RICKY Hatton is ready to relinquish the last of his hard-earned world title belts and revert to the role of challenger for a clash with IBF light-welterweight champion Juan Urango.
Hatton's bid to win back the title he initially claimed by beating Kostya Tszyu in Manchester last year is set to take place in Atlanta on the weekend of December 9.
But the contest will come at a price, with Hatton forced to give up the WBA welterweight title he has held since his close points victory over Luis Collazo in Boston three months ago.
While Hatton's handlers are denying Stateside reports that the Urango fight is an entirely done deal, they confirmed it is nearing completion and should be officially announced next week.
Hatton's promoter Dennis Hobson said: "We are finalising negotiations at the moment and it is not far away. Certainly moving back down to 140lbs for a fight with Urango is our preferred route."
In the wake of his win over Collazo, both Hatton and his trainer Billy Graham strongly intimated his future lay back down at the lighter weight where there are now many more marketable matches.
Were Hatton to insist upon keeping his WBA title he would be forced into the unattractive task of facing mandatory contender Oktay Urkal, an overdue bout which has already been put out to purse bids.
Challenge
But despite Floyd Mayweather's imminent WBC welterweight challenge to champion Carlos Baldomir, Hatton has clearly come to the conclusion that the most appealing options lie at the lower weight.
Lightweight stars Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo have both implied they will soon be moving up - and Junior Witter will come back into the equation if he wins the WBC title next month.
Hobson added: "There are a number of fights to whet your appetite at 140lbs and I certainly would not discount a domestic fight with Junior Witter if he wins in style.
"Ricky is still the main man at light-welterweight whether he has got a title or not. If he beats Urango and gets his title back there is any number of mouth-watering fights to be made."
The 25-year-old, Colombian-born Urango is unbeaten in 17 professional fights and claimed the title with an unanimous points win over Naoufel Ben Rabah in June.
Urango's handlers claim the bout against Hatton has been signed and sealed for some time with just the exact date and venue remaining to be rubber-stamped.
Luis Navarro, head of Urango's promoters Coalition Boxing, told
boxingscene.com: "This fight of a lifetime has already been signed and a tentative date and venue has been scheduled.
"Urango is young and in great shape and will be making his mark before the end of the year. We have had a signed contract to fight Ricky Hatton now for a few weeks."
What do you think? Have your say.
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fair play to ricky ,cos urango is no mug having won 13 of his 17 fights by KO and at only 25 is not over the hill ,if rick and witter win what a scrap to unify the lt welter titles!!,but its all pie in the sky as yet ain,t it ,like dennis hobson states mouthwatering is an gross understatement if the witter vs hatton match could be made .
hi danny murray ,i,d realy like to hear your well informed views if this fight go,s on ,i realy think this is a high risk fight and rick could finish up with no belt after all the blood sweat and tears,i,m well aware it will be a mega payday for ricky but sometimes money ain,t everything is it ,by the way all the best to john in his future career .
Hi Colin, I think Urango is an unknown quantity and it could turn out to be a very hard night for Hatton. Urango appears to be a big puncher, he has a lot of actual KO's on his record(not tko's). I'm not surprised Hatton went back down to light welter but i am surprised at his choice of opponent. Urango is not a big name so Hatton faces a no win situation, if he gets beat he'll lose credibility and if he blasts him away he won't get much credit. My feeling is Hatton will win comfortably, Urango has never fought anyone as good as Hatton and he lacks experience with only 18 fights, but he's a puncher so you can never write him off and we've seen Hatton hurt a few times.
