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Two years after the tidal wave of euphoria that greeted his win over Kostya Tszyu, Ricky Hatton has had to endure a maelstrom of criticism in recent months.
His weight, dedication, longevity and choice of opponents have all been brought under great scrutiny after that hard-fought win over the previously unheralded Luis Collazo (who should boost his stock if he happens to beat Shane Mosley when they meet next month).
Claims that Hatton is no longer living a fighter's life have been brought keenly into focus since the Tszyu win despite the fact that Hatton has been playing by the same train hard and party hard rules that kept him fresh throughout his WBU apprenticeship.
These claims have been enjoined by other claims that Junior Witter has stolen a march on him by beating Demarcus Corley for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title, that Hatton had a poor 2006 and that his ambition may have faded.
With all this said, the fight against Juan Urango becomes not just another title, Juan’s IBF light-welterweight belt, to run at. It offers Ricky a chance to show that he can still fight to his optimum level as well as setting up a big fight with Jose Luis Castillo, a fight that will be bracketed as a mayor one despite minor quibbles some have over Castillo’s effectiveness at light-welter.
As Billy Graham went through another pad session with the pupil most responsible for his aching hand and knee bones Ricky did not hold back, he pounded the body-belt then went through his bag-sessions with renewed relish. After Ricky had finished, BoxingScene remarked about how the weight questions we had asked him about in our last meeting, now seemed like a waste of time. [details]
His weight, dedication, longevity and choice of opponents have all been brought under great scrutiny after that hard-fought win over the previously unheralded Luis Collazo (who should boost his stock if he happens to beat Shane Mosley when they meet next month).
Claims that Hatton is no longer living a fighter's life have been brought keenly into focus since the Tszyu win despite the fact that Hatton has been playing by the same train hard and party hard rules that kept him fresh throughout his WBU apprenticeship.
These claims have been enjoined by other claims that Junior Witter has stolen a march on him by beating Demarcus Corley for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title, that Hatton had a poor 2006 and that his ambition may have faded.
With all this said, the fight against Juan Urango becomes not just another title, Juan’s IBF light-welterweight belt, to run at. It offers Ricky a chance to show that he can still fight to his optimum level as well as setting up a big fight with Jose Luis Castillo, a fight that will be bracketed as a mayor one despite minor quibbles some have over Castillo’s effectiveness at light-welter.
As Billy Graham went through another pad session with the pupil most responsible for his aching hand and knee bones Ricky did not hold back, he pounded the body-belt then went through his bag-sessions with renewed relish. After Ricky had finished, BoxingScene remarked about how the weight questions we had asked him about in our last meeting, now seemed like a waste of time. [details]