So Ricky pummels Mike Stewart on the 1st of October, we which all expect him to do....then what? Ricky will become the mandatory for IBF.
Surely at the back of his mind he must be thinking....what if the Harris farce happens again..?
I.e. negotiations brake down over money and Ricky gets pulled from the rankings. What the hell would he do then? Fight for the WBO?
If I was Ricky I would need certain assurances that the fight against either Tszyu or Mitchell can be secured and that he will definetly get his title shot. Which also means that someone needs to take some sort of pay cut. Heaven forbid of course...
Judging by what main events said 'we're piloting this ship' they will demand the upper hand in negotiations if Ricky wants Gatti. Tszyu has made it clear that Hatton and Spadafora are not on his wish list, so negotiations won't be easy there either.
This leaves cotton/pinto who are going to be looking at mayweather, gatti, Harris et al.
It's not looking like it's going to be any easier to negotiate a deal for a shot at the title this time round either.
Harris definetly overpriced himself out of the fight, but Tszyu and Gatti are going to want big paydays too...
Tszyu or Mitchell wont fight Hatton. And as for returning to the WBO, he's already stepped down from one mandatory fight for tha title when Corely was champion.
I'd say Hatton's best hope is Tszyu unifies 2-3 belts and then moves to 147 leaving Hatton to fight someone for a vacant crown at the end of next year.
Hatton is on the outside looking in - the sanctioning bodies mean dick - they wont money fights and Hatton wont go to purse bids.
So it will always boil down to one of the top champions being paid enought to come to Manchester and fight for 50% or less.
And with all the champions having each other and the chance to move to welter and fight Judah or SPinks.....Hatton could have cried wolf once too often.
I agree with Mighty Warrior, Hatton's career just isn't worth getting excited about anymore...we may as well just put him in a "What could have been" category.
Both Hatton's and Calzaghe's careers ended the day the Harris ( in the case of Shatton, er Hatton ) and Johnson/Tarver ( in the case of Taffy Pantsdown ) fights failed to be made
DavidPayne wrote:I'd say Hatton's best hope is Tszyu unifies 2-3 belts and then moves to 147 leaving Hatton to fight someone for a vacant crown at the end of next year.
It may just be me but i think Tszyu has had his time at the top and when he comes back he aint gunna be the force he was before - i don't see him unifying the titles but thats my opinion
Tszyu has just started training at the Australian instatute of sport for his upcoming fight with Mitchell. He has been on the news here and Johnny Lewis has said that Tszyu is in better shape and more hungry than he has been for a many years, So we will have to wait and see in November.
Smit wrote:Anyone know what Junior Witter is upto? when his next fight and opponent is?
Spoke to him on Tuesday. Said he was really up for the Mayweather fight that had been mooted but nothing came of it. Urkal is now mandatory for the WBA so that's gone.
I've also lost a lot of interest in Hatton's career.
I had some sympathy for Hatton when Harris started being a tit with his financial demands, but to see Hatton drop a number 1 ranking with the WBA because of not wanting to go to purse bids said a lot about Hatton, and a lot about SN.
I think it is a shame that Hatton has avioded Harris as it would have been his best chance of winning a legit title. It would be a much harder task to beat Tszyu or Gatti and after these two retire there will be Cotto and Mayweather and i don't think he can beat either of them.
He should have bit the bullet and fought Harris even for less money at least he could have fought in England as no other champ is going to go there to fight him.
