Triad said:
That was the first time I have seen Hatton live. Everyone's comments on the fight are right on. After the first 2-3 rounds Hatton looked confused and awkward. I was extremely worried at the conclusion of the fight that he hadn't done enough to take Collozo's belt. Fortunately the judges saw it differently than I did.
The verdict on Hatton's move up will have to wait until Collozo takes on another top notch fighter(if any of the others will face him.) Maybe he's one of the top 3-4 welterweights in the division.
One interesting stat about their weights was on the night of the fight it was reported that Hatton was back up to 158 and Collozo was back up to 156 pounds.
HBO's anouncer claimed Hatton's normal weight (before training)is around 170.
Yes, he likes to hang out in pubs in between fights and get fat. He seems like a really cool guy, not pretentious at all. But when he starts training they say he goes at it with everything he has.
From the Boston Globe:because there is much money to be made in the welterweight division, the majority of his advisers and promoters will urge him to press on as a welterweight. They'll mention the millions he can make against Arturo Gatti in a unification fight if Gatti wins the World Boxing Council title in July from Carlos Baldomir. They'll remind him of the pot of gold at the end of the blood-red fistic rainbow if he beats Gatti to get to the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, International Boxing Federation welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. They'll leave the blood-red part out when that discussion begins and speak only of green.
HBO's suits will urge him to do the same, already having invested heavily in his future based on him beating Collazo and moving on to those bigger fights on pay-per-view. He confirmed his well-deserved reputation for toughness with an American audience before a roaring house of 6,280 at the Garden (don't believe the 7,850 promoter Art Pelullo cited).
snip
Hatton's loyal liege, trainer Billy Graham, who said he'd never advocated Hatton relinquishing his multiple (WBA and IBF) 140-pound titles and moving up in weight.
In fact, he insisted, he opposed it and now does even more despite Hatton's escape with a slim victory that Collazo (26-2, 12 KOs) naturally disputed.
''I never wanted him to move up to welterweight in the first place," Graham said while asserting his man deserved the unanimous decision. ''Ricky Hatton is the No. 1 junior welterweight [140 pounds] in the world. Why did TV insist he move up to 147? I argued against it, but no one listened. It was out of my bounds
''You move up when you can't make weight. He makes the weight easily and can fight bell-to-bell for 12 rounds and be strong, but these days, to go down as an all-time great, you have to go through [multiple] weight divisions. Why? I said when he was a young lad to him that he would dominate one class. He's a junior welterweight! Floyd Mayweather is [really] a junior welterweight. You want that fight, make it at that weight.''Too often the trainer is seen as a poor relation. They don't listen to him. But I know my kid. I'll make me voice heard before Ricky fights again."
snip
''Kostya Tszyu was a very, very tough fight, but this was a difficult fight for a different reason," said Hatton (41-0, 30 KOs). ''Luis has a tricky [lefthanded] style and I was moving up in weight and straight away fought a world champion. So I'd say, yeah, it was the toughest fight of my life. But I'll fight anybody. That includes Luis in a rematch."
Hatton said knocking Collazo down with a left hand barely 20 seconds into the fight might have been ''the worst thing you can do. You get a bit of a rush in the head and lose your way a little bit." Graham spoke of the same problem, claiming Hatton had not followed the plan they'd worked on after dropping Collazo so quickly. But Hatton admitted it wasn't as simple as forgetting his plan. Collazo's size had much to do with changing that plan.
''I still believe I'm a junior welterweight," Hatton said. ''This [move] was never really in the plans but that's where the [big] fights were. Moving up, I noticed the difference. The force of the shots was very different. He hurt me several times. I'm man enough to admit it."
Article:
[url]http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/boxing/articles/20 06/05/15/a_weighty_decision_for_hatton/?rss_id=Boston%20Glob e%20--%20Today's%20paper%20A%20to%20Z [/url]
