By Frank Gonzalez Jr. May 13th, 2006 – Saturday night in Boston, former Light Welterweight Champion and the pride of Manchester England, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton made his debut in the USA, facing Brooklyn’s own, 147-pound WBA Champion Luis Collazo.
Ricky Hatton is one of my favorite fighters and I hate to say it but he proved fairly one dimensional against the slick boxing, veteran Welterweight Luis Collazo, who got floored early but came back to figure Hatton out quickly and out box him with cleaner punching and superior defense for most of the night.
In the opening moments of the fight, Hatton (41-0, 30 KO’s) landed a leaping left hook that pushed Collazo (26-2, 12 KO’s) down to the canvas from the combination of being off balance and surprised. Collazo got up quickly. When action resumed, Hatton pressed furiously, while Collazo worked to protect himself and make it out of the first round. It looked like it was going to be an easy night for Hatton and that Collazo would crumble quickly. Wrong.
After the big 10-8 first round for Hatton, Collazo slipped early in the second, and it was ruled as such. Hatton was all over Collazo with his trademark pressure. Collazo landed a clean right hook that shook Ricky up. Hatton kept pressing and landed a big right that rocked Collazo. Though Hatton was doing more damage, Collazo was getting into his rhythm and finding his road map to neutralizing The Hitman.
10-9 Hatton.
They wrestled in clinches early in the third. A head butt forced the very competent referee John Zablonke to separate them and take a time-out. Blood was dripping from a cut on Collazo’s head but he looked well able to continue. He even turned the tide in his favor with some crisp combinations that landed flush. Hatton took to grabbing on and hoping to score inside but it was Collazo who was able to deliver the more telling shots during the wild exchanges. Collazo’s defense and aggressive counter punching let Hatton and the fans watching around the world know that this would be no walk in the park for the Hitman after all.
10-9 Collazo.
Collazo opened the fourth with a spot on right hook to Hatton’s face. Hatton returned with wide swinging shots that too often were missing the mark. Collazo was using distance and good timing to be the more impressive boxer in the fourth. 10-9 Collazo.
The fifth consisted of more of the same, Hatton charging forward, grabbing in close and Collazo slipping Hatton’s punches and landing good counters in spots. Hatton looked confused and incapable of out hustling his heavily tattooed opponent with the fast hands and slick mobility. A time out was called as the ref separated the fighters to check the blood streaming slowly from Collazo’s head from the earlier head butt. Collazo peppered Hatton with shots that had Hatton’s left eye swelling shut. 10-9 Collazo.
The seventh was a better round for Hatton in some spots but Collazo continued to be the ring general, in control and scoring the more better shots, while Hatton charged forward, clinched and constantly had to reset his offense. Another time out was called to fix tape on Collazo’s gloves. Why don’t they all use duct tape? It has to be intentional to use anything less. Collazo didn’t need the extra time outs though. Hatton worked hard but was mostly ineffective against the slick southpaw from Brooklyn.
10-9 Collazo.
In the eighth, Hatton started retaking the momentum as he worked quite hard to get inside and land some good shots. Collazo swarmed Hatton to neutralize the effect of Ricky’s rally. Hatton was able to do some good work in the eighth, enough to say he won that round.
10-9 Hatton.
The ninth saw a desperate Ricky Hatton struggle to land anything cleanly. Collazo held his ground and traded with Ricky in spots. Late in the round, Collazo landed a flush left that had to hurt. Hatton’s sheer pressure kept this a fairly even round. Hatton’s left eye was just about closed at the sound of the bell.
Even.
Hatton aggressively pressed the action to open the tenth. Collazo fell from a push, called a slip. Collazo landed a left followed by a combo to the body. Hatton landed a left right combo, they slugged it out and Ricky got the better of it until Collazo elected to box outside and take advantage of his superior boxing skill. Late in the round, Hatton landed a big right.
10-9 Hatton.
Between rounds, Hatton was furiously attended to in his corner to control the swelling over his left eye. Ricky looked something I’ve never seen before; tired. His face was a swollen pulp. Collazo looked fresh and save for the cut over his forehead, appeared relatively unblemished in his corner.
The eleventh was more of the same, with Collazo landing the cleaner punches and Hatton missing too often during ineffective rallies.
10-9 Collazo.
In the final round, Hatton slipped in the corner of the ring (ruled a slip). Collazo pummeled Ricky with a variety of shots, notably a right to the face that gave the impression that Hatton could be on his way to losing by knockout. Hatton desperately pressed on, albeit ineffectively. I can’t imagine anyone who knows anything about boxing could have scored Hatton the winner of the final round. 10-9 Collazo.
As the official scores were read, 114-113 and 115-112 twice, I was almost shocked that Luis Collazo was about to get his due. Then I heard, “And the new…”
Ricky Hatton is a tremendous fighter and a great ambassador for boxing but Luis Collazo clearly out boxed him for eight of twelve rounds. Somehow, the Judges scored Hatton the winner by Unanimous Decision.
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When it was over, Hatton’s body language admitted what was obvious—he got a gift decision in a fight he lost. It wasn’t a beat down type of loss. It was the kind where you get beaten to the punch too often to say you honestly won. Hard core fans have waited long to see how Ricky would do outside of England. I don’t know if the answer is clear. Maybe Hatton just had a bad night.
During the post-fight interviews, Hatton was humble and admitted the noticeable difference of power at 147. He credited Collazo for his power and ability. As for what he does next, he said he could go down to Jr. Welter or continue at 147, depending on the opponent.
When asked for his take on things, Collazo commented that he was the Champion, and that it was Hatton’s job to take his belt away. He felt that Hatton didn’t do enough to justify the decision victory.
If you didn’t know him last week, you know who he is now. Luis Collazo was definitely Ricky Hatton’s toughest opponent to date. Collazo gave a good account of himself and will probably be avoided like the plague by the big names. A southpaw with a slick style is not commonly found on Hatton’s resume. I credit both guys for rising to the challenge. It was a great fight. If the emphasis in scoring is on clean punching, ring generalship and defense, then the wrong guy won. But hey, that’s boxing.
I don’t see how a loss would be a bad thing for Hatton. Most times, the experience of a loss makes a fighter better. The only bad loss is one you don’t learn from. But for marketing purposes, being undefeated remains a BIG DEAL.
The power of name recognition and stardom overshadowed reality Saturday night in Boston. For Hatton, this is the first time I’ve seen him win a questionable decision. I do hope it’s the last. Collazo deserves a rematch but somehow, I doubt he gets one.
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