28.11.07 – By Cesar Pancorvo: That is a question that circulates the mind of a lot of fans interested in the Mayweather-Hatton bout, which will happen on just two weeks. Many will try to discredit Mayweather taking this fight by saying he’s not facing a real Welterweight, that he’s fighting a Light Welterweight and ducking a lot of talented men in his own division (like Cotto, Williams, Cintron, Margarito, Mosley), a division where he’s the supposed Champion.
I say: Shouldn’t we all show a little respect for these two Champions who are fighting each other? This situation is not like Bernard Hopkins fighting Winky Wright sixteen pounds above Wright’s best weight; these are two Champions of adjacent weight classes.
Ricky Hatton looking terrible against Luis Collazo is an overused argument that some people employ to anticipate that Hatton will look awful against Floyd Mayweather. According to them, the Collazo fight showed that Hatton should never fight above 140 pounds. And that could be true, because many boxers just couldn’t tolerate fighting above their natural weight class; for example, Bob Foster. (I tend to fight that Hagler would’ve been incompetent above 160 pounds). To explain why Hatton looked bad against Collazo, there are more reasons apart from the weight problem. These are some of them:
1) Luis Collazo´s style. He’s a southpaw, a pure boxer, a rapid long-range fighter with an accurate and fast jab and a style that goes exactly against Hatton’s way of fighting –slugging, brawling, inside fighting, landing bombs on the opponent’s rib cage–.
2) Collazo was underrated, he was barely a Top10 Welterweight before he fought Hatton and was probably underestimated by the Briton’s camp, which was looking for an easy tune-up fight that would welcome Ricky to the now-rich Welterweight division.
3) Collazo´s body type: He’s big, lean, has reach. His physique is proper for his style. Mayweather is not a big welterweight, and Ricky Hatton knows that. Mayweather’s body type was alright at 130, 135 and 140, but above that he’s small compared to the average fighter.
4) Hatton was 147 in the weigh-in, but 160 in the actual fight. Things will be different the night he fights Mayweather
About fighting at 147, and not 140, Hatton said: “I’m not overly concerned about it. I’ve eyed Floyd up physically when we’ve stood next to each other and, like I say, he’s not a massive welterweight. I’ll probably get in the ring heavier than him.”
The night of the fight, Mayweather won’t exceed the 150 lbs., while Hatton has said that he will probably be 154: “Also, for Mayweather, I’ll get in the ring at the weight I fight best at, around 11 stone”. That is 154 lbs. Hatton’s extra weight in the Collazo fight –more than six unnecessary pounds– gave him strength, were useful in the clinches, but affected his speed, his reflexes and athleticism.
Furthermore, let’s remember that this is a fight at 147 pounds between a fighter whose best weight is 140, and another fighter who, at this age, should be 135 or 140 at max. Not only Hatton has the disadvantage, if you consider that Mayweather started his career at Super Featherweight.