By Mark Vester

The Lancashire Evening Post is reporting that Ricky Hatton's announcement of fighting on May 24, in Manchester, is coming soon, and may drop as early as this week. Several opponents are in the mix, but every report seems to indicate that Juan Lazcano is the solid frontrunner to land the fight. The bout takes place at 140-pounds with HBO televising the fight in America. Lazcano is Hatton's first fight since a knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last December.

"Obviously defeat was a hard pill to swallow and a lot of people were saying `Is he going to retire now?' But I don't think you are much of a champion if the first time you get beat, you hang the gloves up. It's all about coming back. Life's dead easy for everyone, no matter their profession, when it rolls along nice and smooth," Hatton said. "You find out what a man you are and what a boxer you are when you have a few obstacles to climb and that's what I've got now. There are four or five opponents in the pipeline. They should be announcing it by the end of the week and that is good news for me."

Frank Warren, Hatton's former promoter, is not impressed with the selection of Lazcano. He would rather Hatton fight his UK rival, WBC junior welterweight champion Junior Witter. Witter is not promoted by Warren.

"Hatton's next fight is against Juan Lazcano in Manchester in May, a Mexican who hasn't fought for more than a year, losing to Vivian Harris in his last fight. That's the same Harris who was knocked out by Junior Witter. Ricky is talking about a show at Manchester City - I'd be worried if I was promoting that one, because Lazcano will not generate a 30,000 gate. Promoters are constantly being told that they should give the fans what they want. Promoter Hitman should forget Lazcano and make sure the man who beat Harris is in the opposite corner - Junior Witter," Warren said.

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