Ricky Hatton To Be Stripped of IBF Title

[Sovereign]

Dennis Hobson, Hatton's promoter, said: "We have got the Castillo fight on the table but there is also the option for Ricky of coming back to Manchester to fight Ben Rabah or N'Dou, then taking on Castillo after that."

Imagine the stick he'd get if they did that

He can't win mate, either way he'll get stick.

If he beats Castillo badly everyone will say Castillo is past it. If he beats him on points in a close fight it'll be all "Hatton is overrated, Castillo was robbed, etc" If he loses closely on points he'll be called a bum if he gets knocked out he'll be exposed and whatever.

He fights Rabah or N'Dou people will say he's taking easy fights, ducking Castillo (yes even the same people who say that Castillo is shit will say he's ducking him) even though neither or those guys is an easy fight. If he beats them people will say it means nothing, when in actual fact I'd say that Rabah and N'Dou are reasonably solid pro's operating a world-class level, if he loses he's a bum etc.

HE CAN'T WIN. All he can do is beat Castillo, then chase the Cotto fight, which I think would be 50/50 despite the fact that Hatton hasn't looked as good as Cotto in his last couple of fights. After all, its not like Cotto can't be hurt or put to the deck.

Cotto is going to demolish Oktay Urkal and look incredible doing so. If Hatton fought Oktay Urkal at this point, aged 37, there'd be an outcry. After that everyone is going to talk about how incredible Cotto is and how Hatton has no chance. I'm gonna put £50 on Hatton to beat Cotto and I reckon I'll get good odds for it with all the momentum Cotto has at the moment, but as far as I'm concerned its a 50/50 fight.

[ono]

Why is he going to be stripped, he's only just won it?

To all the ranked contenders, the IBF will be their very best friend...... until they win the title.

It emphasises the point that titles are completely pointless.

[killersheep]

I thought that when you won a title you had a year to defend it against your mandatory.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Fenster]

Dennis Hobson, Hatton's promoter, said: "We have got the Castillo fight on the table but there is also the option for Ricky of coming back to Manchester to fight Ben Rabah or N'Dou, then taking on Castillo after that."

Imagine the stick he'd get if they did that

He can't win mate, either way he'll get stick.

If he beats Castillo badly everyone will say Castillo is past it. If he beats him on points in a close fight it'll be all "Hatton is overrated, Castillo was robbed, etc" If he loses closely on points he'll be called a bum if he gets knocked out he'll be exposed and whatever.

He fights Rabah or N'Dou people will say he's taking easy fights, ducking Castillo (yes even the same people who say that Castillo is shit will say he's ducking him) even though neither or those guys is an easy fight. If he beats them people will say it means nothing, when in actual fact I'd say that Rabah and N'Dou are reasonably solid pro's operating a world-class level, if he loses he's a bum etc.

HE CAN'T WIN. All he can do is beat Castillo, then chase the Cotto fight, which I think would be 50/50 despite the fact that Hatton hasn't looked as good as Cotto in his last couple of fights. After all, its not like Cotto can't be hurt or put to the deck.

Cotto is going to demolish Oktay Urkal and look incredible doing so. If Hatton fought Oktay Urkal at this point, aged 37, there'd be an outcry. After that everyone is going to talk about how incredible Cotto is and how Hatton has no chance. I'm gonna put £50 on Hatton to beat Cotto and I reckon I'll get good odds for it with all the momentum Cotto has at the moment, but as far as I'm concerned its a 50/50 fight.

Exactly

But remember it's really just a minority of muppets that stick out on a forum

Funnily enough it was only a few months back when Hatton was linked with Urkal pandemonium broke out on here

[killersheep]

Dennis Hobson, Hatton's promoter, said: "We have got the Castillo fight on the table but there is also the option for Ricky of coming back to Manchester to fight Ben Rabah or N'Dou, then taking on Castillo after that."

Imagine the stick he'd get if they did that

He can't win mate, either way he'll get stick.

If he beats Castillo badly everyone will say Castillo is past it. If he beats him on points in a close fight it'll be all "Hatton is overrated, Castillo was robbed, etc" If he loses closely on points he'll be called a bum if he gets knocked out he'll be exposed and whatever.

