BoxRec

From the BBC's website:

Ricky Hatton will give up his IBF light-welterweight title after refusing to fulfil a mandatory defence against number one contender Naoufel Ben Rabah. Hatton is poised to move up a division in May to meet American Luis Collazo for the WBA welterweight crown. But it means he will surrender the belt he won last summer from Kostya Tszyu.

Hatton told The Sun newspaper: "I have a great relationship with the IBF and they understood why I couldn't go through with a defence against Rabah."

Hatton hopes that by beating Collazo in May it will open the door to even bigger fights at 147lb.

"In an ideal world I'd like to keep all belts but that is not possible in this day and age." He said: "After that fight there should be a few more big-name bouts for me. They would be career-defining fights for me - and with all due respect to Rabah he cannot be counted among the big names.

Rabah, an Australian-based Tunisian, won an IBF eliminator last September against Mexico's Arturo Morua but could now face another opponent for the vacant title.



It would seem Hatton is planning on campaigning at welterweight full time.

Regards
ALI

Not convinced that the IBF will want Rabah as their champion, I reckon someone like Catillo or Coralles will come up and take from Rabah. Not sure who the top 5 IBF 140lbers are though..

wonder how long it'll take allegedly to sign up some top 10 welterweights

pasty_spud wrote:wonder how long it'll take allegedly allegedly to sign up some top 10 welterweights

Or top 30 with a top 10 ranking.

Here is the IBF's rankings:-

1 Naoufel Ben Rabah Australia
2 NOT RATED
3 Junior Witter England
4 Juan Urango Colombia
5 Lovemore Ndou IBF PAN-PACIFIC CHAMPION Australia
6 Vivan Harris United States
7 Kostya Tszyu Australia
8 Demetrius Hopkins United States
9 Demarcus Corley United States
10 Steve Forbes United States
11 Carlos Maussa
12 Arturo Morua Colombia
13 Juan Lazcano United States
14 Mike Arnaoutis United States
15 Rogelio Castaneda, Jr United States

Does Rabah have to fight for the vacant belt, would the IBF sanction Witter-Corley for the IBF belt as both of them are ranked high, would be great to see Witter - Corley for both the WBC & IBF vacant belts.

Or would Witters camp wanna fight Rabah instead of Corley & get a shot at this vacant belt ???

On Hatton vacating the belt, i believe he's done the right thing as Welterweight seems the division everyone as moved up to so thats where we will see the big fights happen.

Yes there are better future options for Hatton at 147. Cotto will doubtless move up soon also.

witter could clean up with everyone moving upto 147lbs

I very much doubt Witter can clean up 140. Castillo and Corrales would slaughter him as would Harris if he stays put

I fancy Witter to target the WBC then go looking for the IBF. Out of the list my favourite to take on Rabah is Vivan Harris then maybe an all Aussie showdown against N'dou in Australia. That would be an easy fight to make.

Question, how is a fighter meant to become a big name if people like Hatton avoid them and don't provide them with the same opportunity that he was given agsint Tszyu? Just a thought.

boxingchat wrote:Question, how is a fighter meant to become a big name if people like Hatton avoid them and don't provide them with the same opportunity that he was given agsint Tszyu? Just a thought.

the best route would be to force the public's opinion/hand with a series of grandstand performances against the best available opposition.

Is rabah capable of this?!..

McCallum was unfashionale and the 'fantastic four' didnt want to know in the 80s but he got his shots eventually by being too good to ignore.

Why should Hatton vacate for some guy hardly anyones heard of?

Rabah would of been better than this Callazo.

No Witter Vs Hatton either even when Witter wins the WBC title!

once hatton goes up he will struggle to come back down... its a very hard thing to do...

No Witter Vs Hatton though when Witter wins the WBC one!

What was the point in leaving Warren, he;s going back to fights before Tszyu. Plus FA seem to suck at promoting.

Me thinks Hatton is neglating his British fans for America too!

numpty wrote:I fancy Witter to target the WBC then go looking for the IBF. Out of the list my favourite to take on Rabah is Vivan Harris then maybe an all Aussie showdown against N'dou in Australia. That would be an easy fight to make.

An all Aussie showdown between two Africans?

TerribleTerry wrote:

boxingchat wrote:Question, how is a fighter meant to become a big name if people like Hatton avoid them and don't provide them with the same opportunity that he was given agsint Tszyu? Just a thought.

the best route would be to force the public's opinion/hand with a series of grandstand performances against the best available opposition.

Is rabah capable of this?!..

