Light-welter to right belter

Johnny Nelson has his doubts but the rest of our panel don't envisage any problems for Ricky Hatton at 147...

Sky Sports boasts the premier pundits on boxing and for the build-up to Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather they will all be sharing their thoughts with you right here on skysports.com. That means the insight and analysis of three former world champions and a Commonwealth champion, with 27 world title fights between them, as Jim Watt, Johnny Nelson, Glenn McCrory, Nicky Piper and Wayne McCullough pore over the possibilities and probabilities. The panel will look at both fighters, where the fight can be won or lost, what they expect and of course, as that first bell draws nearer, we will be asking them for predictions... This week Messrs Watt, McCrory, Nelson, Piper and McCullough, who have all bar the former, moved up in weight, wonder what affect it might have on the Hitman... SKYSPORTS.COM: Last Hatton ventured up to welterweight, he struggled against Luis Collazo on his American debut. So much so in fact, that Billy Graham said 'never again'. But here we are back at 147lbs - does that concern you at all? JOHNNY NELSON: That's my only worry about this fight. I love Ricky to bits, but we haven't seen him perform well at welterweight. But, the trouble with the Luis Collazo fight was they tried to build him up and as a result, that slowed him down, when Ricky really fights on his speed. Hopefully this time they're aiming for light-welterweight and that should give him a better chance. He's not the best welterweight out there, but in my opinion he's the best 140-pounder in the world - if this was at light-welter, I'd have no qualms backing him. After starting off as a super-feather, Floyd has been up to super-middle, so he is not a natural welter either. But I still have my doubts. WAYNE McCULLOUGH: I've moved through three divisions and of course when you move up the other guy is going to be heavier. But Ricky has moved up and down, winning belts along the way seemingly without too many problems. I don't think it will affect him at all knowing he has been campaigning at different weights. Plus Mayweather began his career at a lighter weight than Ricky and has also moved through the divisions - both are evenly matched. GLENN McCRORY: It might even be that this extra weight will suit him. But, then again, if you think of a boxer like a jockey, when they put on weight it is called a handicap, which says it all. He might be that touch slower. But compared to my day, moving up a weight isn't a problem. We didn't have the likes of Kerry Kayes sorting out our diet, we would still eat one meal a day in the last few before a world title fight. Nowadays the knowledge is so much better and with Kerry the discipline is there to make sure he eats and drinks the right things, whatever the weight. JIM WATT: They don't have any problems moving up a division today. With the 24-hour weigh-in rules, you can be fighting a guy at welterweight and by the time you get in the ring, there could be a middleweight in the opposite corner. Ricky will probably be fighting at the same weight he has throughout his career and it's not like Floyd is going to bulk up, is it? I can't see him being more than 10st 12lbs on the night and people shouldn't forget that Ricky is probably a natural welterweight anyway. I know it didn't go well against Collazo last time, but that was a difficult stage of his career, a lot was going on and he was probably doing too much socialising. This time though, he hasn't had too long out of the ring, which is another plus. NICKY PIPER: I agree. Some fighters move up because they are getting older and a bit of middle-aged spread and they are the ones that don't carry the power up with them. With someone young and fit like Hatton, I don't think it will matter. If the reports are true and he's 148lbs now, that sounds about right. He's not going to increase his punching power by moving up though, because he's never really been a big puncher. He throws so many, all of them hard, but never really big, big shots. Next time: Just how good is Floyd Mayweather? The panel put the Pretty Boy in his place... in boxing history.