By Mark Vester
According to various reports in the UK, upon moving back down to the junior welterweight limit of 140-pounds, Ricky Hatton (43-1, 31KOs) is going to set his sights on IBF champion Paulie Malignaggi (23-1, 5KOs). Malignaggi returns on January 5, facing mandatory Herman Ngoudjo in Atlantic City.
Hatton is a two-time IBF junior welterweight champ. He never lost the title in the ring. The IBF stripped him of the belt after he turned down a fight with Lovemore N'dou and then agreed to fight Jose Luis Castillo. N'dou was elevated to champion by the sanctioning body. Malignaggi would later challenge N'dou, winning a lopsided unanimous decision to take the title.
During negotiations for a fight with Mayweather, the Hatton camp regarded Malignaggi as the frontrunner for Ricky's backup (if the Mayweather deal fell apart). After Hatton signed to fight Mayweather, Malignaggi was removed from the equation. Two days after Hatton was stopped in the tenth-round by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas, Team Hatton was once again looking at a possible clash with Malignaggi.
Unless Oscar De La Hoya moves forward with his plan for a May bout with Hatton, the next logical fight would be against Malignaggi. WBC champion Junior Witter, Hatton's UK rival, is also there, but it's unlikely that any of the major American cable networks would be willing to pay a lot of money for that fight. Witter is virtually unknown in America. Malignaggi does have a loyal following and both HBO and Showtime have featured him on their networks.
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