I would love to see Hatton vs Witter. It would be a really interesting fight. The only worry is Witter hasn't looked dazzling for a while now. He's also been inactive and hasn't stopped anyone for 21 months!!! Maybe it's because he needed a step up in class from his European title, i hope this is the case and he can go on to beat corley because Hatton vs Witter would be good for British Boxing.
hi john,yeah i,d noticed that witter has been inactive of late ,maybe biding his time for the big one ? anyway the corley fight will tell us if junior,s still got it or not ,as you no doubt are aware corley,s a southpaw and a good box fighter so this fight is no forgone conclusion to say the least ,just wish sometimes i was back there in blighty to watch all the big fights,as for the hatton vs urango ,i,m inclined to agree ,i don,t know much about urango only that he seems to be a banger ,and for sure with ricks style of fighting urango won,t have to go looking for him will he, all in all a highly intriguing match and i for one can,t wait .
what a lemon ,my last letter was directed to danny not john ,sorry danny its my age ya,know ,also dennis hobson must have some real pull leapfrogging the challengers for urango,s belt ,much the same as he did with the collazo fight ,but i,m not complaining cos on paper it looks a blood and guts match ,no doubt billys done all the research on juan ,just hope rick wins and fights witter ,a fight which would pack em to the rafters in manchester and be a mega payday for both of them.
No probs Colin. I've just heard Andy Morris and Steve Foster will meet on the undercard of the calzaghe fight in October. What a fight!!!!!!!!!! There both very good, unbeaten fighters, makes a refreshng change to top domestic fighters avoiding each other. I wouldn't like to pick a winner, it could go either way. What you reckon?
hi danny,like you said wot a scrap i,d lean a bit to morris but whoever attends is in for a real treat , this is a 50 50 match without a doubt just sorry i can,t be there ,like you said fights like this are a breath of fresh air for the game and my compliments to the match maker ,but of course the highest accolade should go to the 2 lads concerned don,t you think ,for too long many unbeaten fighters keep there records intact by fighting no hopers , i won the price of my flight to thailand from all the mugs in my local who fancied naz against berrara ,but in this fight with steve n andy i,ll keep my money in my pocket thanks .
hi danny me again ,yeah checked it out its on!!,but credit to both lads ,no disrespect to joe but this fight is the main event in all but name ,as you may be aware its realy hard at times to have a "hands on" view of things back there being i now live in thailand but thanks to the internet and M.E.N i do my best ,back the the morris VS foster fight it makes my hair stand on end at the thoughts of it ,for sure its what makes the game tick ,i just hope the fans of both lads on the night behave themselves and the only blood spilt is inside the ring ,i,m sure you know what i mean danny, anyway come on i,ve gone out on a limb its your turn now so lets have it ,bit like which is 1st chicken or egg ain,t it ,all in all the best match manchester has had for yonks without a doubt .
It's impossible for me to pick a winner here. Foster carries the greater power and thats his best hope of winning. Morris is very fit with a very good workrate and i feel his best chance is a points win. Also I hear both guys are looking really good in the gym so it should be a top fight. whatever the end result Morris will start fast and win the early rounds, it's just whether Foster can impose his authority on the fight.
hi danny ,think you,ve got it just about right in your summing up, i know steve has more firepower and andys the boxer thats why in my opinion this is the best match in manchester for yonks ,just wish i,d a magic carpet sometimes ,next months super featherweight fight with jorge barrios and joan gusman should be a corker, its on tv here ,i fancy gusman ,seen him before ,he,s a real cutie and i saw no weaknesses in his makeup at all ,its a bit like the fight back there ,barrios the banger and gusman the stick and mover can,t wate!! .
nowt much to do over the weekend cept wait for the results from the bolton show so decided to do some research on ricks next opponent JUAN URANGO,this guy is no duck egg believe me and i have to hand it to" TEAM HATTON" as they now choose to be called for taking on a fighter of the calibre of urango ,on paper this fight could be just as hard if not harder than the COLLAZO match ,the kids got a solid amature background having beaten the likes of MIGUEL COTTO amongst others ,he,s also drawn with MIKE ARNAOUTIS in the only draw on his pro record ,and as everyone knows ARNAOUTIS, is no tomato can,all in all a match to savour beyond a doubt .
sorry i dont mean t be the bearer of bad news here but the morris foster fight is now off.I know it has,nt been officially confirmed yet but believe me when i tell you its off.Gutted because i was looking forward to this.