He fights Rabah or N'Dou people will say he's taking easy fights, ducking Castillo (yes even the same people who say that Castillo is shit will say he's ducking him) even though neither or those guys is an easy fight. If he beats them people will say it means nothing, when in actual fact I'd say that Rabah and N'Dou are reasonably solid pro's operating a world-class level, if he loses he's a bum etc.

HE CAN'T WIN. All he can do is beat Castillo, then chase the Cotto fight, which I think would be 50/50 despite the fact that Hatton hasn't looked as good as Cotto in his last couple of fights. After all, its not like Cotto can't be hurt or put to the deck.

Cotto is going to demolish Oktay Urkal and look incredible doing so. If Hatton fought Oktay Urkal at this point, aged 37, there'd be an outcry. After that everyone is going to talk about how incredible Cotto is and how Hatton has no chance. I'm gonna put £50 on Hatton to beat Cotto and I reckon I'll get good odds for it with all the momentum Cotto has at the moment, but as far as I'm concerned its a 50/50 fight.

Exactly

But remember it's really just a minority of muppets that stick out on a forum

Funnily enough it was only a few months back when Hatton was linked with Urkal, pandemonium broke out on here

That's because this is Cotto's 29th fight as a pro, Which IMO is equivalent to Hatton's 29th fight which was against Eamonn Magee.

I do think that Hatton is getting screwed by the IBF for the title, but in the scheme of things the title isn't all that important anyway, Hatton should be looking for the big fights, and Castillo fits the bill (at least for me)
If Hatton, goes through with dropping the title to fight Castillo, I'll give him a big Kudos.

[Sovereign]

bullshit, its not about the number of fights its about how good Cotto is. Cotto is totally out of Urkal's league. Cotto is much better than Hatton was at 29 fights, mainly due to the sheer number of Frank Warren stiff Hatton fought, and fighting Oktay Urkal is a total cop-out.

Number of fights is NOTHING to do with it.

[Kev]

bullshit, its not about the number of fights its about how good Cotto is. Cotto is totally out of Urkal's league. Cotto is much better than Hatton was at 29 fights, mainly due to the sheer number of Frank Warren stiff Hatton fought, and fighting Oktay Urkal is a total cop-out.

Number of fights is NOTHING to do with it.

I don't see Urkal as a bad fight. He's only been stopped once in his career, went the distance with Kosta Tyszu.

He should at least force Cotto to work a few rounds.

[Sovereign]

I remember Eamonn Magee, less than a year after he nearly killed by being stabbed and the doctors told him he'd never fight again, giving Oktay Urkal hell 4 years ago. Urkal got the home-town decision but Magee won it in my book.

Are you trying to tell me this guy, this old faded former contender who isnt even top 10, maybe top 20, is gonna give Miguel Cotto a fight? Urkal was never that good 10 years ago when he was in prime, he never won a title, he got outclassed by Kostya Tszyu and Vivian Harris. His best win is Mikhail Krivolapov 7 years ago!

[Kev]

I remember Eamonn Magee, less than a year after he nearly killed by being stabbed and the doctors told him he'd never fight again, giving Oktay Urkal hell 4 years ago. Urkal got the home-town decision but Magee won it in my book.

Are you trying to tell me this guy, this old faded former contender who isnt even top 10, maybe top 20, is gonna give Miguel Cotto a fight? Urkal was never that good 10 years ago when he was in prime, he never won a title, he got outclassed by Kostya Tszyu and Vivian Harris. His best win is Mikhail Krivolapov 7 years ago!

Don't get me wrong I don't expect him to trouble Cotto, but I think he will prove more durable than you are giving him credit for.

It will be interesting to see if Cotto can end him early the same way he did with Quintana.

As for Magee, he gave Hatton a load of trouble too.

[killersheep]

I remember Eamonn Magee, less than a year after he nearly killed by being stabbed and the doctors told him he'd never fight again, giving Oktay Urkal hell 4 years ago. Urkal got the home-town decision but Magee won it in my book.

Are you trying to tell me this guy, this old faded former contender who isnt even top 10, maybe top 20, is gonna give Miguel Cotto a fight? Urkal was never that good 10 years ago when he was in prime, he never won a title, he got outclassed by Kostya Tszyu and Vivian Harris. His best win is Mikhail Krivolapov 7 years ago!

