By Mark Vester
Lovemore Ndou tells The Daily Telegraph that he plans to get revenge when meets IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi in Manchester on May 24. Malignaggi outpointed Ndou for the title last June. Should Malignaggi beat Ndou for the second time, he would meet Ricky Hatton later in the year in New York. Ndou says the bout between Malignaggi and Hatton will not happen because he will not allow himself to be defeated for a second time. Hatton faces Juan Lazcano in the main event.
Ndou says that he would love to face Hatton in Manchester to avenge the loss of Kostya Tszyu, who practically retired after Hatton stopped him in 2005. He said the referee in his first bout with Malignaggi was the contributing factor to his loss. His camp has filed a petition with the IBF to appoint a ref who will let him fight on the inside.
"Hatton is probably the most popular crowd favorite in the world," Ndou said. "I would love to beat him before a huge audience in Manchester to get revenge for Kostya losing the title over there. If I could defend my world title against Hatton it would obviously be the biggest fight of my career."
"But first I have to get the title back from Malignaggi. I'm way ahead of schedule in my preparations for that. I'm sparring (ex-world champ) Gairy St Clair and some good locals Matthew Paulley and Solomon Egberime. So long as I get a fair shake against Malignaggi I can beat him. The referee in our last fight (American Eddie Cotton) kept breaking us apart every time I got close and I couldn't fight my style of fight. We've protested to the IBF over that and asked that they appoint a referee who lets the action flow."
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com
