HATTON TAKES BELT FROM COLLAZO IN DECISION

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Over twelve close rounds, the momentum of the fight seemed to shift between Ricky Hatton's fierce inside hammering and Luis Collazo's boxing, but in the end, Saturday's welterweight title fight might have been decided in the first minute.

Before the crowd of 8,000 had even taken a breath from its first roar, a tight left uppercut from Hatton sent Collazo to the canvas, and in many respects, the reigning welterweight champ never entirely regained control.

Trying to keep the fight an inside affair, Hatton clinched often and worked inside. He also landed 257 power-punches - 40 percent - compared to Collazo's 167, for 35 percent. Collazo, a prolific puncher, tried to keep away from Hatton's grasp and box, but landed just 46 jabs; Hatton abandoned the jab almost altogether.

Though Collazo recovered from the early knockdown and seemed to get the better of Hatton in several of the middle and late rounds, the judges noted Hatton's body work and his inside punching, and scored the fight 115-112, 115-112, 114-113 in a unanimous decision for Hatton.

After the bout, Hatton said that he knew that Collazo was "very good defensively," and that after he caught him early, Collazo "fought much smarter."

"I took some really good punches," Hatton said. Of the later rounds, he said, "He hurt me."

Collazo, for his part, complained about Hatton's holding and clinching and said that Hatton didn't do enough to win the fight as a challenger. "I'm the champion," he said. "Once I started boxing a little bit, he couldn't do nothing. He should have done more to win."