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A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF HATTON VS. MAYWEATHER

Posted on | August 27, 2007 | 3 Comments

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THINK FLOYD WILL WASTE HATTON? THINK AGAIN!

BY: Patrick McElligott

The final four months of 2007 will provide boxing fans with many outstanding fights. Some, like the Maskaev vs Peter match, will help determine the future of a division. Others, such as the recently postponed Vargas vs
Mayorga fight, are attractive as tributes to warriors long past their primes. All in all, from September to December, it is going to be a great time to be a boxing fan.

In the next few weeks, it will be fun to take a closer look at a number of these outstanding contests, and to speculate on what factors will play the most important role in determining the outcomes. Two things will come into focus: First, that styles make fights; and second, that what the great Cus D’Amato called “the intangibles” are very real. And what better “super fight” to illustrate that could we ask for, than the December 8 contest
between Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Ricky Hatton?

Mayweather is widely recognized as the pound-for-pound best in the sport today. He is at his peak today. Hatton had been considered a tough potential opponent for him, until his May 2006 fight with Luis Collazo. But since then, most experts have concluded Mayweather would easily defeat the rugged Englishman. In fact, one television personality has said that Floyd should fight him before someone else stops Hatton on cuts.

This is a case of where the “smart money” is wrong. Read this with an open mind, and remember that you heard this on Fight News Unlimited first.

Mayweather is indeed in his prime. I think he is the most gifted athlete –in any sport – of this generation. And he should beat Ricky Hatton, but it is not a given. Ricky Hatton actually has a greater chance of defeating
Mayweather than any other fighter in the welterweight classes.

Let’s take a look at the historical example of Sugar Ray Robinson, the man that many believe to be the greatest fighter ever to lace on a boxing glove.

And let’s look at Ray in the context of styles and intangibles.

Ray went 85-0 as an amateur. He had 69 KOs in those 85 fights. Still, I remember the story of Steve Kukol, an amateur boxer from Johnson City, one of the neighborhoods where my family boxed for generations.

Steve fought Ray four times, and these are 25% of Robinson’s amateur decisions. Steve also played a role in one of Ray’s trainer George Gainford’s decisions.

Steve had a lead over Ray in their first war, in the Madison Square Garden. But Ray dropped Steve in the final minute for a 9-count, and pulled out the victory in this semi-finals bout in the Eastern Golden Gloves. The two then became sparring partners for a two week period. Then, they fought more 5-round battles in Syracuse and Watertown. In their last match, many people believed Steve deserved the decision. It was, as far as I know, the only controversial win in Ray’s amateur career.

Eight days before his pro debut, Robinson was scheduled for a high profile last amateur match at the Garden. But that afternoon, when the promoters said it would be against Kukol, Gainford said no. “Kukol knows Ray’s style too good – he always makes Ray look bad,” he told reporters.

Ray told Steve that he was willing to fight him, but that he had to obey his trainer’s decision. And that’s the difference between being an amateur star and a professional champion – because everyone in the Mayweather camp knows that Hatton is the single toughest fight that Mayweather could pick today.

To illustrate why, we will move ahead in Ray Robinson’s career, to when he fought two wars with an onion farmer from rural upstate New York.

The first fight between Robinson and Carmen Basilio was Ring magazine’s Fight of the Year in 1957; their rematch was the Fight of the Year in 1958.

When we read the reports from those days, or even watch the films of those wars, we appreciate why. Clearly, Carmen’s style presented problems for Ray.

More, when we watch the recent interviews with Basilio on ESPN-Classic, we begin to get a feel for the intangibles. Carmen had attempted to introduce his wife to Ray in New York City, and Robinson insulted him. The intensity of Carmen Basilio’s dislike for Robinson is clear decades later, even after Ray’s death. It isn’t the same type of bitterness that Joe Frazier expresses towards Ali; instead, but it is passionate.

Ray had the physical advantages: he was taller, heavier, and had a longer reach. He was a more gifted boxer, starting with his jab, his ability to deliver combinations from any angle, and his extraordinary defensive skills.
Carmen was considered easy to hit, because he frequently failed to jab or to bob and weave while coming straightat an opponent. His face often showed the results of getting hit, and he had lost to lesser fighters than the great Ray Robinson.

But Carmen Basilio beat Robinson convincingly in the first fight, and lost a split-decision in the return match. How did this happen? Styles make fights.

Why did it happen? The intangibles came into play.

Even the people who dislike Floyd Mayweather recognize that he has uncanny defensive skills. His fights against warriors like Zab Judah and Oscar De La Hoya showed that. But he also has offensive skills that are often overlooked. These were displayed in his knockout victories over Diego Corrales and Phillip Nduo.

Mayweather also showed a rate of accuracy against Arturo Gatti that was similar to Muhammad Ali’s when he butchered Cleveland “Big Cat” Williams. Before their fight, Floyd had called Gatti a “C+ fighter.” Afterwards, he
explained that he had only said that to “sell tickets.” He has said similar things about Ricky Hatton, but to be frank, he does not need to in order to sell any tickets. There are other issues coming into play.

Hatton did not look his best in either the Collazo or Urango fights. But that isn’t the Ricky Hatton that will step into the ring with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. It would be an error to use those fights alone to measure him. Instead, let’s consider two more important fights: his devastating victories over Kostya Tszyu and Jose Luis Castillo. His emotional intensity translated into physical force against Tszyu, and the great champion’s reign ended on his stool, with a fractured cheekbone, when he could not answer the bell for the final round.

The tough Castillo was counted out after taking a vicious left hook to the liver. Hatton’s punch had broke four of Castillo’s ribs. That is the type of passion and intensity that makes Ricky Hatton the most dangerous opponent Floyd Mayweather could fight.

Mayweather vs Hatton is not the rubber match of Robinson and Basilio. But it is as close to it as this generation will ever get.

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