So Hatton was found out again. With seconds left of the second round, having already been floored twice in the first, Manny Pacquiao floored him with a massive left that kept him down long after the count and well into the pound-for-pound king's celebrations. You can argue that the Filipino should have been more concerned about his opponent and should not have been celebrating until Hatton was off the canvas, but completely dismantling a bigger, heavier man, himself ranked well into the top 10 pound for pound fighters, and with such a dominant performance, too, must be a difficult thing not to celebrate.
How did it happen, though? Defeat against Floyd Mayweather could be excused as the brash American - now coming out of retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez - was the bigger man, his shots too powerful for Hatton in the stand-up straight-line fight Hatton brings into every bout. Not so much pound for pound as punch for punch, Mayweather won by being the more physically powerful and having the experience of a career full of heavier hitters than the Mancunian - at least, that's the excuse you could make.
Hatton, this time, was caught out by nothing but his own naivety. The knockout punch, while impressive in power, was not a technical marvel. Hatton walked into it with his hands down and, crucially, his mouth wide open, a target begging to be hit by the lightning-fast Pacquiao. Twice in the first round he had advanced on Pacquiao and been floored by a flurry of lefts and rights flying faster than I could count them, and Hatton didn't learn. He was defeated by his own shortcomings against Mayweather, also. A ferocious hitter on the attack, he has now been defeated twice - counted out on the canvas twice - by flaws in his own defence. This time, there can be no excuse.
Is, as many people say, Hatton's career over? No, of course not. Barely 30 and having lost none of his attacking strength, he can go on for years. As others might put it, he can still bang. His two defeats have come against Hall of Famers and the two greatest pound-for-pound boxers in recent years. There is no shame, so they say, in losing to the best, and at the time he has fought them, both Mayweather and Pacquiao have been the best, of any weight class, in world boxing. I still think Hatton is top ten, but only if he learns to fight like a boxer and less like a street brawler - his trainer, Floyd Mayweather Snr, will, if the rumours are true, be fired from Team Hatton today, and he has been the only one trying to get Hatton to move his head more, to move his body more, to think about his body and his guard rather than just throwing his fists; getting rid of him before he learns - if he indeed can learn - would be criminal.
Hatton's guard was non-existent last night. You could argue that, against a smaller man, he was overconfident and felt he didn't need to protect himself, but he learned a hard lesson last night, and careful observers would have noticed it disappeared against Mayweather as well. Too easily drawn into a brawl with no guard, he will always be found out by top class opposition and that will be the downfall of his legacy - he's 30 now, he cannot take the shots he used to be able to, and the pound for pound kings are there, mostly, because for their weight class, they hit like dump trucks. He's no John Duddy, who's chin is less made of granite and more protected by a Star Trek style force field, able to get pinged in the face all day and come out smiling. He needs to protect himself.
Hatton has the skills, and still has the time to make them count, but he was outclassed last night - he looked for all the world like a bar drunkard taking swings at a master. He would throw and throw and throw, miss, and Pacquiao would wallop him with an expertly-aimed flurry that, more often than not, looked likely to floor Hatton. Men with lesser chins would have been down more in the first and the fight would have been halted, but it was obvious from the first minute that it wouldn't go past the third - that seemed to be what both men wanted. Hatton just wanted it too much, and forgot, if he ever learned, the lessons taught to him by two generations of Mayweathers.
Can he come back from this? Of course he can. But only if, this time, he learns.
On the plus side, the undercard and the bouts in the north-east were also impressive. In Sunderland, Danny Williams defeated John McDermott, this time far less controversially than their first bout last July, but serious questions have to be raised about Williams' career when he has twice been taken the distance - and to a split decision - by a man who is essentially just a lump who Matt Skelton, at the same age Williams is now, knocked out in the first round.
I will go out on not much of a limb here and say I have never liked Danny Williams - for full disclosure, I feel he's a dirty fighter and a cheat who's claim to fame at knocking out a badly aging Tyson was shown up by a classy Vitaly Klitschko and later by the tragically bad Audley Harrison - but no fighter with any claim to a world title shot should be being taken the distance, twice, by a lump from Basildon who's power comes from work on the pasties rather than pads, and they certainly shouldn't need to hold and cheat as Williams was last night to do it.
Tony Jeffries was impressive in front of a home crowd, having his fight stopped after having downed his opponent three times in the first and continuing the onslaught into the second with absolutely no reply, though - whisper it quietly in certain parts of the north-east - the Sunderland boy wasn't the highlight; that honour went to European Light-Middleweight champion Jamie Moore, who's power and skill in defeating Ukranian Roman Dzuman inside two rounds was hugely impressive and surely puts him into the world title picture in a very sparse division.
On the Vegas undercard there was a future world champion on show - Matt Korborov, who might have been only fighting journeyman Anthony Bartinelli, but did it in such style and picked every shot with such poise that I can't think he'll be anything other than a great fighter. A boxer with strength who puts so much thought into his shots is a rare commodity, and you could see him throughout the fight looking for openings, probing for gaps and then striking with serious power. Super-middleweight is such an empty division as well, and I'd love to see him fight Carl Froch.
