HATTON DELIVERS: PUTS HIMSELF IN DRIVERS SEAT
Judges send
Castillo a message?
By Moncayo Blackbull Photos: Eric A. Van Dyke/Insideboxing.com
(click on pictures for larger view)
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INSIDEBOXING.COM (January 29, 2007) - If Ricky Hatton had anything to prove to the American public, it was delivered on Jan. 20 via Las Vegas, Nevada in his outstanding performance against former champion Juan Urango.
Hatton is a household name in England, but he's far from being
recognized in the USA. Though Hatton fought in this country several years ago,
his only big fight in America prior to the fight with Urango, took place on May
13, 2006 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. The fight was against
welterweight champion Luis Collazo.
Hatton stepped up in weight to challenge Collazo and pulled out a unanimous
decision. But in the eyes of many, it was an unconvincing win.
Unconvincing in the fact that American boxing fans were not ready to align
Hatton’s name among the likes of champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar
DeLaHoya. But all that might have changed with Hatton’s excellent performance in
dethroning Urango.
With the victory over Urango, Hatton re-claimed the IBF junior-welterweight
championship he relinquished when he elected to fight Collazo for the WBA
welterweight title.
Hatton has opened the eyes of American boxing fans and will continue to prove he
is on the level of the American greats. Hatton is working on his next fight and
the chitchat surrounding this contest is that it will be against grand fighter
Jose Luis Castillo, with discussions of a possible matchup against Diego
Corrales.
Hatton handled Urango with ease, winning every round with the exception of one,
all three judges scoring it 119-109. Hatton was simply too fast for Urango, who
seemed to throw punches in slow motion. Although Urango is not in the same class
as Castillo or Corrales, he was the champion, wearing Hatton’s belt. And in
order for Hatton to get back his hardware and title, he had to defeat Urango.
Jose Luis Castillo, whose wars against Corrales vaulted him into the limelight,
fought and defeated a game Herman Ngoudjo with a split decision win.
Ngoudjo, a rising star from Douala, Cameroon by way of Montréal Canada, came
into the fight as the NABF junior-welterweight champion and rated No.2 by the
WBC. The fight was also billed as a WBC title eliminator.
Although Ngoudjo put up a spectacular fight, he was severely out-classed by the
experienced Castillo. Castillo worked Ngoudjo’s body throughout the fight and
landed the more effective punches. Ngoudjo fought hard, but only in spurts,
giving away most of the rounds to the more active Castillo.
Had Ngoudjo thrown more punches and let his hands go, in my opinion he wins the
fight! However, this not being the case, Castillo pulls out the easy victory.
An easy victory for Castillo in fight terms, but not so easy with the judges.
Could it be that that the judges were sending Castillo a message? After all,
Castillo did screw the boxing public with his weight issues against Corrales.
Much too much money was wasted and lost promoting those contests, not to mention
how the public was robbed of what could have been one of the greatest fights of
the decade had the last fight against Corrales taken place.
You could “feel” between the comments of the commentators they wanted Ngoudjo to
win this fight. Maybe not so much as wanting Ngoudjo to win as much as wanting
Castillo to lose.
The public is a little more outspoken. People I’ve talked to don’t want to see
Castillo get another big money fight.
The talk has been of a showdown between Hatton and Castillo, but we’ll have to
wait and see how the picture unfolds. After all, the Castillo vs. Ngoudjo fight
was labeled a WBC elimination bout, so will Castillo now face Junior Witter for
the WBC crown? Witter does not want to fight Castillo but prefers a battle with
Hatton. Hatton wants nothing to do with Witter and is entertaining a possible
fight with Corrales.
The junior-welterweight division… Back in the saddle!