Who would you like to see Ricky Hatton fight next?

Raekwon

Now with Gatti out of the picture it looks like Hatton is struggling to find a decent opponent for his next scheduled fight which will be in December over in the US.

German based Turk, Oktay Urkal, has been pencilled in to face 'The Hit Man' but surely there must be a better match out there for the two division champ? Vivian Harris has been calling Hatton out of late, but I doubt he is in the picture any more because he ducked Hatton in the past and has been found out recently so there is a very slim chance of that match up ever happening.

Team Hatton have strongly indicated that Hatton will move back down a weight division after his titanic struggle with Luis Collazo at welter weight. So this rules out a fight with Gatti (& Zab Judah) conqueror Carlos Baldomir, who indecently will most likely fight Floyd Mayweather in a unification match soon.

I have pasted this link for the top ten junior welterweights in the world at the moment. Which one do you think Hatton has a realistic chance of facing in his next fight and more importantly who would you like to see Hatton fight next?

(for the record I would love to see Ricky fight the winner of the Jose Luis Castillo vs. Diego Corrales rubber match).

MBC

Diego Corrales is fighting Joel Cassamayor on the 7th October........not sure what happened to the rematch but it ain't happening! I read somewhere that Castillo was supposed to fight Cotto (light welter) in September but that too seems to have been cancelled.

Fight I would like to see againist Hatton:

1. Cotto - This would be a cracking fight and a big money spiner for both

2. Acelino Freitas - very big for Lightweight, can be known to have a weak enough chin, but boy can this kid bang!!! Would be an excellant fight.

3. Castillo - Can't make lightweight anymore, this would be another cracker.

4. Mayweather - would like to see this fight at Lightwelter, and also not for a while as they are the 2 most exciting at the moment.



I think if Hatton stays at Welterweight and fights the top boys (Margarito, Baldomir, Mosley) although I reckon he could beat all 3, it wouldn't be exciting as seen him back down to Light Welter as he is giving away Height, Natural Weight, Reach etc etc

Raekwon

Oh, my bad, I remember reading that Corrales was having a rubber match I just presumed that it was with Castillo. I think he will handle Casamayor without too many problems then hopefully step up a weight class.

A fight with Freitas would be a classic if it ever comes off. Hatton bangs to the body and Freitas bangs to the head so it seem like they wouldn’t need judges at ring side at all for that one.

About Cotto, I feel Bob Arum would like to get more mileage out of Cotto before putting him in a real 50/50 fight. He is an excellent fighter but he looked seriously shaken against Ricardo Torres last year and was down and looked out until his amazing recovery and I have noticed that Arum has put him in with few softer fights since then. I don't think that they are interested in Hatton just yet.

The one fighter’s name that did catch my eye was Shane Mosley. He is in his mid-30's now but he is still a major player in and around the welterweight division. Plus the fact that he has some major scalps to his name (De La Hoya x2 & Vargas x2) I feel Team Hatton should seriously consider this fight. I hope they do because Hatton is a perfect position to make an even bigger name for himself and he needs to be fighting big name fighters to achieve his goals.

MBC

I totally agree with you re Cotto and Arum wanting to protect him..........there is no way he will match up Cotto versus Hatton or Mayweater for a good while! But he hasn't looked that impressive in his last few outings......and maybe now is the time to get the money againist the big boys before he gets beat by a relitavly unknown boxer (like what has happened to Gatti)........

The thing about the Mosley fight is that his critics would have a field day Win or Lose.......If he wins "ah what the hell Mosley has been finished long ago".....if he loses (which I can't see) "he got beaten by an over the hill Mosley".........
The thing the Hatton camp would want to consider very carefully is that Mosley is a Full Blown Welterweight (has even fought at light-Middle) when he boxed Nando Vargas this year he weighed in at 154lbs........when Ricky fought Collazo (also 147lbs) he was 147lbs........although it doesn't look much - it is a hell of a lot!!! and Collazo did look a lot bigger than Ricky!!!

I think Ricky's best move is to go back down to Light Welter..........unless of course he gets a big, big, big Money spiner at Welter!

Big Ears

There are only two fights I would like to see him take at Welterweight , Carlos Baldomir or Miguel Cotto(Cotto is definetly moving up in weight) .

If/When an eventual fight with Mayweather happens I would hope it would be at Light-Welterweight so we get the best of both fighters .

Freitas is only after winning the WBO Lightweight title , and he'll probably want to defend that a few times before moving up(although money could change that)

Castillo is a fight everyone would love to see , but he isn't reliable . He killed himself to try and make weight for the thrid Corrales fight and he was still barely under the Light-Welterweight limit when the fight was scrapped . So Castillo may have to go straight to Welter .

The only reason Hatton has to fight Urkal is to keep his WBA Welter title , but his father said recently that they may be prepared to drop the title and go back down if they are going to be forced into fights against unfavourable(market wise) opponents like Urkal .

Carlos Quintana would be the next mandatory for the WBA Welterweight title and a very tricky fighter to beat .

Maybe he should convince Juan Urango(the man who won Hatton's vacated IBF title) into a fight for November . Urango is simply a brawler and would probably make a good fight against Hatton .

However someone like Lazcano wouldn't be a bad opponenet .

As for Cotto , I think Arum is going to start matching him hard but not next . He'll want a soft fight for his first fight moving up in weight .

RealJohn

Castillo at welter mightn't be that bad a fight for him (though at lightwelter, Hatton would have a clear edge), since Castillo wouldn't be used to it and Hatton is tough anyway.

