Hatton poised for Urkal defence

[Gandalf]

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

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)

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!!!!!

[killersheep]

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.

[bigragu]

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....

[CityOfGod]

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.

[moonlight19]

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.