Hatton fight finally confirmed

[Mattyhitman]

At last, We can confirm that Ricky's next fight will be

DATE: January 20th 2007

LOCATION: Las Vegas,Nevada,USA.(Exact venue to be confirmed later today)

OPPONENT: Juan Urango

FIGHT: The I.B.F. and Vacant I.B.O. Light Welterweight Championships.

SUPPORT: Jose Luis Castillo

More to follow, but for all those who have speculated,and for all those who have patiently waited, Thank you.

As soon as tickets are available I will post on the web site.

There will be further statements from Ricky being posted on the site following today's press conference Which has a James Bond theme.

And as Ernst Blofeld would have said "Las Vegas has been expecting you Mr.Hatton"

Paul Speak

------------------------

This is courtesy of Team Hatton.



EDIT BY SADDO: FULL CONFERENCE AUDIO ADDED TO THE FRONT PAGE...

http://www.saddoboxing.com/4318-rick...an-urango.html

[Rotten Apple]

I'm disappointed Hatton is fighting Urango. I expected more from him

[Mattyhitman]

Same here mate regards to Urango. It looks like Castillo for June also in Vegas, and then hopefully more big names to follow

[skel1983]

Same here mate regards to Urango. It looks like Castillo for June also in Vegas, and then hopefully more big names to follow

Frank Warren wrote in his Sunday Paper that Haton's camp are in talks with Cotto's for Madison Square Garden later in the year, that would be awesome but how the fuck would Frank know?

[Kev]

I thought this fight had been booked for months?

[Cortez The Killer]

Same here mate regards to Urango. It looks like Castillo for June also in Vegas, and then hopefully more big names to follow

Frank Warren wrote in his Sunday Paper that Haton's camp are in talks with Cotto's for Madison Square Garden later in the year, that would be awesome but how the F*** would Frank know?

I'd rather see Cotto-Hatton than Castillo-hatton. Castillo is getting up there and has had lots of wars..gotta wonder how much longer he'll be in his prime. Not that he's shown any signs of slowing down, but with a fighter it can happen almost overnight.

I thought this fight had been booked for months?

So did I. They probably just had to dot the i's and cross the t's and all that

[Mattyhitman]

Same here mate regards to Urango. It looks like Castillo for June also in Vegas, and then hopefully more big names to follow

Frank Warren wrote in his Sunday Paper that Haton's camp are in talks with Cotto's for Madison Square Garden later in the year, that would be awesome but how the F*** would Frank know?

The Castillo bout for June is 99.9% certain. But Team Hatton have been in talks with Cotto, in case Castillo loses his fight on the undercard in January. I guess they are just covering their bases.

[Kev]

Same here mate regards to Urango. It looks like Castillo for June also in Vegas, and then hopefully more big names to follow

Frank Warren wrote in his Sunday Paper that Haton's camp are in talks with Cotto's for Madison Square Garden later in the year, that would be awesome but how the F*** would Frank know?

The Castillo bout for June is 99.9% certain. But Team Hatton have been in talks with Cotto, in case Castillo loses his fight on the undercard in January. I guess they are just covering their bases.

I'd be more concerned with Ricky losing and fucking up the mega match then Castillo to be honest. He hasn't looked great against either Maussa or Collazo recently.

[Majesty]

Urango vs. Hatton will be an exciting fight. It seems like only boxers are the ones who give Hatton trouble, but those who stand and trade like Urango is exciting to watch.

[Kev]

Urango vs. Hatton will be an exciting fight. It seems like only boxers are the ones who give Hatton trouble, but those who stand and trade like Urango is exciting to watch.

I love the excuses people give Ricky Hatton.Not saying you are here but I just find it funny the way people defend him, insisting he really is top 10 p4p providing he fights the right opponents.

I cant think of any other fighter who having performed like he did against Collzao would have been defended so strongly.

Someone posted that he only struggled becuase he's crap against southpaws and has always been crap against them as if that somehow made it alright. I didn't hear many people say of Jeff Lacy, he's still p4p he just struggles against better boxers :P

Dont get me wrong, I love Ricky, I'm a fellow Brit and no-one carries the flag more proudly than him, its just I dont think he's actually as good as people make out.

People always make excuses for him in the way they just dont for any other top fighter. If Hatton struggles against southpaws thats not an excuse its a weakness.

Again sorry if it sounds like I'm criticising your post here, you were most likely just making a comment without trying to elevate him beyond his stature.

[ArawakWarria]

Hatton is a huge marketing campaign right now, so you can bet they will be 'talking' Cotto, but that fight won't happen... If he is too small to fight at Welter, how the F*** can he even try to compete with Cotto? He is coming into the ring at 160+. He would make a huge mistake to fight Cotto. That was the fight he should have taken before moving to 147.

Hatton has to fight Urango, first because he was the only--therefore longest reigning--champ at 140. Second, he has Hatton's old belt. Third, he couldn't get a title shot going back down to 140 with any other ABC sanctioning body. It is a matter of course; Urango will lose, probably by KO.

WHAT's NEXT?

Hatton will fight Castillo next. A Ltwt moving up... that is the size of person he likes to battle. It will also be a classic war (like all of Castillo's big fights) that would rate a PPV. Whoever wins this fight will clean up the 140 division.
Junior Witter...? Give me a break! Medium skill, medium power (WBC)
M'Baye loses to both also. He's fought NO ONE except Balbi & Harris! (WBA)
Ricardo Torress is a game fighter that will give both a run for their money, but he lacks the consistency of Castillo & Hatton. (WBO)

Rabah can box, but he will get KO'd by either Castillo or Hatton--too much effective pressure
Vivian Harris believes he is better than his skills show. I wasn't convinced with his win over S. Johnston. Can he survive a war if he got KO'd by Maussa? Honestly, I wanted to see him against Hatton two years ago...

