Ricky Hatton will urge his brother Matthew to pull out of his first world title fight if his whizz-kid opponent tips the scales heavier than their privately agreed catchweight limit.
Lawyer Gareth Willilams, chief executive of Hatton Promotions, goes further. He insists that if carrot-topped Mexican protegee Saul Alvarez weighs in above 10st 10lbs for Saturday's light-middleweight bout 'then the fight is off.'
Hatton the Younger, a natural welterweight, insisted on the 150lbs limit for his naturally heavier opponent but, as revealed here earlier this week, the WBC are sanctioning the contest for their vacant title at the full light-middleweight poundage of 11st.
Hitman Ricky says:
'Our contract with Golden Boy promotions stipulates both fighters come in at or under 150 lbs. If Alvarez is above that I would want Matthew to call it off. He is already giving away weight to a bigger man.'
The elder Hatton's suspicions deepened as he watched the 20-year-old Alvarez work out on Tuesday. He noted:
'This lad doesn't look to me like he's draining down to the agreed limit. His face doesn't look drawn like mine did when I had to make the weight. I'm wondering if he's just going to come in at his usual poundage, pay the fine that's in the contract and expect the fight to go on.'
Alavarez stands to lose 30 per cent of his purse if he scales above 150lbs but the championshp status of the event would not be affected.
Old-fashioned catchweight contests have been coming back into fashion, although the WBC were heavily criticised after pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquaio beat up Antonio Margarito to win this light-middle title, his record eighth world championship in different weight divisions, before vacating the belt to go back down to 147s lbs.
For Matthew Hatton, an overweight Alvarez would present a dilemma. This is the biggest fight of his life, the one for which he dreamed while learning his craft in brother Ricky's shadow, the chance of a lifetime.
He seems to be the most relaxed person in his camp, saying: 'I've heard what's being said but I want to believe that Alvarez will honour our agreement. If not, it will cost him a third of his purse....and give us a decision to make.'
Giving the time and expense incurred in setting up this promotion and journeying to California, the pressure on Hatton to go through with this fight is huge.
His team have already had to concede to the bringing forward of the weigh-in to noon on Friday, which will give the unbeaten Alvarez an extra three or four hours to regain his normal fighting weight before he enters the ring at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
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Re: Matt Hatton been stitched up, weight been changed?
Originally Posted by koppas
All the while, Ricky Hatton has run out from the locker room, ran to the Alvarez corner before performing a Stone Cold stunner on Eddy Reynoso.
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