By Mark Vester

The Montreal Star reports that Montreal fighter, Herman Ngoudjo (15-0) of Montreal, is already training hard for his January 20 bout against former champion Jose Luis Castillo (54-7) at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. The bout with Castillo falls on the undercard of Ricky Hatton's (41-0) return to the junior welterweight division against IBF champion Juan Urango (17-0). The card will be televised by HBO.

Castillo is looking to use the 27-year-old Ngoudjo as a springboard towards a pay-per-view bout against Ricky Hatton in the Spring. Ngoudjo has only fought once outside of Canada.

Ngoudjo, is trained by former Canadian lightweight champ Howard Grant. His promoter, Yvon Michel, says that Ngoudjo is very hungry to beat Castillo. 

"Herman has proved to us that we have to trust him," promoter Yvon Michel said. "He won the NABF title in only his ninth fight and the WBC International title in his 12th. He's excited and he's hungry."