Witter Part Of Hatton's PPV

G-man · Post by **G-man** » 07 Dec 2006, 14:07

HATTON'S LAS VEGAS DEBUT LIVE ON SKYThursday 7th December 2006

Sky Box Office will show Ricky Hatton’s Las Vegas debut exclusively live on Saturday 20 January.
Hatton heads the bill in Las Vegas for the first time in his 41-fight career, having excited the American audience in his last fight in Boston earlier this year.

The undefeated Hatton, who has won world titles at two weight levels, will contest his fourth consecutive World Championship fight against another undefeated fighter, IBF World Light-Welterweight Champion, Juan Urango.

The night of live boxing on Sky Box Office starts at 10pm and includes support fights from London and Las Vegas. It features a number of Hatton’s rivals in the Light-Welterweight division including Jose Luis Castillo - in line to face Hatton next - against Herman Ngoudjo, British rival Junior Witter making his first defence of the WBC crown and Lenny Daws defending his British title against Barry Morrison.

The current line-up is:

Paris Hotel
LAS VEGAS

Ricky Hatton vs Juan Urango
IBF Light-Welterweight Title

Jose Luis Castillo vs Herman Ngoudjo
Light-Welterweight contest

Alexandra Palace
LONDON

Junior Witter vs Arturo Morua
WBC Light-Welterweight Title

Lenny Daws vs Barry Morrison
British Light-Welterweight Title

John O’Donnell v Stuart Elwell
English Welterweight Title

Sky’s Glenn McCrory said; “This is the big time for Ricky and his chance to make a mark in the boxing capital of the world. His all-action, hard-hitting style is just what the Las Vegas fight fans want and I guarantee they will love him. Not since Lennox Lewis or Naseem Hamed have we had a genuine world-class fighter headlining in Las Vegas; now there’s Ricky.”
The live Sky Box Office event will be available to Sky digital viewers for £14.95 [€21.95 for ROI customers] on Sky Box Office channel 755. Viewers can order the event from Friday 13 January, by pressing the red button on their Sky remote handset or by calling 08705 800 888 [there is a £1 fee is for bookings made by telephone]. Cable customers should contact their local cable operator.

Sky has covered Ricky Hatton’s professional career from the start and has shown each of his defining fights, including his British title victory over Jon Thaxton, the win against Kostya Tszyu that confirmed him as one of the best and most exciting boxers in the world and the victory over Luis Collazo that made him a two-weight world champion.

His opponent, Juan Urango, known as the ‘Iron Twin’ because of his strength, durability and Tyson-like style, has knocked out 13 of his 17 opponents on his way to winning the IBF world title. Much like Hatton, Urnago’s technique relies on his relentless approach and knockout power.

dookus · Post by **dookus** » 07 Dec 2006, 14:18

Good opponent for Witter in the absence of any big names being available - I would love to see him in with Corrales, so long as he makes it through this one.

Corrales would undoubtedly see it as a good chance to grab a belt now that he's had to move on from lightweight, and should Ricky come through this fight and (potentially) a bout with Castillo, a Witter (or Corrales)-Hatton fight would have some real credibility to it in Vegas, not least with the Latino fight fans.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 07 Dec 2006, 14:46

dookus wrote:Good opponent for Witter in the absence of any big names being available - I would love to see him in with Corrales, so long as he makes it through this one.

Corrales would undoubtedly see it as a good chance to grab a belt now that he's had to move on from lightweight, and should Ricky come through this fight and (potentially) a bout with Castillo, a Witter (or Corrales)-Hatton fight would have some real credibility to it in Vegas, not least with the Latino fight fans.

I disagree, I think there are names available that could have been ALOT better than that.

Is Olusugen unavailable?

Juan Lazcano?

Paul Malignaggi has a less meaningful fight with Ednar Cherry in Feb, sure he would have jumped at the chance.

Sirimongkol Singwancha - A poor traveller also.

Lamont Peterson.

