15.05.06 – Bill Calogero, TheDailySports.com: Ricky “Hitman” Hatton became the new WBA Welterweight Champion by winning a unanimous decision over Luis Collazo in front of a sold-out crowd broadcast live from Boston, Massachusetts by HBO. “Hitman” improves to 41-0 (30 KOs), while the game Collazo drops to 26-2 (12 KOs).
Hatton used his aggressiveness to win the decision. Collazo used his boxing skills to make this fight extremely close. Within ten seconds of the first round, Hatton caught Collazo with a left hook that put him down. It wasn’t that powerful of a punch, and it didn’t seem to hurt Collazo at all, but it WAS a knock down and in my opinion, it determined the outcome of this bout..
Two of the three judges at ringside scored the bout 115-112, while the third had it 114-113 all in favor of Ricky “Hitman” Hatton. TheDailySports.com scored the fight 115-112, also in favor of Hatton.
It was a good fight, it really was, but it proved to me that Hatton may have entered into a different world of boxing than what he has been accustomed to. Hatton moved up in weight to fight a bigger Luis Collazo. Like I said, if you look at the outcome and see who is now wearing the WBA Welterweight Championship Belt around his waist, it would appear that the move up in weight was not a problem. I think it was. I also think in the months to come, I will be proved right.
During the fight, the boring duo of commentators we are always forced to listen to during HBO broadcasts, kept saying how much of an advantage Hatton will now have by moving up. They mentioned possible future fights with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and Arturo Gatti. Although these fights sound great and WILL be intriguing, I think that Luis Collazo showed us last night that Hatton is VERY beatable. The only advantage I see is for HBO PPV.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like Ricky Hatton. I think he is as much of a throwback fighter as we have seen in quite a long time. He has that killer instinct. He wants the KNOCK OUT. He NEVER seems to run out of gas. He has heart. He is known for his vigorous workout and training sessions. His life is boxing. He is a likeable guy outside the ring….a guy you want to hang out with. All of these qualities make any boxing fan or anyone else for that matter, like the guy. He reminds me of a smaller version of the late GREAT Rocky Marciano.
However, what Luis Collazo was able to magnify last night was Hatton’s lack of defensive skills. He showed us that he keeps his hands down, and his head exposed all of the time. Collazo was able to win rounds by boxing him. As a matter of fact, if Collazo had a little bit of gas left in his tank during the 12th and final round, he would have put Ricky down. Hatton WAS hurt, there is no question about it. What did happen was that Hatton survived the round and went on to win the fight thus being crowned the new WBA Welterweight Champion.
With that said, do you think Ricky Hatton can beat a warrior like Arturo Gatti for twelve rounds? Can he even come close to beating an Oscar De La Hoya? Better yet, could he stand a remote chance of beating a sharp shooter with movement like Floyd Mayweather?
If he can, he will go down in history as one of the best, but based on what I saw last night, he has made a BIG mistake moving up in weight, at least now.
Only time will tell and I for one can’t wait to see him fight any of the top three in the division. I will say this, a fight between Ricky “Hitman” Hatton and Arturo Gatti should be fun to watch, that’s for sure! I hope that is the first one we get to see. After all, according to my favorite HBO commentators, “Ricky wants only tough fights”. Well, talking about fighting the likes of Mayweather, De La Hoya and Gatti, tough fights are an understatement.
I am not taking a thing away from Ricky Hatton or his win. I just honestly feel with his style and size, he should of stayed in the Lightweight and Super Lightweight Divisions. The step up in weight will bring him bigger, stronger, faster and since it seems to be the most talented division in today’s world of boxing, the BEST competition out there. But then again, maybe that is exactly what the “Hitman” wants. I wish Ricky Hatton all the luck in the world and one piece of advise. KEEP YOUR HANDS UP!
Bill Calogero, TheDailySports.com