I'd say Mosley would be a bad match for him for all the reasons mentioned (and to be honest, I don't think he'd beat Mosley). I'm a big Mosley fan mind, so I'm a little biased, and it's a fight I'd love to see but it's probably between Hatton and Mosley for my favourite fighter and I wouldn't like to see either go down. And I think if the fight did happen, Mosley is the bigger guy and the better boxer. Hatton's style might edge it for him but I don't think so.

There's a school of thought that reckons Hatton's style is exactly what is needed to undo Mayweather, which is exactly why we won't see it anytime soon. It would be great to see though.

Raekwon

Yeah Castillo at welter would be a good fight for Hatton and one that he has a realistic chance of winning. Castillo has been a few wars (Mayweather x2 & Corrales x2) and if he steps up I am not sure if will have enough left in the tank to face a pressure fighter like Hatton considering the fact that he is nearly 33 and has had 60+ fights. It would be an interesting fight never the less.

Yeah I get your points about Mosely. It would really be a no win situation for Hatton, but it would be a cracking fight! I am just dying to see Hatton take on some of the big name fighters like Mosely. Hatton really needs a big name fight at this stage of his career because aside from Kostya Tszyu who else has he fought in his 41 fight career? Hopefully he will get a shot at one or two big names in 2007.

Mayweather would be the ultimate test for Hatton. I think style’s make fights and Hatton’s style will really upset the usual rhythm and tempo that Floyd fights at but then again he is so fast and skilful that I cannot see anything but a points decision for Mayweather. Of course Hatton could lure him into a brawl, but I think Mayweather is too smart for that. I hope I am wrong.

RealJohn

Apparently Mosley said after the Vargas fight that he wants Hatton or Mayweather next, so if Hatton's willing to take it (and he'll probably want to anyway, though his team might not be so happy), it's likely on, seeing as if De La Hoya wants Mayweather, Mosley won't get him first.

Raekwon

De La Hoya was close to signing for a fight with Mayweather this year but decided not too because he wants the rest of the year off to concentrate on his company, Golden Boy Promotions. That leaves the door open for Mosley to fight Mayweather but I would think Floyd would prefer a fight with Baldomir for the WBC welterweight title then weight up his options in regards fighting De La Hoya next year.

As I said before, Mosley vs. Hatton would be a classic, I think Team Hatton should seriously consider it, but I can't see them risking it. Mosley nearly took Fernando Vargas' head off in his last fight so I think Ricky's next fight will be at junior welter, unless the money to fight Mosley at welter is too good to turn down.

Raekwon

I just read the Junior Witter, the European Junior welterweight champion from Bradford, has got a crack at the vacant WBC junior welter weight title on September 15 fighting against American DeMarcus 'Chop Chop' Corley. If Witter wins this he would be in the perfect position to fight against Ricky Hatton sometime next year.

This news could indicate that Hatton will fight the IBF junior welterweight champion, Juan Urango in December in the US and if he wins he will be the WBA & IBF champ and then only needs the WBC belt to unify the division, which Witter could hold at the time.

Could be interesting :rolleyes:

Big Ears

That Witter fight has been scheduled for a month(for the exact date) and for 4 months overall , im suprised you only heard about it now .

Here's how I see things , Hatton fights and beats Urango and then tries to schedule a fight with Castillo , if this doesn't come off he fights the winner of Witter v Chop Chop . I think Corley will beat Witter , so I don't think we're ever going to see that long anticipated match up .

MBC

I don't know Big Ears I think Witter can beat Chop Chop, although Witter got beat by Zab Judah (early in his career mind you) who is also a southpaw! but with the fight being staged in London Witter should have a massive crowd behind him.......lets make it interesting big ears - do you want to put a tenner on it - you take chop chop and i'll take Witter ???




WBF Lightweight Champion (what ever title that is I'll never know) Jonathan Thaxton (one of Hattons previous foes) has got a shot at the WBO Lightweight title againist Acelino Freitas:eek: on the 9th December.......how the hell did he pull that one off? its on the undercard for the Hatton Vs Urango show.

Big Ears

Not that I don't trust you or anything but I don't make bets over the internet .
Witter lacks stamina asways has always will , and it goes by round 6 or 7 when he is make work hard .

So if Witter is going to win he either has to stop Corley or win all of the first 6 rounds(and home advantage should be enough for a decision then) .

How about if Witter wins you can put whatever you want in my sig .

Thaxton has got this chance because he is a Dennis Hobson fighter , Freitas is a Banner promotions fighter , Banner promotions and Hobson together promote Ricky Hatton and together will be promoting the bill and that's why Thaxton has got his chance .

He beat a decent Argentinian in his last fight , possibly the best win of his career .

MBC

Nah we will call it a day on the betting as I need to have our boxing club in as my sig.........

Very good promotional work for Thaxton from Denis Hobson, as it was a complete suprise match up.

Raekwon

Big Ears wrote:

That Witter fight has been scheduled for a month(for the exact date) and for 4 months overall , im suprised you only heard about it now

Yeah scheduled but not signed. How many fights have fallen through at the last minute because of contract conflicts and fighters pulling out? There is so much speculation on who will fight who and only when a the fight is set in stone is it actually going to happen. This fight was made official on Tuesday the 15th of August.

http://www.hennessysports.com/Article.asp?art=299

I think Witter will beat Corely. I agree with you that Witter lacks stamina but he has more power then Corely. The last fighter of note that Corely stopped was Felix Flores in 2001 (I am not counting his last fight because his opponent had lost 17 fights on the bounce). Even if it goes to points Witter will have home advantage but I think he will do enough anyway.