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COMPUBOX ANALYSIS - JUAN URANGO vs. RICKY HATTON
By Lee Groves (Jan 16, 2007)
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On June 5, 2005 before an adoring throng of Mancurians, Ricky Hatton made history by ending the long reign of IBF junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu when the Russian/Australian could not come out for the 12th and final round of their bruising contest. Now, a little more than 18 months later, "The Hit Man" (41-0, 30 KO) will attempt to make more history when he takes on newly-crowned IBF junior welterweight king Juan Urango (17-0-1, 13 KO) at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas on Jan. 20. Hatton, who won the WBA welterweight title from Luis Collazo in his most recent outing May 13, is seeking to become just the ninth man to move down in weight to capture a piece of a world title.
Hatton returns to 140 after his lone appearance at welterweight against Collazo, which resulted in a close but unanimous decision victory. Hatton began the bout impressively by decking the champ in the opening seconds but from that point forward he struggled to maintain dominance against the slippery southpaw. A big reason for that is because Hatton virtually ignored the jab. Hatton landed just five of his 104 attempted jabs and didn’t connect on a single one in seven of the 12 rounds – including a 0-for-40 stretch that encompassed rounds five through nine. In that same period, Collazo connected on 25 of his 130 jabs, and while his 19 percent rate wasn’t anything special, it certainly was better than Hatton’s bagel.
Hatton emerged victorious due to his slightly better work in most of the rounds. Overall, Hatton unleashed 53 punches per round as opposed to Collazo’s 39 (both were under the welterweight average of 58) and connected on more punches in nine of the 12 rounds. In the fifth, Collazo’s 21 connects tripled Hatton’s seven while in the 10th and 12th Collazo produced 19-17 and 30-25 connect advantages. Otherwise, Hatton was the more consistent and successful worker.
This especially manifested itself in the power punch numbers, where Hatton outperformed Collazo in 10 of the rounds. In six of them (rounds three, four, seven, eight, nine and 11), Hatton’s power-punch connect edge exceeded 10 blows. Hatton’s high-water marks were the third (25-10), eighth (27-12) and the 11th (31-13). Still, after absorbing all of Hatton’s thunder, Collazo swept the challenger in all categories in the 12th, including a 27-24 connect edge in power punches, a 62-48 advantage in power punches thrown and a 76-52 margin in punches thrown.
For the fight, Hatton landed 259 of 741 overall (30 percent) while Collazo (213 of 712, 30 percent) wasn’t far behind. The jab and power punch figures followed stylistic form as boxer Collazo out-jabbed Hatton 46-5 while the slugger Hatton outdid Collazo 254-167.
COMPUBOX ANALYSIS
JUAN URANGO vs. RICKY HATTON
Throughout his nearly 10-year pro career, Hatton’s calling card has been his ability to wear out opponents with his physicality. Collazo’s final-round performance graphically proved that Hatton’s pressure had little impact on the naturally bigger Puerto Rican, who is known more for his speed than his strength. Realizing his tactics couldn’t bowl over a less-than-hulking 147 pounder, Hatton has returned to 140.
His two most recent efforts at 140 earned Hatton Ring Magazine’s 2005 Fighter of the Year award and a spot on many pound-for-pound lists – and for good reason. Tszyu was a heavy favorite even though he was fighting in Hatton’s familiar M.E.N. Arena in Manchester and was coming off a highly impressive third round knockout over Sharmba Mitchell seven months earlier. Hatton’s pressure eventually built a slight lead on all scorecards and eventually forced Tszyu to retire on his stool – and retire from boxing, though no formal announcement had ever been made.
Despite the conclusive end, the overall stats do not bear out any dominance of one man over the other. Both men connected on 200 punches with Hatton throwing only 28 more (647-619). Tszyu out-jabbed Hatton 38-28 while attempting 47 more (157-110) and Hatton’s 172 landed power punches were just 10 more than Tszyu (and Hatton had to throw 75 more to earn that small edge). The most revealing sequence took place between rounds eight and 11 when the effects of Hatton’s bullying tactics began to tell on the 35-year-old Tszyu. In those rounds, Hatton was 79 of 254 overall (31 percent) while Tszyu was 55 of 196 (28 percent) and in power punches, Hatton outhammered Tszyu 69-43 while out-throwing him 208-147. The zealous support of his fans, combined with the realization he was about to achieve a monumental victory, enabled Hatton to put more power behind every blow and the cumulative effects spelled Tszyu’s doom.
