I cant beleive how many people think Castillo will beat and even KO him...I find it almost inconceivable that Hatton loses. Fightnews poll had Castillo KO as the most popular outocme and evrybody here seeems the same. Dont get me wrong Castillo has been a great fighter but he is tailor made for Hatton. A small, slow come forward fighter who is (debatably) past his prime. Whether or not he was motivated last time out Castillo barely scraped a win. Hattons main attributes are his aggressiveness, left to the body, strength and stamina. His chin has also looked fairly sound so far and Castillo is more cumulative than KO artist. Hatton is susceptible to speed and movement - Witter, Malignaggi and even Corley would give him fits - but his career path has been guided well and his "greatest" performances have been against Tackie and Tszyu - See a pattern. Ill be rooting for Castillo next week as I think theres to much hype surrounding Hatton - but I expect it to be a long and painful night.
dsimon writes: I think the perception is that Hatton is playing the game not to lose more so than to win. He looked horrible last time out as well. One wonders if he takes his training seriously anymore. Based on the Castillo fight, at this weight it could be a long night for either guy. If Hatton is too strong for Castillo, or is allowed to dry hump him all night (like he did in his last fight) then Hatton will win a shitty fight again. If Castillo can get his punches off he will win IMO because Hatton has no stamina in the later rounds lately and cannot rock Castillo. Personally I think if Hatton gets a nice fat ass whipping it may either finish him, or get him to realize that fighting for Warren and as his parent's cash cow is a losing proposition. It may inspire him to actually hire a team with his best interests at heart and he might be able to have a decent career. One can only hope.
Hatton can talk all he wants about this fight being exciting and how he'll look impressive, but we know he won't, he's wrestled Tszyu, Maussa, Collazo and Urango,..there's no reversing his style from here on, he's burnt out, shot, and incapable of anything better for whatever reason, the binge drinking inbetween fights or literally walking into far too many punches over the course of his career, who knows?...but he certainly aint the way he used to be.
dsimon writes: His last few fights he started humping in the later rounds and stopped punching. Thats a stamina issue IMO.
.... I don't know what fight people were watching in Castillo's last fight. he won clearly around 8-4. He's not smaller than Hatton,just as strong and more skilled. Hatton is quicker of hand and foot but I think Castillo can neutralize that. Also, I don't think Hatton can dry hump Castillo to death because a lot of times he punishes guys for holding him. I like Castillo by decision in this fight.
dsimon writes: I guess what scares me is how much different Refs could determine the outcome of a fight like this. I mean Cotton who is horrendous basically did not let N'dou fight inside against Paulie. Then you get a ref who will let Hatton basically grab the opponent and hold him inthe later rounds to remain undefeated.:dunno:
I haven't seen either guys latest fights (which sounds like a good thing) so I'm up in the air on this one. I'd like to pick Castillo, but I just have a strong feeling he's on his last legs these days and even with Hattons regression I think Hatton will be able to hump his way to a decision.
He showed tinges of his old self, but was still for the most part a vertical rabbit trap, reminds me of one of those dangerous ghost-buster toys in the 80's that made kids squeal the nieghbourhood over, myself included, those little bastards were like mouse traps,..fucken SNAP! they took hold, and so did Hatton.