WELTERWEIGHT

Cotto already has his hands full with Quintana. Don't sleep, b/c Cotto CAN LOSE THIS ONE! If Cotto wins, he will probably fight Margarito or Cintron next. I see him working to unify the division. If Quintana wins, then there will be another person at 147 with a belt that NO ONE will want to fight--including Margarito. We already know Floyd will give up the WBC belt, so I wonder who will be fighting for that one...?

[skel1983]

Urango vs. Hatton will be an exciting fight. It seems like only boxers are the ones who give Hatton trouble, but those who stand and trade like Urango is exciting to watch.

I love the excuses people give Ricky Hatton.Not saying you are here but I just find it funny the way people defend him, insisting he really is top 10 p4p providing he fights the right opponents.

I cant think of any other fighter who having performed like he did against Collzao would have been defended so strongly.

Someone posted that he only struggled becuase he's crap against southpaws and has always been crap against them as if that somehow made it alright. I didn't hear many people say of Jeff Lacy, he's still p4p he just struggles against better boxers :P

Dont get me wrong, I love Ricky, I'm a fellow Brit and no-one carries the flag more proudly than him, its just I dont think he's actually as good as people make out.

People always make excuses for him in the way they just dont for any other top fighter. If Hatton struggles against southpaws thats not an excuse its a weakness.

Again sorry if it sounds like I'm criticising your post here, you were most likely just making a comment without trying to elevate him beyond his stature.

First off mate, who has Jeff Lacy beat and when was he p4p?? Answer never.

Secondly Hatton didnt have problems in my opinion with the soutpaw angle of Collazo, it was the weight issue, if you watch the fight from say the 4th onwards Collazo stands and trades for most of the remainder of the fight, Ricky just didnt have the snap and power he usually has, now i will use the excuse of the time he had to move to 147, firstly he was already weeks into camp expecting to fight at 140lbs, so with just under seven weeks to go he was told it was now at 147, so he then had to buld up alot of muscle in a short space of time, he was not his usual self in there now if your a Ricky Hatton fan you will know that, to move to a new weight you need time especially when your style is one of Ricky Hattons, it's much easier for a slick counter puncher like Floyd to move up in weight,Ricky is a world class fighter, excuses were made for valid reasons, Hatton is a great fighter and will prove this in 2007.

Also lets see him grow into Welterweight, i honestly think Ricky will be ok at Welterweight, he is a strong guy i wouldnt jump in with Cotto straight away at 147 but i would have a tune up but he needs to decide if he sees himself at 147, he needs to prepare his body properly and give time to develop into 147, Cotto is the bigger man but i still think that fight is a flip of a coin.

[Majesty]

Urango vs. Hatton will be an exciting fight. It seems like only boxers are the ones who give Hatton trouble, but those who stand and trade like Urango is exciting to watch.

I love the excuses people give Ricky Hatton.Not saying you are here but I just find it funny the way people defend him, insisting he really is top 10 p4p providing he fights the right opponents.

I cant think of any other fighter who having performed like he did against Collzao would have been defended so strongly.

Someone posted that he only struggled becuase he's crap against southpaws and has always been crap against them as if that somehow made it alright. I didn't hear many people say of Jeff Lacy, he's still p4p he just struggles against better boxers :P

Dont get me wrong, I love Ricky, I'm a fellow Brit and no-one carries the flag more proudly than him, its just I dont think he's actually as good as people make out.

People always make excuses for him in the way they just dont for any other top fighter. If Hatton struggles against southpaws thats not an excuse its a weakness.

Again sorry if it sounds like I'm criticising your post here, you were most likely just making a comment without trying to elevate him beyond his stature.

yes basically. Hatton will look exciting with an opponent standing in front of him. But it looks like boxers and movers and counter punchers trouble him or make him look bad. Urango is neither, so I expect an exciting fight

[shza]

Urango vs. Hatton will be an exciting fight. It seems like only boxers are the ones who give Hatton trouble, but those who stand and trade like Urango is exciting to watch.

I love the excuses people give Ricky Hatton.Not saying you are here but I just find it funny the way people defend him, insisting he really is top 10 p4p providing he fights the right opponents.

I cant think of any other fighter who having performed like he did against Collzao would have been defended so strongly.

Someone posted that he only struggled becuase he's crap against southpaws and has always been crap against them as if that somehow made it alright. I didn't hear many people say of Jeff Lacy, he's still p4p he just struggles against better boxers :P

Dont get me wrong, I love Ricky, I'm a fellow Brit and no-one carries the flag more proudly than him, its just I dont think he's actually as good as people make out.

People always make excuses for him in the way they just dont for any other top fighter. If Hatton struggles against southpaws thats not an excuse its a weakness.

Again sorry if it sounds like I'm criticising your post here, you were most likely just making a comment without trying to elevate him beyond his stature.

CC. Agree completely. Hatton is good, but he's not that good. He's top 20 p4p, not top 10.

[Lords Gym]

Urango vs. Hatton will be an exciting fight. It seems like only boxers are the ones who give Hatton trouble, but those who stand and trade like Urango is exciting to watch.

Agreed, everyone seems to be talking about Urango like he is a bum on the streets ? Its a great match up,, the thrill factor will be very high ! I think its excellent matchmaking !