Ricky Hatton to fight Oktay Urkal next.........

[smashup]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/5048832.stm

Smash

[AC-Cobra]

Urgh, unless we're told when he beats Urkal he'll defend against, or move down to face Cotto, Im dissapointed.

[bigragu]

Urgh, unless we're told when he beats Urkal he'll defend against, or move down to face Cotto, Im dissapointed.

gonna duck Collazo I see.....I expected as much....coward....

[albsur2006]

I wouldn't say that Hatton is a coward, he's just being a smart businessman. But considering the fact that Morales gave Pac a rematch, Taylor gave Hopkins a rematch, RJJ gave Tarver a rematch, Corrales gave Castillo a rematch, and even PBF gave Castillo a rematch, it's kind of disappointing that Hatton couldn't be a man about it and give Collazo another shot. Then again, it's easy to fight anybody when you've got nothing to lose, but when you've got everything to lose it's hard to fight anyone.

[AC-Cobra]

Urgh, unless we're told when he beats Urkal he'll defend against, or move down to face Cotto, Im dissapointed.

gonna duck Collazo I see.....I expected as much....coward....

Wouldnt say coward. Heres my reasonable explanation for why Ricky shouldnt do it.

If Ricky has his head screwed on straight, he knows he cant beat the big hitters of the WW division. Margarito is just to big IMO among others. Therefore he will only fight at WW for the big fights, Floyd, Cotto etc, because he has to because they wont stay at 140 to face him.

Now, obviously, Urkal is far from a big fight. Im not happy with this decision, Im not going to defend it. The only reason I can think of him doing it is because he has fought for 3 consecutive titles, maybe now its time for a defence or two. If this is his reasoning, he may not be able to give Collazo a rematch as the WBA or whoever it is will strip him if his next fight is not Urkal.

Now if Ricky fights Urkal, wins, and stays at welter holding onto a paper title and fighting easy targets and ducking people, Ill sway to your view. At the moment though, it may just be a case of nothing else is viable.

[Swice]

Didn't HBO sign him to a 3 fight deal? I don't think these were the fights they had in mind.

I really don't want to see this fight, not when their is alot of big fights that could happen.

[smashcrusher]

Hatton is coming dangerously close to becoming a boxing disgrace.

[AC-Cobra]

Hatton is coming dangerously close to becoming a boxing disgrace.

Be sensible, he beat a living legend, is an undefeated world champion. So he doesnt give one guy a rematch and hes a boxing disgrace? Screw your head back on.

He should give Collazo a rematch at some point, but because he doesnt does not make him disgraceful, he won the fight.

And every boxer faces mandatory's like Urkal, blame the sanctioning bodies.

Think before you speak.

[moonlight19]

Easy Crusher. "Disgrace" is a bit hyperbolic at this juncture. WBA manditory, not a fight of choice. Hatton can't catch a break with the sanctioning bodies - he's vacated 2 titles already this year because he sought bigger fights and everybody crucified him for not defending. Now he seeks to defend and people are calling him a disgrace. Tough crowd.

A good 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. It's a tough situation he's in now. This might be the only way to make any of the other fights happen, a beltless Hatton is tough to sell to a reigning champion - especially when he wouldn't be anyone's mandatory.

[squealpiggy]

In my opinion Ricky has a couple of choices here: He fights Urkal or he gets stripped. And if he gets stripped he'll want to make it worth his while. If he could get a big prestige fight like PBF or Miguel Cotto (or even Diego Corrales) then sod the belt. If he can get a big money fight with Gatti then again, sod the belt. If he can't, why would he give Collazo an unsanctioned rematch for nothing whatsoever?

Cowardice? You have to remember that this is a business.

[bigragu]

Urgh, unless we're told when he beats Urkal he'll defend against, or move down to face Cotto, Im dissapointed.

gonna duck Collazo I see.....I expected as much....coward....

Wouldnt say coward. Heres my reasonable explanation for why Ricky shouldnt do it.

If Ricky has his head screwed on straight, he knows he cant beat the big hitters of the WW division. Margarito is just to big IMO among others. Therefore he will only fight at WW for the big fights, Floyd, Cotto etc, because he has to because they wont stay at 140 to face him.

Now, obviously, Urkal is far from a big fight. Im not happy with this decision, Im not going to defend it. The only reason I can think of him doing it is because he has fought for 3 consecutive titles, maybe now its time for a defence or two. If this is his reasoning, he may not be able to give Collazo a rematch as the WBA or whoever it is will strip him if his next fight is not Urkal.

Now if Ricky fights Urkal, wins, and stays at welter holding onto a paper title and fighting easy targets and ducking people, Ill sway to your view. At the moment though, it may just be a case of nothing else is viable.

ok...I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.....I'll wait and see what he does after this fight before I begin slamming him again...Coward might have been a little too much....does ducking work?....

[yoitsdan]

Its a shame he has to fight Urkal but business is business and as champ you have to fulfill certain obligations, this being one of them. At least he'll get to showcase what he's really made of as a full blown welter. All in all it could be worse, he could be fighting Sharmba Mitchel!

[killersheep]

Its a shame he has to fight Urkal but business is business and as champ you have to fulfill certain obligations, this being one of them. At least he'll get to showcase what he's really made of as a full blown welter. All in all it could be worse, he could be fighting Sharmba Mitchel!

How would fighting Sharmba Mitchell be worse?

[yoitsdan]

Its a shame he has to fight Urkal but business is business and as champ you have to fulfill certain obligations, this being one of them. At least he'll get to showcase what he's really made of as a full blown welter. All in all it could be worse, he could be fighting Sharmba Mitchel!

How would fighting Sharmba Mitchell be worse?

He'd be sloppy 3rds, two of hattons biggest rivals have faught and beaten him well, Mitchell is really a 140 fighter, with hatton fighting another genuine 147 (more fights than sharmba at 147) we'll get to see his true credentials, from a boxing fans perspective its a better prospect.

[killersheep]

Its a shame he has to fight Urkal but business is business and as champ you have to fulfill certain obligations, this being one of them. At least he'll get to showcase what he's really made of as a full blown welter. All in all it could be worse, he could be fighting Sharmba Mitchel!

How would fighting Sharmba Mitchell be worse?

He'd be sloppy 3rds, two of hattons biggest rivals have faught and beaten him well, Mitchell is really a 140 fighter, with hatton fighting another genuine 147 (more fights than sharmba at 147) we'll get to see his true credentials, from a boxing fans perspective its a better prospect.

Sharmba Mitchell is a very good fighter, not at the top tier, but very good, he is also a much more marketable name in America (where most of the paying fight fans are) his only two losses in the last 5 years are to PBF and Kostya Tszyu
I consider myself to be a boxing fan (you may disagree) but I would rather see Mitchell than Urkal. I can definately respect the mandatory defense thing though. Just don't slam Mitchell he has had a pretty good career 57-5-0 and never ducked anyone.................