Hatton seals Mayweather fight01.08.2007 21:44 Sports The "super-fight" between Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather will go ahead on 8 December after contracts were signed, according to Hatton's father Ray. Hatton, who will step up a division from light welterweight for the fight, will receive a career-best purse. "The contract provided what we wanted and we are officially signed up," said Ray, "and our lawyers have told us that the Mayweather camp have also signed. "Now we are just waiting for the date and venue to be made official." Interview: Ricky Hatton's lawyer Gareth Williams Interview: Ricky Hatton's trainer Billy Graham The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is favourite to host the contest, where Hatton could expect a travelling support in excess of the 10,000 who saw him beat Jose Luis Castillo in the city in June. The fight will be billed as "Undefeated", and Ray Hatton says victory for his son would represent the greatest achievement in boxing history. "Ricky is not only fighting the fella on his own turf - Las Vegas - but he is fighting at the time the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet," he told BBC Sport. "If he could do it, it would be the biggest achievement in boxing, going down whatever years you want to go down." Mayweather came out of a short-lived retirement to take the fight, which will be promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy, and has already begun the hype. He said: "I don't know who is the pound-for-pound number two in the world, but there is no fighter in the world like me. "Hatton is in for a rude awakening when we meet and he is in for a shock if he thinks I'm like any fighter he has ever faced. I'm in the business of blood, sweat and tears." However, Hatton's trainer Billy Graham says his fighter will have no difficulties in moving up from his natural division, despite struggling to victory in his only fight at that weight of his career against Luis Collazo. "The fight against Collazo was taken reluctantly and without proper time to prepare," Graham told BBC Sport, "but this time we have plenty of notice. "We will do things differently and it won't be a problem at all. "Ricky set out to be the undisputed champion of the world and he did that, and did it against a living legend in Kostya Tszyu. "But this fight, between the best pound-for-pound fighters out there, both at their peak, is the ultimate fight in boxing." The welterweight division requires fighters to weigh in between 141 and 147 lbs, while the light welterweight classification is 136 to 140 lbs. Hatton has fought in the welterweight division on numerous occasions, but his last two fights - against Juan Urango and Jose Luis Castillo - have both been at the lighter weight. Mayweather has also fought at different weights, stepping up to light middleweight for his most recent bout against Oscar de la Hoya. "I've always said Ricky wasn't a welterweight and I wasn't interested in going back up to that division unless it was [against] Floyd because he's not such a big guy," added Graham. "I don't think Floyd's any bigger than Ricky, whereas a lot of the welterweights are." Hatton has admitted that a fight with Mayweather would be the highlight of his glittering career. "Just getting in the ring with him will be the greatest day of my life, other than when my son was born," Hatton told the Daily Express last week. "Floyd is the one I want more than anybody else. "Floyd is a great fighter but if he thinks I'm going to turn up and just lie back and take what he has got to dish out then he has got another thing coming."
Source: BBC Sportwww.alllee.com |
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