Boxing Recap: Hitman Wins WBA Belt But Has Difficult American Debut

Amid the considerable fanfare of Ricky Hatton’s initial major American appearance and HBO debut, the punisher from Manchester was given all he could handle by underrated WBA Welterweight Champion Luis Collazo at Boston’s cavernous TD Banknorth Garden last night. It was a savage contest fought tooth and nail as Collazo demolished pre-fight predictions that he would jab and move.

Click for larger image © Jane Warburton Saddo Boxing

The proud Brooklyn based champion climbed of the canvas in the first round and went mano a mano with the English pressure artist and hurt Hatton on several occasions, part! icularly during the twelfth and final round. But Hatton dished out a lethal blend of upstairs/downstairs combinations in every frame and was the busier, more accurate fighter according to Compubox’s statistics handed out at the post-fight press conference. When the smoke finally cleared, the ringside judges scored the bout 114, 113 and 115-112 twice. Ricky Hatton wins his third consecutive major world title in three consecutive fights, a first for a British fighter, all within a ten month span.

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