RICKY Hatton hit back at the sneerers who dubbed him a "protected fighter" after landing the chance to become a triple world champion.
Hatton will face Luis Collazo in Boston on May 13 for the New Yorker's WBA welterweight title, after beating world No 1, Kostya Tszyu, for the IBF light-welter title last summer, and adding Carlos Maussa's WBA belt to that in November.
And that was the cue for the Hitman to take a pop at critics who claimed that, like many European fighters, he would remain in the "comfort zone" of his own backyard and continue to defend his lightly- regarded WBU title for easy money.
"It's funny, just a couple of years ago we were reading that `Ricky Hatton is afraid to step up to world level' and `Ricky Hatton won't leave Manchester' but I think we've heard the last of that now," said the 26-year-old.
Chance
"How many fighters, even very good fighters, don't even get the chance to fight for one proper world title? And I've got the chance to win three major world titles in three fights."
As revealed in M.E.N. Sport on Thursday, the fight will take place in the 17,000-seater TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, home to the Boston Bruins ice hockey team, after being switched from Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.
The fight will be Hatton's debut at 10st 7lbs, as well as his championship debut in the States.
He said: "It's an unbelievable fight for me. I get the opportunity here to become a double-weight world champion and the owner of three world titles. I'm challenging an American champion for a WBA title in America against a good, young, class-act southpaw.
"Then there's the added challenge of moving up 7lbs to welterweight.
"It is a real fight, a real title and a real opponent, and I can't wait to show the Americans just what I can do."
Trauma
Hatton's UK promoter Dennis Hobson, after two months of trauma trying to land an opponent for Hatton's US bow, could not resist a side-swipe at the Hitman's former promoter and manager Frank Warren, who is pursuing court action against the fighter for an alleged breach of contract: "We've had a little bit of bad luck with this May date, with opponents getting other offers, opponents getting injured on top of a bit of court room and political drama here and there but, in the end, we've pulled off a major coup and got Ricky a second title chance in our two fights with him.
"For the record, it took Ricky's ex-promoter 39 fights to deliver a world-recognised championship for Ricky. We've delivered two WBA world title fights in our two events thus far as the promoters for Ricky Hatton.
"And for this fight against Collazo, Ricky will be making over three times what he did for the Kostya Tszyu fight last summer."
At over 5ft 9ins, Brooklyn-born Collazo is nearly three inches taller than Hatton and will have a seven-inch reach advantage.
Comments
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You can't fault Ricky for courage and he still has so much potential. Going for a title in a category which is seven pounds more than he reigns in, is indeed a tall order.
He'll need prolonged altitude training in the USA, and to be realistic, this next fight is an even bigger challenge than Tszyu.
Ricky must also develop and utilize his boxing skills, which are already there. A tendency to cut means you also have a propensity to get hit and caught clean. He MUST work on slipping punches and developing more guile.
Lastly Congratulations are in order. Ring Magazine is right.
Hobson has not done anything for hatton. He may try and talk warren down but the fact is he struffled to get an oponent. Warren would have had hatton fighting at bigger venues. Maybe hatton is getting paid more for this fight than ever before, but the rights to the fight, who will that go to.
I think hatton is being old short by hobson