Ricky Hatton will meet a losing finalist from the hit US reality show Contender every day in the gym for the next two weeks. Last September Steve Forbes dropped a controversial split decision to Grady Brewer in the final of the second series of Contender.

Forbes, a former IBF super-featherweight champion, arrived in Manchester on Monday for two weeks of sparring with unbeaten Hatton. “Ricky is one of the best fighters in the world and I know I can help him prepare for his showdown,” insisted Forbes.

Earlier this year Welshman Joe Calzaghe defeated Peter Manfredo Jr, the losing finalist from the 2005 series of Contender, in a mismatch at the Millennium Stadium.

“Forbes is a different fighter to Manfredo – he’s class, he’s fought at the very top and he will be an ideal sparring partner for Ricky,” said Hatton’s trainer Billy “The Preacher’ Graham.

Forbes is an old-school warrior and since losing in the final of the Contender he has been back in action against one of the world’s leading light-welterweights Demetrius Hopkins.

“I went from the Contender show to sharing a ring with a real contender,” claimed Forbes.

Hatton against Jose Luis Castillo for the vacant IBO light-welterweight title will be screened live and exclusive on Setanta Sports on Saturday, June 23 2007.

“Watching Hatton against Castillo will be easy and the price is right – it will be a classic,” said Hatton’s promoter Dennis Hobson.

Fight Facts: Freeview viewers will pay a fee of £10.99, and if they subscribe before midnight on Friday June 22, they will receive a full month’s subscription to the Setanta Sports channel, plus and extra month free. This will include the first two of Setanta’s exclusively live Premier League games of the 07/08 season.

Satellite/Sky subscribers will pay a fee of £15.00, which will entitle them to a month’s subscription to the 8 channels in the Setanta Sports package, plus a month free if they subscribe before midnight on June 22nd. This will also mean they can watch Setanta’s first two Premiership matches.

The fight will also be available on a pay-per-view basis on the Sky platform for £19.95.

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