A scenerio I would have liked to have seen is for Witter and Castillo to change opponents. Maura is decent enough for a first official fight at the new weight for Castillo and Ngoudjo is more worthy of the title shot.

dookus · Post by **dookus** » 07 Dec 2006, 14:51

Morua's got a near-shutout win over former champ Maussa - can any of those other names boast a similar achievement? Lazcano's best achievement is in losing respectably to Castillo at lightweight - Morua's done more at LWW.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 07 Dec 2006, 14:59

dookus wrote:Morua's got a near-shutout win over former champ Maussa - can any of those other names boast a similar achievement? Lazcano's best achievement is in losing respectably to Castillo at lightweight - Morua's done more at LWW.

Ummm.... Lazcano's last fight he BEAT a fighter who's done exactly the same as Marou... comfortably beat Maussa.

Paul Malignaggi's best performance was a respectable loss, but too a two time champion of far better standard than Maussa. Oh yeah, Cotto KTFO Maussa.

Siramongkol is a former world champion, albeit at a lower weight. But hasn't lost in 3 year (since losing his title) and is well respected.

Peterson and Olusugen haven't done much at world class, but at least they haven't been exposed yet - unlike Maura.

dookus · Post by **dookus** » 07 Dec 2006, 15:05

stujones wrote:
dookus wrote:Morua's got a near-shutout win over former champ Maussa - can any of those other names boast a similar achievement? Lazcano's best achievement is in losing respectably to Castillo at lightweight - Morua's done more at LWW.
Ummm.... Lazcano's last fight he BEAT a fighter who's done exactly the same as Marou... comfortably beat Maussa.

Paul Malignaggi's best performance was a respectable loss, but too a two time champion of far better standard than Maussa. Oh yeah, Cotto KTFO Maussa.

Siramongkol is a former world champion, albeit at a lower weight. But hasn't lost in 3 year (since losing his title) and is well respected.

Peterson and Olusugen haven't done much at world class, but at least they haven't been exposed yet - unlike Maura.

Hell, I stand corrected

I still dont think Morua's too bad from the point of view of a world title matchup, at least in terms on putting a name out there for Witter to beat on. Let's hope he does it in a style that makes anyone want to watch him ever again..

(not to nit-pick, but Cotto didnt KTFO Maussa, he stopped him on facial damage over the course of the fight)

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 07 Dec 2006, 20:20

Not that it's going to happen but if Morua won I bet Hatton would fight him over Witter.

Taki... · Post by **Taki...** » 07 Dec 2006, 21:30

Morua isn't a terrible opponent for a first defence, but I'd call it a very disappointing match-up. If you look at the WBC rankings Morua is pretty much as low as you can go in the top 15.

1 .- Jose Luis Castillo (Mexico)
2 .- Herman Ngoudjo (Canada) NABF/INTL
3 .- Vivian Harris (US)
4 .- Juan Lazcano (US)
5 .- Gianluca Branco (Italy)
6 .- Marcos Maidana (Argentina)
7 .- Demetrius Hopkins (US)
8 .- DeMarcus Corley (US)
9 .- Jungbum Kim (Korea) OPBF
10 .- Norio Kimura (Japan)
11 .- Kendall Holt (US)
12 .- Timothy Bradley (US) YOUTH
13 .- Ajose Olusegun (Nigeria) ABU
14 .- Americo Santos (US)
15 .- Arturo Morua (Mexico)

glittermonkey · Post by **glittermonkey** » 08 Dec 2006, 04:46

Looking down that list it's tough to pick someone different for Witter.

Lazcano is maybe the only other option.

Nels · Post by **Nels** » 08 Dec 2006, 06:07

Max Molyneux wrote:Not that it's going to happen but if Morua won I bet Hatton would fight him over Witter. :roll:

Damn straight. S'a fricking mess, isn't it?

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 08 Dec 2006, 06:53

Don't have a problem with Witter taking on Morua at all. My only concern is that Witter doesn't fight well, he sometimes seems to make hard work of lesser opponents.