-Photo Credit: D M Warr/DKP-
Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
May 13th, 2006
“Hatton Gets A Gift Decision in His American
Debut”
Saturday night in Boston, former Light Welterweight
Champion and the pride of Manchester England, Ricky
“The Hitman” Hatton made his debut in the USA,
facing Brooklyn’s own, 147-pound WBA Champion Luis
Collazo.
Ricky Hatton is one of my favorite fighters and I
hate to say it but he proved fairly one dimensional
against the slick boxing, veteran Welterweight Luis
Collazo, who got floored early but came back to
figure Hatton out quickly and out box him with
cleaner punching and superior defense for most of
the night.
In the opening moments of the fight, Hatton (41-0,
30 KO’s) landed a leaping left hook that pushed
Collazo (26-2, 12 KO’s) down to the canvas from the
combination of being off balance and surprised.
Collazo got up quickly. When action resumed, Hatton
pressed furiously, while Collazo worked to protect
himself and make it out of the first round. It
looked like it was going to be an easy night for
Hatton and that Collazo would crumble quickly.
Wrong.
After the big 10-8 first round for Hatton, Collazo
slipped early in the second, and it was ruled as
such. Hatton was all over Collazo with his trademark
pressure. Collazo landed a clean right hook that
shook Ricky up. Hatton kept pressing and landed a
big right that rocked Collazo. Though Hatton was
doing more damage, Collazo was getting into his
rhythm and finding his road map to neutralizing The
Hitman. 10-9 Hatton.
They wrestled in clinches early in the third. A head
butt forced the very competent referee John Zablonke
to separate them and take a time-out. Blood was
dripping from a cut on Collazo’s head but he looked
well able to continue. He even turned the tide in
his favor with some crisp combinations that landed
flush. Hatton took to grabbing on and hoping to
score inside but it was Collazo who was able to
deliver the more telling shots during the wild
exchanges. Collazo’s defense and aggressive counter
punching let Hatton and the fans watching around the
world know that this would be no walk in the park
for the Hitman after all.10-9 Collazo.
Collazo opened the fourth with a spot on right hook
to Hatton’s face. Hatton returned with wide swinging
shots that too often were missing the mark. Collazo
was using distance and good timing to be the more
impressive boxer in the fourth. 10-9 Collazo.
The fifth consisted of more of the same, Hatton
charging forward, grabbing in close and Collazo
slipping Hatton’s punches and landing good counters
in spots. Hatton looked confused and incapable of
out hustling his heavily tattooed opponent with the
fast hands and slick mobility. A time out was called
as the ref separated the fighters to check the blood
streaming slowly from Collazo’s head from the
earlier head butt. Collazo peppered Hatton with
shots that had Hatton’s left eye swelling shut. 10-9
Collazo.
The seventh was a better round for Hatton in some
spots but Collazo continued to be the ring general,
in control and scoring the more better shots, while
Hatton charged forward, clinched and constantly had
to reset his offense. Another time out was called to
fix tape on Collazo’s gloves. Why don’t they all use
duct tape? It has to be intentional to use anything
less. Collazo didn’t need the extra time outs
though. Hatton worked hard but was mostly
ineffective against the slick southpaw from
Brooklyn. 10-9 Collazo.
In the eighth, Hatton started retaking the momentum
as he worked quite hard to get inside and land some
good shots. Collazo swarmed Hatton to neutralize the
effect of Ricky’s rally. Hatton was able to do some
good work in the eighth, enough to say he won that
round. 10-9 Hatton.
The ninth saw a desperate Ricky Hatton struggle to
land anything cleanly. Collazo held his ground and
traded with Ricky in spots. Late in the round,
Collazo landed a flush left that had to hurt.
Hatton’s sheer pressure kept this a fairly even
round. Hatton’s left eye was just about closed at
the sound of the bell. Even.
Hatton aggressively pressed the action to open the
tenth. Collazo fell from a push, called a slip.
Collazo landed a left followed by a combo to the
body. Hatton landed a left right combo, they slugged
it out and Ricky got the better of it until Collazo
elected to box outside and take advantage of his
superior boxing skill. Late in the round, Hatton
landed a big right. 10-9 Hatton.
Between rounds, Hatton was furiously attended to in
his corner to control the swelling over his left
eye. Ricky looked something I’ve never seen before;
tired. His face was a swollen pulp. Collazo looked
fresh and save for the cut over his forehead,
appeared relatively unblemished in his corner.
The eleventh was more of the same, with Collazo
landing the cleaner punches and Hatton missing too
often during ineffective rallies. 10-9 Collazo.
In the final round, Hatton slipped in the corner of
the ring (ruled a slip). Collazo pummeled Ricky with
a variety of shots, notably a right to the face that
gave the impression that Hatton could be on his way
to losing by knockout. Hatton desperately pressed
on, albeit ineffectively. I can’t imagine anyone who
knows anything about boxing could have scored Hatton
the winner of the final round. 10-9 Collazo.
As the official scores were read, 114-113 and
115-112 twice, I was almost shocked that Luis
Collazo was about to get his due. Then I heard, “And
the new…”
Ricky Hatton is a tremendous fighter and a great
ambassador for boxing but Luis Collazo clearly out
boxed him for eight of twelve rounds. Somehow, the
Judges scored Hatton the winner by Unanimous
Decision.
* * *
When it was over, Hatton’s body language admitted
what was obvious—he got a gift decision in a fight
he lost. It wasn’t a beat down type of loss. It was
the kind where you get beaten to the punch too often
to say you honestly won. Hard core fans have waited
long to see how Ricky would do outside of England. I
don’t know if the answer is clear. Maybe Hatton just
had a bad night.
During the post-fight interviews, Hatton was humble
and admitted the noticeable difference of power at
147. He credited Collazo for his power and ability.
As for what he does next, he said he could go down
to Jr. Welter or continue at 147, depending on the
opponent.
When asked for his take on things, Collazo commented
that he was the Champion, and that it was Hatton’s
job to take his belt away. He felt that Hatton
didn’t do enough to justify the decision victory.
If you didn’t know him last week, you know who he is
now. Luis Collazo was definitely Ricky Hatton’s
toughest opponent to date. Collazo gave a good
account of himself and will probably be avoided like
the plague by the big names. A southpaw with a slick
style is not commonly found on Hatton’s resume. I
credit both guys for rising to the challenge. It was
a great fight. If the emphasis in scoring is on
clean punching, ring generalship and defense, then
the wrong guy won. But hey, that’s boxing.
I don’t see how a loss would be a bad thing for
Hatton. Most times, the experience of a loss makes a
fighter better. The only bad loss is one you don’t
learn from. But for marketing purposes, being
undefeated remains a BIG DEAL.
The power of name recognition and stardom
overshadowed reality Saturday night in Boston. For
Hatton, this is the first time I’ve seen him win a
questionable decision. I do hope it’s the last.
Collazo deserves a rematch but somehow, I doubt he
gets one.
* * *
Questions? Comments? Email Frank Gonzalez Jr.
5-13-2006