Hatton experienced several worrisome moments in his November 26, 2005 unification bout with WBA champion Carlos Maussa. The Colombian opened a dangerous cut over Hatton’s vulnerable left eye midway through the first round and an even bloodier cut in the third over the other eye. In these rounds, Maussa outlanded Hatton 67-45 overall and 53-37 in power punches. But in the fourth, Hatton began to adjust to Maussa’s difficult style and gradually turned the fight his way with a concerted body attack that set up solid follow-ups to the head.
While Maussa continued to offer stiff resistance, Hatton grew stronger with every round and soon Maussa showed signs of wilting under the pressure. Maussa’s punch output, which topped 70 in the first five rounds, started to decline in the sixth when he threw 64 and dropped to 55 and 54 in the seventh and eighth rounds while Hatton maintained a steady pace throughout.
COMPUBOX ANALYSIS
JUAN URANGO vs. RICKY HATTON
In the first six rounds, it ranged from 50 (rounds one and two) to 62 (in round six), but as Maussa showed some fatigue in rounds seven and eight, Hatton’s accuracy surged to its highest levels in the fight. In the seventh, Hatton connected on 22 of his 58 punches (38 percent) and in the eighth he was 20 of 48 (42 percent).
In the climactic ninth, Hatton was 9 of 19 (47 percent) overall and 7 of 16 (44 percent) on power shots. The seventh power connect, a massive hook to the jaw, left Maussa in a heap and provided a perfect prelude to his American debut against Collazo.
Hatton’s constant pressure projects the image of a volume-puncher, but the figures reveal his output is comparable to divisional averages. In his two junior welterweight fights against Maussa and Tszyu, Hatton averaged 55 punches per round, well below the 61.2 mark for 140-pounders. But in his lone 147-pound fight against Collazo, Hatton’s 62 punches per round are above the 58-punch welterweight average. His attack is almost purely with power punches as he averaged 0.4 jabs landed against Collazo and 3.1 connected jabs against Maussa and Tszyu.
Urango’s nickname is "Iron Twin" because he is a twin, but one look at his muscular frame, black trunks, come-forward style and peek-a-boo defense makes one think he was named after "Iron" Mike Tyson. Urango was an accomplished amateur as he captured five Colombian national titles and holds a victory over Miguel Cotto. Though he fights as a southpaw, Urango is a natural right-hander.
Urango made his first significant leap in class as a pro on August 5, 2004 at the Seminole Casino in Hollywood, Florida, when he fought fellow unbeaten Mike Arnaoutis to a 12-round draw in an excellent action fight featuring contrasting styles and very few clinches. Urango exerted heavy pressure against Arnaoutis, but the Greek fighter skillfully countered with good movement and a multitude of jabs.
Both fighters maintained a hot pace as they exceeded the 61-punch average output for 140-pounders in every round. Arnaoutis threw 90 or more punches in four of the 12 rounds, with two of them occurring in the 11th and 12th rounds while Urango topped the 80-mark in six of the 12 rounds with his highest output being 98 in the 10th. Arnaoutis was especially effective with the jab, topping double-digits in connects in each of the final nine rounds. Urango wasn’t bad either as he exceeded double-digits in rounds seven and eight when he connected on 11 and 15. In all, Urango was 79 of 433 in jabs (18 percent) while Arnaoutis landed 170 of his 721 jabs (24 percent).
COMPUBOX ANALYSIS
JUAN URANGO vs. RICKY HATTON
Arnaoutis produced by far the stronger finish as he outlanded Urango 93-33 overall in rounds 10 through 12, including 62-17 in jabs. The late-round rush appeared to give Arnaoutis enough ammunition to claim a victory, but judge Alex Levin scored it 115-113 for Urango while peers Rick Bays and Peter Trematerra saw it 114-114. The numbers appeared to favor Arnaoutis as he went 271 of 994 (27 percent) to Urango’s 192 of 954 (20 percent) and was far more accurate with his power shots (101 of 273, 37 percent to Urango’s 113 of 521, 22 percent).
Three fights and nearly 13 months later, Urango took on the 15-3 Andre Eason at the Hard Rock Live Arena in Hollywood, Florida. In Eason Urango encountered another stick-and-move boxer but this time he experienced far more success in all phases. Eason attempted 75 jabs in the first round, but Urango’s peek-a-boo defense and tucked-in chin allowed just two jabs to penetrate. In fact, Eason’s jab accuracy was in single digits in every round and in the third, Eason went 0 for 27. In all, Eason landed just 11 of his 227 jabs for a measly five percent.
Meanwhile, Urango’s jab showed marked improvement as he landed 46 of 141 over the first five rounds (33 percent), far better than the 26 of 145 (18 percent) he landed in the first five rounds against Arnaoutis. In fact, a shotgun jab produced a knockdown for Urango in the closing seconds of round three.