I'm not saying Urkal is gonna be a problem at all for Cotto, but christ the guy doesn't even have 30 fights yet, AND this fight is 3 months after Quintana and 3 months before Margarito.

Also The Ring rates Urkal as #7 Welterweight, and the WBA (Cotto's title) ranks him at #4

[killersheep]

bullshit, its not about the number of fights its about how good Cotto is. Cotto is totally out of Urkal's league. Cotto is much better than Hatton was at 29 fights, mainly due to the sheer number of Frank Warren stiff Hatton fought, and fighting Oktay Urkal is a total cop-out.

Number of fights is NOTHING to do with it.

Sure it does, Hatton is by his own admission getting ready for retirement, Cotto is on his way up. At this stage in Cotto's career he doesn't need to be making big name fights every fight yet. In a few years it will be a different story.
Number of fights has TONS to do with it.

[ono]

bullshit, its not about the number of fights its about how good Cotto is. Cotto is totally out of Urkal's league. Cotto is much better than Hatton was at 29 fights, mainly due to the sheer number of Frank Warren stiff Hatton fought, and fighting Oktay Urkal is a total cop-out.

Number of fights is NOTHING to do with it.

Sure it does, Hatton is by his own admission getting ready for retirement, Cotto is on his way up. At this stage in Cotto's career he doesn't need to be making big name fights every fight yet. In a few years it will be a different story.
Number of fights has TONS to do with it.

I'm not sure i totally agree with your logic there. Number of fights is pretty vague. Experience gained during fights is more valuable. Experience wise Cotto is ready for somebody more dangerous than Urkal. Cotto might have had less fights than Hatton but Cotto has already experienced pretty much everything Hatton had by the time he fought Kostya Tszyu. I mean Cotto has been in big trouble twice and came through to win by stoppage. So i would say Cotto has a good deal of experience and IMO should be doing better than Urkal. But so long as the fight with Margarito goes ahead i'm prefectly happen if this ticks him over for a few months.

[killersheep]

bullshit, its not about the number of fights its about how good Cotto is. Cotto is totally out of Urkal's league. Cotto is much better than Hatton was at 29 fights, mainly due to the sheer number of Frank Warren stiff Hatton fought, and fighting Oktay Urkal is a total cop-out.

Number of fights is NOTHING to do with it.

Sure it does, Hatton is by his own admission getting ready for retirement, Cotto is on his way up. At this stage in Cotto's career he doesn't need to be making big name fights every fight yet. In a few years it will be a different story.
Number of fights has TONS to do with it.

I'm not sure i totally agree with your logic there. Number of fights is pretty vague. Experience gained during fights is more valuable. Experience wise Cotto is ready for somebody more dangerous than Urkal. Cotto might have had less fights than Hatton but Cotto has already experienced pretty much everything Hatton had by the time he fought Kostya Tszyu. I mean Cotto has been in big trouble twice and came through to win by stoppage. So i would say Cotto has a good deal of experience and IMO should be doing better than Urkal. But so long as the fight with Margarito goes ahead i'm prefectly happen if this ticks him over for a few months.

I can see your point. It's kind of hard for me taking away credit for the Urkal fight, because he is staying busy. And like I stated on the previous post, this would make 3 fights for Cotto in 6 months Quintana (to win the title), Urkal (Isn't he the mandatory), Margarito (big name fight). I don't see a problem there. CC ono, you are one of the people here I can reason with.

[Sovereign]

what I don't get is why he feels the need to fight Urkal. He's been one of the busiest fighters going, he's got a fight lined up with Margaritohe's just beaten Quintana, Urkal isn't his mandatory, so whats the point? Beating this guy won't prove anything that we don't already know about Cotto, its just a waste of time.

[killersheep]

what I don't get is why he feels the need to fight Urkal. He's been one of the busiest fighters going, he's got a fight lined up with Margaritohe's just beaten Quintana, Urkal isn't his mandatory, so whats the point? Beating this guy won't prove anything that we don't already know about Cotto, its just a waste of time.

I have a gut feeling that the fight with Urkal will appease the IBF (who has Urkal ranked at #4). Fighters should be fighting more often IMO. Even top level guys should be fighting 4 times a year (barring an injury of course).