HATTON PICKS UP SOME BLING IN FIRST TITLE DEFENSE!
Landover, MD-Professional wrestling icon Ric Flair was famous for saying in his heyday To be the man, you gotta beat the man. As he aged, that phrase took on a caveat as Flair added that It aint just beating the man, its staying the man. For the first time, World 140 lb. champ Ricky Hatton (40-0, 30 KOS) has stayed the man and in impressive fashion. With perhaps the best combination of his career, Hatton dropped and knocked out top contender and WBA titlist Carlos Maussa (20-3, 18 KOS) in the ninth round at the Hallam Arena in Sheffield, England on Saturday night to add another piece of alphabet jewelry to his IBF and Ring Magazine titles. For Hatton and his fans, a sigh of relief followed the victory.
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MAUSSA MAGIC NOT ENOUGH TO SNARE THE PRECIOUS!
Maussa, who bears a striking resemblance to Gollum, had proven in the past to be a spoiler, upsetting in recent vintage upcoming contender Jeffrey Resto, and the allegedly avoided Vivian Harris. As far as first title defenses go, it was an acceptable challenge and a welcome result. Hattons path from here is far less clear, and will demand more of him than Maussa did Saturday. Junior Welterweight, while no longer the sports best division, is still among the toughest to navigate. For the champion, the choice of who to fight next, and how long to stay at 140, are only partly in his hands.
COTTO, GATTI, CASTILLOBUT FLOYD IS THE PRIZE!
I say only partly in his hands, because three of his biggest potential foes share a common first line of defense. WBO junior welter titlist Miguel Cotto, lightweight juggernaught Jose Luis Castillo, and WBC jr. welter titlist Floyd Mayweather are the three fighters most fans want to see Hatton face, but they are all promoted by Bob Arum and it is unclear if Arum would risk any of them against Hatton. A name being mentioned strongly for a Hatton debut in the U.S. (as champion) is shopworn Arturo Gatti, but Gatti has a tough fight at 147 in January against Thomas Daamgard, and his camp has given no indication that Gatti will move back to 140. There is also the specter of promoter Fran Warren, whose rocky relationship with Hatton is resulting in a call to face Warren charge Souleymane Mbaye to fulfill the WBAs mandatory contender spot.
HATTON FACES TOUGH MANDATORIES AS WELL!
As has been seen in the past, mandatory challenges are often as much obligation as refuge, particularly for champions who have shown they can sell tickets. The economics of the sport can lead to talented fighters facing inferior opposition as long as the money stays strong. Hatton doesnt have that sort of soft touch mandatories right now though. Mbaye makes an intriguing foe because he isnt inferior opposition. His only loss is to Vivian Harris and he knocked off Andreas Kotelnik, (who defeated 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist Muhammad Abdullaev over the weekend) to earn his shot. Currently, Naoufel Ben Rabah, a fighter on an 18 fight winning streak, who has moderate power, occupies the #1 spot in the IBF. Right behind him in the rankings is potential mandatory, Junior Witter of Great Britain, who is not only intriguing, but provides Hatton an incentive for a homegrown superfight, perhaps the biggest in the UK since the wars between Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn.
NOWHERE TO GO BUT INTO THE FIRE!
Unfortunately, Witter is for now unlikely. Though the best money option outside the U.S., Witters best interest is to stay away from Hatton for the time being. If Floyd Mayweather vacates his belt, Witter would be in line to fight for the then-vacant WBC title in a gimme against Gianluca Branca. Thats great to build a unification showdown, but bad for Hattons immediate future. In a nice change of pace, the highest risk may be taking the mandatories. Hatton might be favored to win them, and make good money doing so, but should he slip then the sea of cash in front of him could quickly become a stream. In boxing, it is never certain that one has made the right choice until their hand is raised in victory.
HATTON MUST STAY THE COURSE FOR GLOBAL SUPERFIGHT!
For Hatton, victory will be seen in the size of his checks as much as the notes on his record. If Mbaye or Rabah is next (and if Hatton deems his belts valuable that is the logical next step) then Hatton is now forced to play the best kind of waiting game. BoxingTalk is reporting that Arum and Don King have begun negotiations for a showdown in the spring of 2006 between Mayweather and World Welterweight champion Zab Judah. Should the fight come off, the winner will emerge with as much star quality as they have ever had. Hatton, should he take a fight or two in the United States and win impressively, would emerge by the end of 2005 as one of the sports few global starsand it would be only a matter of time until the stars aligned at ring center. As frustrating as it can be for fight fans to wait for the BIG ones, this time it may be worth it.
2006 LOOKS AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN STELLAR 2005!
To be worth it for Hatton, he must continue to win. In 40 tries its all hes ever done, and tough or not his mandatories arent good bets to change that. Should a Gatti, Castillo or Cotto come off as well, all the better. As much as 2005 has been about good fights, 2006 will be about paying off the stars, and answering the questions that this year created. No matter the name of the fighter at 140 or 147, Hatton will be part of the answer in and out of the ring all year long. Hatton beat the man when he won his crown from Kostya Tszyu; whether he stays the man or not, were all in for a helluva ride.
24-KARAT NOTEBOOK
Where is my mention of Antonio Margarito in all of this you ask? Hey, if Margarito wanted it bad enough hed take the pay cut and force himself into a mandatory shot at Judah by vacating his WBO belt at 147. Cant pay any less than fighting Manuel GomezSome folks thought I was hard on Mayweather last week and pointed out that the fighters he SHOULD fight havent been taking big risks regularly either. Thats true, but theyve all taken at least one in the last three years, and none of the other fighters in question besides Cotto have exclusive contracts with HBO that pay above market value to them. Floyd cant sell out arenas in places like Fresno, Portland and even his hometown…WBO crusier titlist Johhny Nelson (45-12-2, 29 KOs) extended his reign to 14 defenses and almost six years by defeating Vincenco Cantatore. Vinnie is most famous for losing a fight between he and the referee against Wayne Braithwaite At 38, Nelson has lost a step, but deserves a shot at the January fight between World champion Jean Marc Mormeck and ONeill BellNext Saturdays fight picks? Glad you asked. Look for Oscar Larios to stop Israel Vasquez in the mid-rounds to claim the vacant World title at 122, and look for Bernard Hopkins to finish what he started in a brutal 12 rounds against Jermain Taylor to reclaim his throne.
Cliff Rold>
Note: 24-Karat Rold is not just the best young boxing writer on the planet. He is also an award winning poet and recently received his Masters degree in US Foreign Policy at the American University in Washington DC. He can be reached with your comments at [email protected]