this is the biggest fight of his life and up until now he's never failed the challenges set of him. Whether or not he can beat Mayweather, we know it won't be for want of trying or lack of preparation. One thing is. Mayweather can't hit as hard as Kostya Tszyu at any weight and Hatton wore him down and Tszyu was in great shape for that fight. Mayweather may win on points but I just don't see him having the devil to really stand toe-to-toe with Hatton. It's just not his style. He won't get away with lying on the ropes with him either, so he's going to have to show the kind of grit he hasn't really had to show, because he won't be getting 30 second to a minute breaks that De La Hoya gave him. And he barely did enough to win that!

I'd love to see Hatton win. Be even then he won't get the credit he's due.

Hatton went back to having triple chins when they were speaking to him Inbetween the Anderson fight.

i would go as far as to say that in the first 3 rounds of the urango fight ricky looked absolutely awesome, quick, in and out raids, feints, superb footwork etc..

then the last 8 rounds was perhaps the worst i have ever seen ricky, personally i think he was 'gassed'. whether this is down to yo yo dieting or the alleged cold at the time is still open to debate.

It might be due to the level of opponent why Hatton appears to be "slowing down" and with less movement. For all Collazo, Urango and Maussa's faults. They would probably start as clear favourites of Hatton's pre Kostya victories (at the stages of the career Hatton fought them in).

I personally don't think Hatton has aged, just I think did alot of things wrong vs Kostya, but got away with his cause his strength and chin was superb that night. Kostya was almost landing at will in the early mid rounds, but just didn't have the engine or legs to sustain it. It seems like Hatton now thinks he can fight that way vs anyone and get it away with it. So far he has done, but I'm not convinced he will do vs Mayweather.

I have to say I think the first 5 rounds vs Urango was the best I have ever seen Ricky perform. Then he just went into stationary target again.

I think that Hatton has simply calmed down. His footwork has always been good, but where you might say he's not boucing on his toes as he was, I would argue he's more economical.

His punches may have lost a tiny bit of speed, but I think Hatton looks stronger these days and more organized in defence.

It's very difficult to compare his performances in those two fights. Magee was always looking to edge away to give his rangy counter-punches room, whereas Castillo was looking to close the distance as quickly as Hatton.

In the COllozo fight he wasn't jabbing or fainting enough for my liking just walking into range and trying to punch away.