Hatton poised for Urkal defence

By Ben Dirs
ky Hatton is set to fight Germany's Oktay Urkal next after a mooted clash with Jose Luis Castillo fell through.

Castillo's bout with WBC lightweight champion Diego Corrales was called off after Castillo came in overweight, and the Mexican may now face legal action.

"We have an agreement to fight Oktay Urkal, who is the mandatory contender for Ricky's WBA welterweight belt," promoter Dennis Hobson told BBC Sport.

"We're not waiting about for court cases and suspensions."

Castillo also failed to make the weight before his second fight with Corrales last October, when Corrales agreed to a non-title bout and was knocked out.

The Mexican could receive a ban, a fine and probably faces lawsuits - and his clash with WBO light welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in November could be in jeopardy.

"We spoke to (promoter) Bob Arum and he's trying to resolve the issues with Castillo but we want a quick solution," said Hobson.

"Maybe they'll suspend him or they may just let him fight at light welterweight.

"But Urkal's on the table and Ricky wants to get along with his career."

Hatton had been expected to move back down to light welterweight after winning the WBA welterweight crown in unconvincing fashion from Luis Collazo last month.

Urkal holds the European light welterweight title but is not a big name in America.

However, he has fought former WBA light welterweight champion Vivian Harris twice, as well as Kostya Tszyu, the former undisputed champion at 140lbs.

Hobson and Hatton were supposed to be ringside in Las Vegas to watch Castillo fight Corrales, but the Sheffield promoter did not consider it a wasted trip.

"We laid foundations and had talks, and the hotels and casinos are hot to trot with regards future fights," said Hobson.

"And a big plus was to see how popular Ricky is - people were clamouring for him."

you sort of posted 2 storys there... :P

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

you sort of posted 2 storys there... :P

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sorry fixed now to as it is on the BBC website

i think hatton beat collazo, but the fight was very close.....wouldnt it be a better idea for hatton to fight collazo in a rematch than take this though? after all collazo was champ and to lose by a margin that close has meant rematches before. didnt PBF rematch castillo?

urkal is unknown and is not a super fight that the hatton camp has talked of wanting....i was willing for hatton to fight the winner of castillo: corrales, but this clouds my views completely....

if the collazo fight was an off night then why not address the controversy? fighting urkal is a step back IMO....

i'd have to agree that this would be a step back if hatton took a fight with Urkal!

If castillo's fight with cotto is in jeopardy then how about hattin vs Cotto at MSG in November instead ???

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Originally Posted by Boeing787

i'd have to agree that this would be a step back if hatton took a fight with Urkal!

If castillo's fight with cotto is in jeopardy then how about hattin vs Cotto at MSG in November instead ???

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very good, idea. that would be a big fight....

if hatton wants only 6 more fights before retiring then urkal is really just a waste of time....urkal should be irrelevant in the the final evolvement of this career....

I know but its a question of keepin his title. Maybe he wil rematch Collazo after he gets his mandatory out of the way.

Vivian Harris already beat this guy one sidedly twice and knocked him out the second time ::**

Fought Hatton wanted the big names at 147 or at 140lb.I agree its a step backwards!

It is a big step backwards but i'm sure he wants to keep his belt. He took a lot of punches to get this belt so he's not likely to vacate it just yet. Its not his fault the WBA rank Urkal so highly. I think hatton wil rematch Collazo once he gets Urkal out of the way.....which he should do very easily.

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Originally Posted by littlebif

Fought Hatton wanted the big names at 147 or at 140lb.I agree its a step backwards!

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It's a mandatory. He's just had 3 fights for 3 different world titles, it's only fair he has to make at least one obligatory defense.

Personally I think it's good that there are sanctions to enforce champions defend against their mandatories. Ok so it may seem like a temporary step back for Hatton but to just dismiss mandatory title defenses devalues the belts and ultimately the sport.

Plus Ricky deserves a slightly easier ride after 3 hard fights.

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Originally Posted by Starr

Vivian Harris already beat this guy one sidedly twice and knocked him out the second time ::**

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im coming around to thinking that a rematch with collazo would be the best option. im a hatton fan but if it would make the doubters happy, then so be it....

if hatton is as good as is suggested then he should fight collazo and beat him well....

if he cant do it, then no excuses from miles....at least be the gentleman, ricky....

urkal is not realistic opposition, dump the belt if need be....

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Originally Posted by bilbo

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Originally Posted by littlebif

Fought Hatton wanted the big names at 147 or at 140lb.I agree its a step backwards!

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It's a mandatory. He's just had 3 fights for 3 different world titles, it's only fair he has to make at least one obligatory defense.

Personally I think it's good that there are sanctions to enforce champions defend against their mandatories. Ok so it may seem like a temporary step back for Hatton but to just dismiss mandatory title defenses devalues the belts and ultimately the sport.

Plus Ricky deserves a slightly easier ride after 3 hard fights.

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He keeps on saying that he wants the super fights but this is no super fight is it?
He should he moving back down not stopping up at welter.If Collazo was a big puncher Hatton would of been ko'ed.If he faces a big puncher he will be in trouble!

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Originally Posted by littlebif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bilbo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlebif

Fought Hatton wanted the big names at 147 or at 140lb.I agree its a step backwards!

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It's a mandatory. He's just had 3 fights for 3 different world titles, it's only fair he has to make at least one obligatory defense.