McCallum was unfashionale and the 'fantastic four' didnt want to know in the 80s but he got his shots eventually by being too good to ignore.

Yes, point taken and agree regarding McCallum and Winky Wright more recently. However this is not the route HAtton took to get his shot and his decision, in my opinion is ruining the very essence of sport. Already Boxing is the only sport where you can be 'the best' without beating the best and Hatton alway's came accross as a purest in sporting terms and this, I feel is a black eye for him and the Sport of Boxing. After all, is Rabbah any less marketable than Collazo (Paper crown aside)?

Why does he feel he needs a title at 147? Did HBO and Sky both say that it's the fights not the titles they are interested in?

I feel this is yet another Hatton Smokescreen and because Rabbah probably wanted his worth as # 1 contender then he has been side-stepped.

Perhap's if Tszyu had performed a Hatton then it might well be Ricky writing this post.

So that's M'Baye and Rabbah that he has avoided? What will happen if Witter moves up to 147 after beating Corley (Which is unlikely IMO) will Hatton end up at Light-Middleweight?

Another point, Corrales may be a big name but at 147? Come on get real Ricky.

Careful Max, beofre too long they will be accussing me of being you and you of being me. Agreeing with me is not allowed on here, even if you are right.

Max Molyneux wrote:No Witter Vs Hatton though when Witter wins the WBC one!

What was the point in leaving Warren, he;s going back to fights before Tszyu. Plus FA seem to suck at promoting.

I presume you mean Fight Academy, i think you are being a little criticle to fight Academy, remember this is the big break they needed signing a big named fighter like Hatton, yeah so they might be making mistakes etc but thats becuase they are still learning & probably aint been in such situations before.

Yes I mean them.

They have Clinton Woods whos IBF champ yet he's not a big name here or anywhere else!

The Maussa fight they could of done better with too.

Foggy wrote:

Max Molyneux wrote:No Witter Vs Hatton though when Witter wins the WBC one!

What was the point in leaving Warren, he;s going back to fights before Tszyu. Plus FA seem to suck at promoting.

I presume you mean Fight Academy, i think you are being a little criticle to fight Academy, remember this is the big break they needed signing a big named fighter like Hatton, yeah so they might be making mistakes etc but thats becuase they are still learning & probably aint been in such situations before.

Talking of your theory and FA. Let's hope the other FA don't get an inexperienced Manager to run the England team and say "Don't worry he'll be alright when he get's the hang of the job". How ridiculous, this is not a corner shop but a dangerous business and HAtton will ultimatgely become the victim of their mistakes, financially speaking.

boxingchat wrote:

Foggy wrote:

Max Molyneux wrote:No Witter Vs Hatton though when Witter wins the WBC one!

What was the point in leaving Warren, he;s going back to fights before Tszyu. Plus FA seem to suck at promoting.

I presume you mean Fight Academy, i think you are being a little criticle to fight Academy, remember this is the big break they needed signing a big named fighter like Hatton, yeah so they might be making mistakes etc but thats becuase they are still learning & probably aint been in such situations before.

Talking of your theory and FA. Let's hope the other FA don't get an inexperienced Manager to run the England team and say "Don't worry he'll be alright when he get's the hang of the job". How ridiculous, this is not a corner shop but a dangerous business and HAtton will ultimatgely become the victim of their mistakes, financially speaking.

Look here, lets give Fight Academy time to see what they can do, if in 2 years time they messed up then ok lets criticise them but to me they aint done owt wrong yet, and like i say this is the first big adventure they have really been on.

On another note i wonder who's corner Dennis Hobson will be in when Hatton fights in the USA & Woods fights in the UK on the same day???

E wrote:

numpty wrote:I fancy Witter to target the WBC then go looking for the IBF. Out of the list my favourite to take on Rabah is Vivan Harris then maybe an all Aussie showdown against N'dou in Australia. That would be an easy fight to make.

An all Aussie showdown between two Africans?

You know what I mean, both based in Aussie!

This fight makes sense from the standpoint that it is a good bargaining chip to make fights with Mayweather, Cotto etc. It looks like most of the talent from LW is moving upward, and the biggest fights

It's probably also easier for HBO to sell this as they can bang on about Hatton becoming a two weight champion.

There is some risk in this though, how will Hatton's shots feel to a bigger man who has been in with big welterweights in his time? I've still yet to see Collazo, hoping to find some DVD's to form a real opinion.

I don't blame Hatton for getting rid of the IBF belt, the belt isn't the issue, so long as he has one he's fine, he beat Tszyu, that's all that matters. Rabah was hardly a name that excited anyone.