Other than that, being up until 5 in the morning has taken it right out of me, I'm off for some breakfast.
Good morning.
How did it happen, though? Defeat against Floyd Mayweather could be excused as the brash American - now coming out of retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez - was the bigger man, his shots too powerful for Hatton in the stand-up straight-line fight Hatton brings into every bout. Not so much pound for pound as punch for punch, Mayweather won by being the more physically powerful and having the experience of a career full of heavier hitters than the Mancunian - at least, that's the excuse you could make.
Hatton, this time, was caught out by nothing but his own naivety. The knockout punch, while impressive in power, was not a technical marvel. Hatton walked into it with his hands down and, crucially, his mouth wide open, a target begging to be hit by the lightning-fast Pacquiao. Twice in the first round he had advanced on Pacquiao and been floored by a flurry of lefts and rights flying faster than I could count them, and Hatton didn't learn. He was defeated by his own shortcomings against Mayweather, also. A ferocious hitter on the attack, he has now been defeated twice - counted out on the canvas twice - by flaws in his own defence. This time, there can be no excuse.
Is, as many people say, Hatton's career over? No, of course not. Barely 30 and having lost none of his attacking strength, he can go on for years. As others might put it, he can still bang. His two defeats have come against Hall of Famers and the two greatest pound-for-pound boxers in recent years. There is no shame, so they say, in losing to the best, and at the time he has fought them, both Mayweather and Pacquiao have been the best, of any weight class, in world boxing. I still think Hatton is top ten, but only if he learns to fight like a boxer and less like a street brawler - his trainer, Floyd Mayweather Snr, will, if the rumours are true, be fired from Team Hatton today, and he has been the only one trying to get Hatton to move his head more, to move his body more, to think about his body and his guard rather than just throwing his fists; getting rid of him before he learns - if he indeed can learn - would be criminal.
Hatton's guard was non-existent last night. You could argue that, against a smaller man, he was overconfident and felt he didn't need to protect himself, but he learned a hard lesson last night, and careful observers would have noticed it disappeared against Mayweather as well. Too easily drawn into a brawl with no guard, he will always be found out by top class opposition and that will be the downfall of his legacy - he's 30 now, he cannot take the shots he used to be able to, and the pound for pound kings are there, mostly, because for their weight class, they hit like dump trucks. He's no John Duddy, who's chin is less made of granite and more protected by a Star Trek style force field, able to get pinged in the face all day and come out smiling. He needs to protect himself.
Hatton has the skills, and still has the time to make them count, but he was outclassed last night - he looked for all the world like a bar drunkard taking swings at a master. He would throw and throw and throw, miss, and Pacquiao would wallop him with an expertly-aimed flurry that, more often than not, looked likely to floor Hatton. Men with lesser chins would have been down more in the first and the fight would have been halted, but it was obvious from the first minute that it wouldn't go past the third - that seemed to be what both men wanted. Hatton just wanted it too much, and forgot, if he ever learned, the lessons taught to him by two generations of Mayweathers.
Can he come back from this? Of course he can. But only if, this time, he learns.
On the plus side, the undercard and the bouts in the north-east were also impressive. In Sunderland, Danny Williams defeated John McDermott, this time far less controversially than their first bout last July, but serious questions have to be raised about Williams' career when he has twice been taken the distance - and to a split decision - by a man who is essentially just a lump who Matt Skelton, at the same age Williams is now, knocked out in the first round.
I will go out on not much of a limb here and say I have never liked Danny Williams - for full disclosure, I feel he's a dirty fighter and a cheat who's claim to fame at knocking out a badly aging Tyson was shown up by a classy Vitaly Klitschko and later by the tragically bad Audley Harrison - but no fighter with any claim to a world title shot should be being taken the distance, twice, by a lump from Basildon who's power comes from work on the pasties rather than pads, and they certainly shouldn't need to hold and cheat as Williams was last night to do it.
Tony Jeffries was impressive in front of a home crowd, having his fight stopped after having downed his opponent three times in the first and continuing the onslaught into the second with absolutely no reply, though - whisper it quietly in certain parts of the north-east - the Sunderland boy wasn't the highlight; that honour went to European Light-Middleweight champion Jamie Moore, who's power and skill in defeating Ukranian Roman Dzuman inside two rounds was hugely impressive and surely puts him into the world title picture in a very sparse division.
On the Vegas undercard there was a future world champion on show - Matt Korborov, who might have been only fighting journeyman Anthony Bartinelli, but did it in such style and picked every shot with such poise that I can't think he'll be anything other than a great fighter. A boxer with strength who puts so much thought into his shots is a rare commodity, and you could see him throughout the fight looking for openings, probing for gaps and then striking with serious power. Super-middleweight is such an empty division as well, and I'd love to see him fight Carl Froch.
Other than that, being up until 5 in the morning has taken it right out of me, I'm off for some breakfast.
Good morning.
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