Hatton gets stretched at some point. Even though he's the overall better P4P figher, Jones just hit too hard, and was too strong, and Hatton too easy to hit.
Hatton was the best light welter of the 2000's IMHO: he was a pretty handy at that weight. However, he was bish at 147 and Jones would have iced him. MTF
Pac had precisely one fight there and Mayweather three. Neither man had anything like a sufficient body of work to be considered the best light-welter of the 2000's, regardless of how good either may or may not have been in the short time they were there IMHO. This might descend into a semantic argument, so let me clarify my original point. Hatton was the best at 140 by virtue of his body of work over the course of the decade, as opposed to his being the 'best' fighter who passed through there. MTF
I disagree. Hatton would have been favoured or a live dog against plenty of the best at junior welter in all of those decades IMHO. The same can be said for Zoo, who is the only other contender for the 140lb crown over the decade. MTF
Here's where the distinction between 'greatest' and 'best' applies, IMO. They were clearly the best.:Thumbs:
I agree. The reason why I didn't use the word 'greatest' is because I know for a fact that several souls will pile straight into a debate over Hatton not being great and, to be honest, that's not a debate I feel entirely comfortable entering either. MTF ::
It's a particularly difficult one....i'd be inclined to consider Pac & Floyd the greatest as well as the best Light welters, despite their tiny body of work since they both conclusively beat Hatton. (yes the floyd fight nominally happened at 147 but both men weighed the same in the ring as they did as Junior welters, 148). I think the whole point in judging people on their body of work is to determine how good they are, that they aren't flashes in the pan or that they aren't frauds taking easy touches.....IMO Floyd & Pac both conclusively proved themselves better than Hatton, beyond scope for doubt so, they're the top guys at the weight in every respect I say. Feebes, sometimes I just type & type and words come out. And I can barely remember what I typed or why. Ever feel that way? I think coffee is to blame.::
Happens to me a lot mate, but it's usually the booze... :: Mayweather beat Hatton at welter. I've done this to death but the significance of this fight not being at 140 is that Hatton used to bully the fuck out of people who came in around the 140 mark at that weight. He couldn't do it to Mayweather because by moving up a division he lost his natural strength advantage. Mayweather wouldn't have weighed 148 if the fight was scheduled at 140 IMHO whilst Hatton would have. The thing that amazed me most about that fight in fact was that on the rare ocassions Hatton got inside and wasn't pulled up by Joe the Idiot, Mayweather was simply much, MUCH stronger physically. As for Manny, I personally think his best weight may well have been 140, and the way he beat Hatton was frightening, but Hatton was significantly declined by the time that fight took place (and I said as such for about two years prior to his losing that fight before anyone tries to claim I'm revising history here) and, as I said, he only had one fight there. I wouldn't doubt for a moment that Manny was a better fighter, because he clearly was, but one fight is one fight. Hatton had forty odd before he finally lost and, to all intents and purposes, he cleaned out 140 between 2005-2008 (save for those who had went through the division before he had a chance to fight them). That's my tuppenceworth... MTF :dunno:
I think he'd put up a good fight against most of the best, but beat zero of them... he would definitely beat some good contenders though I just cant see him ever being able to truly hang in there with the likes of Chavez, Taylor, Pryor, Cervantes, Benitez, Locche, Ortiz, Hoya ... I just can not envision a scenario where he has a snowball's chance in hell against any of them
I think he gives a few of them a very decent fight but to be fair you just about named a whos-who of 140lb-ers...:: As I alluded to above, I don't actually think that Hatton is 'great', but he was a very good champion who had plenty of title defences and beat comfortably plenty of B-Level fighters and one who was arguably elite. IMHO he would have been a titlist in any decade and would have given plenty of the very best a lot to think about. All I said was that he was 'pretty handy' at 140. I stand by that supposition. MTF :nana:
I'm not really sure how to reconcile the body of work vs the obvious quality thing in terms of terms. Again we're in the territory of one of these semantic discussions which literally ONLY feature in my life due to boxing forums. Like I said the other weak I wentt through a whole degree without thinking as deeply as definitions as I do at least once a fucking weak on fightbeat. :: Constantly sitting here grappling with the subtle distinction between terms like a high court judge or something.....we should all be doing something more useful. :giggle:
Hatton would do very well in the POST-Pryor 80's 140. From the time Pryor retired, up until Taylor got going and Chavez moved up... 140 pretty much sucked. I mean, you'd have to favor Hatton over guys like Billy Costello, and Terry Marsh.