Urango also found success going to Eason’s body, and the steady attack took a toll on Eason’s punch output over the first four rounds as he dropped from 110 to 84 to 71 to 51. Urango scored a second knockdown with one minute remaining in the fourth with a left cross and after outlanding Eason 23-11 overall in round five Urango appeared in full control of the bout. Though Eason did well early, it was apparent that he lacked the power to earn Urango’s respect.
But Eason rallied in the sixth as he nailed Urango with several uppercuts that enabled him to outland the Colombian in power punches 17-13, the first time he was able to do so since garnering a 10-9 edge in round one. In the seventh, Eason was enjoying by far his best round of the fight and even stunned Urango in the final minute. But with 18 seconds remaining, Urango dramatically swung the momentum with a scorching right hook to the jaw that decked him for the third time in the bout. Eason regained his feet but when he wobbled forward into the referee, the arbiter has no choice but to stop the bout.
Any momentum gained from the Eason bout was lost when Urango was forced to take a 307-day layoff, the longest of his career, to have surgery on one of the knuckles of his left hand. The layoff ended on June 30, 2006 when Urango took on Naoufel Ben Rabah at the Seminole Hard Rock Arena in Hollywood, Florida for the IBF junior welterweight title vacated by Hatton.
COMPUBOX ANALYSIS
JUAN URANGO vs. RICKY HATTON
Ben Rabah, a native of Tunisia, was coming off his own nine-month layoff as the number-one IBF contender waited for Hatton to decide whether he was going to fight him or not.
Ben Rabah began the fight well as his mobility and quick hands allowed him to set the pace against the ineffectively aggressive Urango. Over the first five rounds, Ben Rabah outlanded Urango 51-42 overall and actually led Urango 33-32 in power connects while throwing 25 fewer (145-120). But Urango remained committed to his plan of exerting steady, controlled pressure and it began to wear down Ben Rabah. From rounds seven to 12, Urango outlanded Ben Rabah in every round and his success in power shots was definitive as he rolled up a 53-16 advantage. The withering punches also took a toll on Ben Rabah’s punch output as he averaged just 36 punches per pound to Urango’s 54 in the fight’s second half. His superior activity and aggression enabled him to overcome Ben Rabah’s early lead and earn a 115-113, 116-112, 117-111 decision.
The decision was viewed as controversial by some, but the numbers favored Urango. He threw more punches (589-488) and landed more (104-99) overall. Ben Rabah’s 45 connected jabs more than tripled Urango’s 15 (including a paltry 2 of 76 in the final five rounds) but Urango outdid his opponent in power shots 85-53. The action was nondescript as Urango was the ineffective aggressor and Ben Rabah was even more ineffective on the retreat. Because Ben Rabah didn’t project the image of a man who wanted to take the title, the judges awarded the close rounds to Urango – and because of that he is now the champion.
So how will Urango-Hatton unfold? First, both men will be rusty as Urango hasn’t fought in 203 days (his third-longest hiatus) while Hatton’s 251-day layoff is the longest of his career. Given the styles, it should be a very physical fight with lots of pushing, shoving, wrestling – and even some punching, but the anatomical numbers might give Urango incentive to adjust his style. Though Hatton’s style projects a brutish image, Urango is actually the bigger man. At 5-8 he is two inches taller and his 71-inch reach is a full six inches longer than "The Hit Man’s." The big question for Urango is this: Will he toss aside his natural aggression for one night in order to achieve success against his biggest-name opponent?
Hatton will need to exercise patience to penetrate Urango’s extremely tight guard. Both men are excellent body punchers and each carries above-average power. Though Urango suffered a cut over the left eye against Arnaoutis, Hatton’s scar tissue over both eyes is far more vulnerable. Plus, Hatton suffered an injury to his arm during training and lost between 12 to 18 rounds of sparring time as a result. Though his management team says the injury has healed sufficiently, no one will know until fight night whether his performance will be affected.
COMPUBOX ANALYSIS
JUAN URANGO vs. RICKY HATTON
The guess here is that it won’t be. Urango’s aggressiveness is tailor-made for the equally aggressive – and naturally stronger – Hatton. It won’t be the prettiest or most technically sound of fights, but the "Hit Man" is used to that. Plus, Hatton has fought a far superior level of opposition and that experience will serve him well. On Saturday, Hatton will gradually wear down Urango before scoring a late-round stoppage. In the end, Hatton will move up in the boxing world by moving down the scale.
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