Maussa looks beyond Hatton fight

"http://tinypic.com/ht9pb7.jpg Carlos Maussa says his fight against Britain's Ricky Hatton is merely a "stepping stone" to bigger things. Saturday's fight is Hatton's first defence of the IBF light welterweight title he won against Kostya Tszyu. "This is definitely a stepping stone for me to bigger fights in Colombia and in the US," said Maussa. "I feel Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather are better than Hatton. They have better style and they are better boxers with more punching power." The Colombian predicted the fight would be settled in the early stages. "Hatton is not a good boxer, he is a fighter," said Maussa. "He is not creative and he only has one style of fighting. It is very possible that I could open cuts on him and the referee will stop it - it is going to be a knock-out fight." I need to put in a performance which says I'm number one Ricky Hatton The 34-year-old WBA champion suggested that Hatton's protracted legal wrangles with promoter Frank Warren could also be to his advantage. "I know Hatton has not had the best camp of his life because he has had a lot of legal problems outside the ring to deal with while I have got no excuses at all," said Maussa "I have been training at altitude above Bogota and I am in the best shape of my life. I will prove I am a real fighter." Hatton rejected his opponent's claims that his dispute with Warren had affected his pre-fight preparations in the gym. "I haven't worked as hard as I worked to get the win over Tszyu to blow it in my first fight because of things that have been going on outside," he said. "All that has made me more determined - at times it hasn't been ideal but my focus is now 100% on beating Carlos Maussa. "I have been performing better in the gym than I did before my last fight and my camp for the fight has been second to none. "Tszyu was ranked number one and I beat him so now I need to put in a performance which says I'm number one.