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Ricky Hatton is on course for an explosive meeting with Floyd Mayweather after being assured that striking a televison agreement will not pose a problem.
A bout with lightweight brawler Diego Corrales had been widely mooted as IBF champion Hatton's most likely next fight, but talks broke down at the end of last week.
The future of the Mancunian fighter became clearer over the weekend when he was ringside in Atlantic City to watch Mayweather outclass Arturo Gatti for the WBC crown. Gatti was forced to retire at the end of the sixth round.
On the same bill Vivian Harris - who had been scheduled to meet Hatton last year before the deal fell through - lost his WBA belt and was knocked out by the limited Colombian Carlos Maussa.
With the Corrales option sidelined, Maussa nowhere near skillful enough and Gatti and Harris out of the picture, the most marketable fight in the United States would be a meeting with Mayweather.
Mayweather has previously spoken of his desire to take on Hatton and Hatton's promoter Frank Warren stressed that reaching a deal would be easier than with Corrales.
"We don't have any contractual commitments to any television networks. There are no problems in that respect," said Warren.
"I will sit down with Ricky and his dad soon to discuss where to go from here. We will just strike the deal that suits us at the time.
"I thought Mayweather looked really sharp and threw great punches but Gatti looked terrible. Mayweather hit Gatti with some cracking shots but he couldn't finish him and he didn't look a big puncher to me."
Hatton is likely to make his first defence of his title on home soil in the autumn before going stateside to fight against the division's leading lights early next year.
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Frank Warren's Sky Sports contract is about to run out in a couple of weeks, which means his Showtime contract is also finished. So, this means he is free to have his fighters fight HBO fighters also. But it remains to be seen wether Hopkins has the courage to fight Calzaghe..
A bout with lightweight brawler Diego Corrales had been widely mooted as IBF champion Hatton's most likely next fight, but talks broke down at the end of last week.
The future of the Mancunian fighter became clearer over the weekend when he was ringside in Atlantic City to watch Mayweather outclass Arturo Gatti for the WBC crown. Gatti was forced to retire at the end of the sixth round.
On the same bill Vivian Harris - who had been scheduled to meet Hatton last year before the deal fell through - lost his WBA belt and was knocked out by the limited Colombian Carlos Maussa.
With the Corrales option sidelined, Maussa nowhere near skillful enough and Gatti and Harris out of the picture, the most marketable fight in the United States would be a meeting with Mayweather.
Mayweather has previously spoken of his desire to take on Hatton and Hatton's promoter Frank Warren stressed that reaching a deal would be easier than with Corrales.
"We don't have any contractual commitments to any television networks. There are no problems in that respect," said Warren.
"I will sit down with Ricky and his dad soon to discuss where to go from here. We will just strike the deal that suits us at the time.
"I thought Mayweather looked really sharp and threw great punches but Gatti looked terrible. Mayweather hit Gatti with some cracking shots but he couldn't finish him and he didn't look a big puncher to me."
Hatton is likely to make his first defence of his title on home soil in the autumn before going stateside to fight against the division's leading lights early next year.
========
Frank Warren's Sky Sports contract is about to run out in a couple of weeks, which means his Showtime contract is also finished. So, this means he is free to have his fighters fight HBO fighters also. But it remains to be seen wether Hopkins has the courage to fight Calzaghe..
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