Hatton is quality. He has a pre match ritual where he has a fry-up lol ;D "He usually tucks into a greasy spoon meal on the morning of his contests but has ruled that out. Hatton said: "I don't want to upset the Americans - but nobody does the English breakfast like the English. "I want my bacon and sausage, but over here it is just not the same. "I have been through 12 weeks of training and eaten all the right stuff. But now I am sick of all the pasta and vegetables - and I can't wait to get a bit of grease back in my body."
well done ricky, took the belt on a points win all three judges scoring 119 - 109 in hattons favor. a class act. a hard hard fight this one;D;D
Stayed up till gone 5 this morning watching it with my sons and their mates. I usually get up at 6. Got up at 8 and have now got a headache. Still it was a good fight and the alcohol was even better - hence the headache.
Hatton Wins IBF light-welterweight crown Ricky Hatton reclaimed the IBF light-welterweight crown with a points victory over Juan Urango on his Las Vegas debut. The Hitman needed all his ringsmarts to take his fourth world title in as many fights, winning back the one that set him on the way to boxing superstardom. His unanimous win (119-109 on all three cards) was a far cry from Kostya Tszyu and that heady summer's night in Manchester, yet it was enough to overcome a champion that might have been one-dimensional, but was as immovable as he was muscular. And it was enough to set up a summer showdown with Jose Luis Castillo - another points winner at the Paris Hotel - back on The Strip. That was all that mattered in the end, even for a man keen to put on a performance as dazzling as the Vegas billboards that had proclaimed his arrival in the promised land all week. The will was there as always, but for once the wherewithal was not. But Hatton doesn't do dull and throughout the 12 rounds the prospect of Urango landing a knockout blow, or the Hitman finding his second wind might not have wowed the American audience, but would have been enough to keep them intrigued. Hatton, as always seems to be the case, will no doubt come in for criticism. But he was spared the Vegas vilification meted out to pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather recently, if only because he never stopped thinking and working throughout. Also plenty of late money on Urango suggested there was more to him than first thought, while the challenger also found plenty of friends in a Paris Hotel convention room packed with Brits. And they will have liked what they saw at the start. Their hero had hinted at having to box more than in recent memory and with Urango cutting a brutish figure, and physically at least living up to his mini-Mike Tyson billing, box he did. Buzzing round the much bigger man Hatton made a slick start, producing the angled uppercuts and in-and-out raids that are all too readily overlooked in his repertoire. Urango remained unmoved though, content to land the southpaw hook to the head and some crushing bodyshots which Hatton seemed to lean into a little too much, but soaked up well enough. That lasted for three rounds and even when he did get close later on, the Colombian came off worse. Hatton's spoiling tactics saw a timely elbow here or forearm there, prevent him from firing off and using the power he clearly possessed. It took Urango those first three sessions to realise he needed to close the gap, but even in the fourth when he managed it, Hatton held sway. Right leads stopped the champion in his tracks, single punches and skips to the side kept him at a safe range and a spot of showboating suggested Las Vegas would like Hatton as much as Hatton clearly likes Las Vegas. But none of it did anything to disaude Urango from meandering forward. Even a break for a low blow - Hatton again showing he cannot be bullied - at the start of the sixth and a clash of heads soon after, could not keep him off. It was then that Hatton was forced to call on all his experience. He he was not dictating the pace, but time and again he wrapped Urango up at close quarters. At times he grabbed on too readily, but better a smart spoiler than a beaten hero. One or two anxious looks into the crowd in the ninth - Hatton's most ragged - were reminiscent of the struggle against Luis Collazo. But the 28-year-old is now a wily campaigner and even if the round ended with Billy Graham telling his man there was no disgrace in nicking it, Hatton was shrewd enough to listen. Urango meanwhile, had no plan B to bother him. The hooks he continually landed, especially with the right, were cause for concern but never did he back his man up. Hatton either stifled him close in, or sprang back to a safe distance and started again. By the 10th it was clear Urango needed a knockdown and although it was just as clear his force could produce it, a lack of finesse meant he was never able to fashion an opening. The pair traded short hooks in a rare open exchange before normal service resumed, the Hitman baffling and snaffling the champion, the champion merrily away. Another clash of heads, which seemed to catch Hatton square in the mouth, did momentarily trouble him in the 11th as did an untidy tangle that ended with him on the floor. But even if the spring had long left his step as he eased through the final round, there was no way that Hatton was going to have his Las Vegas lights put out. Lights by the way, that will be back burning brighter than ever when Jose Luis Castillo is next on the agenda in June.
