Fighter of the year: Can there be any doubt?

he did? well i would argue that he wasn't having nearly the success with it against Mosley in their first fight that he was against PBF. that's what makes it so puzzling.

and he used it a lot in the second Mosley fight. i know that. and relied on it almost exclusively in the later rounds against MAGO and Trinidad.

and he certainly needed it throughout against Vargas.

it sounds like you're trying to pretend it hasn't been a major staple in his game. but the fact is, for most of his career, it was.

against Quartey too he relied on it heavily throughout the fight.

 

:dunno: You don't agree that undefeated Joe Calzaghe isn't the best in his division? He beat a legit opponent his own size. Not a guy coming up in weight. And Pavlik whupped the king and took his crown.
Floyd is overrated.

 

yes. stamina is a defining factor in a fight and in a fighter. and in ODH's case, his stamina has never been worse than it is now. and if it's bad enough that he found it necessary to abandon the one weapon he was having nearly uninterrupted success with, it shows you just how bad it's gotten.

 

The difference with them is that unlike others, Floyd doesn't have to prove himself.

 

::

 

I prefer it when you go BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! ::

 

Floyd has already proved himself. That's the point you've conveniently missed. The burden of proof is now on the rest in his division to prove that they are better than him, not the other way around.

Simple really.

 

I'm laughing because no way Floyd is "overrated". ::

Secondly, I seem to remember you picking Ricky to KILL him, but now that Floyd wins suddenly Hatton is undersized and not a legit threat! :: You're embarraing yourself with your lack of integrity and you don't even realize it.

Yes...both Calzaghe and Pavlik had GREAT wins this year...but Floyd had TWO great wins, and each of them only had ONE great win. That's the difference.

Whether you think Oscar was not quite at his best or not the fact is he looked GREAT in his previous fight, and Floyd won his 6th title in 5 divisions. Floyd was a significantly smaller man that Oscar. Floyd is arguably smaller than Gatti and you KNOW how much bigger Oscar was to gatti when they fought.

Ricky Hatton stopped Castillo and Tszyu so don't pretend now, after the fact, that he's a scrub!

So continute with this "stupidness" and I shall continue to laugh!

 

He stopped them at 140, not 147. If Hatton/Mayweather happened at 140 and Mayweather knocked his ass out, I'd be here wearing a "Sly is my Black God" sig.
What does it prove to beat a man in a weightclass where he's physically incapable? Like DLH going up to 160 and losing to Bernard. Does Bernard get endless credit for being the first and only man to stop Oscar?:dunno:

 

He has proven that he deserves the title. He has NOT proven that he stands clearly above the rest of the division as he has legitimate challengers waiting. Much more so than say Calzaghe or Wlad.

 

It's funny how much is being made of beating Hatton, when he had in fact one fight at 147...and barely scraped by (against a fighter who was dominated by Mosley and is on the fringes of the top 10 in the division).

Compare that to Pavlik's win over Miranda.

Miranda was coming off of a very good performance (and highly controversial loss) in a title fight against a good middleweight champion in Abraham (who I think it's fair to say is better, comparatively speaking, than Collazo) and followed it up with an impressive win over an undefeated super middleweight prospect/contender in Allen Green.

It should also be pointed out that Miranda has fought as high as super middleweight and light heavyweight...significant given that Hatton was coming up in weight to fight Mayweather and had yet to establish himself as an elite welterweight.

Miranda was considered by many, before the Pavlik fight, to be the best contender in the division and among the top 2-3 middleweights, period.

Not sure anybody considered Hatton that good at 147...especially given his struggle with Collazo.

I think that win is being seriously downgraded in this discussion.

 

what's amazing is how useless Hatton can be later in fights when he's not the stronger guy. my guess is he'd have trouble beating anyone in the top 10 at 147.

 

Hatton's just not made for 147 just like DLH wasn't made for 160.

 

Yet you picked Hatton to beat THE BEST!!:dunno:

 

i agree. and all you have to do to understand why is to look at the change in styles that Duran adopted as he moved up in weight. his balls to the walls style at 135 just wasn't going to work at 154 and above (and to a lesser extent at 147).

Hatton's even shorter than Duran though - and in all probability, even if he did have the skills that Duran did to alter his style, he'd just be too easy to out-box given his short arms and 5'5" stature.

 

Pavlik has had a more impressive year than Floyd. Popularity shouldn't come in to play when you are talking about fighter of the year.

Pavlik had 3 fights this year, KO'd all three guys. Miranda was considered the number one contender and Taylor obviously the undefeated champion and he KO'd them both impressively.

 

It's funny how much is being made of Hagler beating Hearns, when Tommy had in fact ZERO fights at 160lbs (at the time).

 

mayweather himself started out at 130. would the fight have turned out differently had it been at 140 pounds where floyd was faster and arguably hit harder?

 

the weight issue is a complete joke. fact of the matter is, hatton refused to fight mayweather when they were both at 140. a wise move on his part because he ended up getting more money for his troubles when he did face him.

 

I think you're using the wrong Hitman for your example.

If we're judging how impressive a win over Ricky Hatton at 147 is, perhaps it's best to judge him based on his performances at the weight...instead of say, Thomas Hearns' at 160.

Just a thought.

Thomas Hearns had success above 160 as well...do want to guess how well Hatton does above 147?

 

My point is AT THE TIME Hearns was brand new to the division yet everyone gave Hagler props. Rightly so. Because being new to a division has little do do with it...if you were a DOMINANT champion at the division below.

Leonard beating Duran in the rematch is considered a great achievment on leonard's resume even though it was just Duran's 2nd fight at that weight class.

"Smaller" De La Hoya was considered the favourite over Chavez when he moved up to challnge him.

teh list goes on. History has countless examples of this.

How convenient it is nowadays to attempt to denigrate Floyd's achievement by saying that Hatton is new to this division.

inconsistent!

 

Duran had a few fights at welterweight before facing Ray.

Mayweather's win over Hatton is still a very good win since Mayweather himself is a smallish/average sized welterweight, Hatton had more time to prepare for 147 than when he fought Collazo (a career long welter)...but Hatton's style is totally different from tall rangy guys like DLH and Hearns.

 

Hatton wasn't new to the divsion...he'd already shown he was going to struggle...as he did with a marginal top 10 fighter in Collazo.

 

hearns had fought at middleweight prior to facing hagler.

 

Nevertheless...he's was still a "novice" at the division. Hatton fought a Welterweight before facing Mayweather also....

 

And almost got killed in the last round and had to hang on. Floyd needs to fight real welters, not shot old inactive men and little guys coming up.

 

and almost lose/lose in the opinion of some...against a B level at best opponent....

neverhtless a good win for Mayweather.....against a Jr. Welterweight..has face a legit Welterweight in his prime since Bumdomir...

 

You're opinion on Floyd vs Hatton is NULL and VOID since you picked Hatton to beat him.

 

I picked Hatton to win because the fight was supposed to happen at 140 but chicken Floyd wanted it at 147. At 140, Hatton kills him!

 

If a guy picks a certain fella to WIN in a fight...then that guy look FOOLISH if the other guy wins and then he says that the first guy was no challenge.

Dumb!