Personally I think it's good that there are sanctions to enforce champions defend against their mandatories. Ok so it may seem like a temporary step back for Hatton but to just dismiss mandatory title defenses devalues the belts and ultimately the sport.

Plus Ricky deserves a slightly easier ride after 3 hard fights.

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He keeps on saying that he wants the super fights but this is no super fight is it?
He should he moving back down not stopping up at welter.If Collazo was a big puncher Hatton would of been ko'ed.If he faces a big puncher he will be in trouble!

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exactly. step down a while but fight 3 or 4 fights a year...otherwise keep it real...

urkal is not keeping it real....

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Originally Posted by Boeing787

i'd have to agree that this would be a step back if hatton took a fight with Urkal!

If castillo's fight with cotto is in jeopardy then how about hattin vs Cotto at MSG in November instead ???

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I don't think Cotto will fight a big name until 2007. Cotto will fight Paulie and then probably fight Harris or something like that and then fight megafights next year. Hatton, on the other hand, needs to fight big fights @ 147 with low-mid risk. If he wants a big fight, he should fight...ZAB JUDAH!!! Judah will fight anybody to make money, the only problem making the fight might be Hatton is with HBO and Judah is basically with Showtime. It would be a great fight and considering how body shots from PBF dismantled Judah imagine what Hatton could do.

Here are my five best options for Hatton (business and respectwise):

5. Hatton vs Tszyu II
4. Hatton vs Castillo
3. Hatton vs Collazo II
2. Hatton vs Cotto (140)
1. Hatton vs Judah (it makes perfect sense for Ricky, unless he gets caught and KTFO)

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Originally Posted by albsur2006

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Boeing787

i'd have to agree that this would be a step back if hatton took a fight with Urkal!

If castillo's fight with cotto is in jeopardy then how about hattin vs Cotto at MSG in November instead ???

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I don't think Cotto will fight a big name until 2007. Cotto will fight Paulie and then probably fight Harris or something like that and then fight megafights next year. Hatton, on the other hand, needs to fight big fights @ 147 with low-mid risk. If he wants a big fight, he should fight...ZAB JUDAH!!! Judah will fight anybody to make money, the only problem making the fight might be Hatton is with HBO and Judah is basically with Showtime. It would be a great fight and considering how body shots from PBF dismantled Judah imagine what Hatton could do.

Here are my five best options for Hatton (business and respectwise):

5. Hatton vs Tszyu II
4. Hatton vs Castillo
3. Hatton vs Collazo II
2. Hatton vs Cotto (140)
1. Hatton vs Judah (it makes perfect sense for Ricky, unless he gets caught and KTFO)

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hatton: judah would be interesting....

it just seems that the hatton camp is looking to perpetuate a career at the moment, why else would they waste time with belts and urkal?

fight some real names that we know!!!!!

Business wise ->

Hatton + Urkal = ESPN2 at best

Hatton + Collazo = HBO Boxing after dark

Hatton + Judah, Castillo, Cotto, winner of Gatti v. Baldomir = PPV

Hatton needs to fight a big name to get going in America, believe me when I say
that casual boxing fans in America that didn't know Hatton before will not
be rushing out to see him again after his victory over Collazo, and they
make up a majority of the paying public.

it will be interesting...on one hand you have a challenger that went the distance KT(when KT was in his prime).......on the other hand you have a challenger that is now 36 years old at a similar point in his career as KT was when he fought Hatton....at least this guy is the mandatory challenger....still wish he would have gave Collazo a rematch instead of ducking him....

Perhaps Hatton's team are putting the dampeners on the castillo talk for 2 reasons:-

1. If they do make the fight, it will be a smaller purse for Castillo and a bigger one for Hatton - stating that it's a risk putting the show on the road finacially, given that Castillo managed 140 for a 135 fight...he might weigh 145 for the light-welter weigh in.

2. If Castillo is actually banned, then obviously they have already leaked a mandatory defence against Urkal is somewhere in the frame...to fall back on and avoid flak from the WBA.

I think that Hatton's team should hope for a ban - and let it pave the way for a Cotto fight in September.


Although personally i would love to watch a JLC / Hatton tear up.

Castillo is unreliable and after blowing the Corralles fight out of the water he doesn't deserve any kind of payday he'd get against either Cotto or Hatton IMO.

The only argument for a Urkal fight is that it would give him some latitude to pick his next fight (Cotto's step up to 147 or PBF). Keeping a belt at 147 is the only carrot he'd have for either of them.

If he were to be stripped he'd have no belt and then he'd be relying on Floyd or Cotto to be willing to risk their belts against Rick. Having the WBA title makes either opponent more likely - unification for Floyd, title shot at welter for Cotto. The tough part is selling this fight to HBO. Unless they're interested in having Hatton get in a fight that he can show much better in then this opponent doesn't offer much. I don't know where a Hatton / Urkal fight sells tickets other than in England - and in that case you're dealing with the whole time zone thing.

Maybe Hatton / Urkal as a co-feature on a Cotto card in September in NYC would set the stage for a big tear-up between Ricky and Miguel in early 2007. That would probably be the best business move for the network and it'll go a long way to repair the Hatton image leading into that fight.

Then the winner gets PBF at 147 in May/June of 2007.

Sounds like a winner to me. ;)