Castillo walks into a Hatton wonderland

By Hector Linares

23/06/2007

Castillo walks into a Hatton wonderland

Ricky takes out foe with liver shot

Ricky Hatton KO4 Jose L. Castillo... In a Las Vegas arena full of British subjects who made a long journey to see their hero, Ricky Hatton did not disappoint, dominating Jose Luis Castillo for three rounds and then knocking him out in the fourth. The decisive blow was a liver shot, a hook that curled behind Castillo's guard and put him down on a delayed reaction. Castillo took the entire ten count on one knee, and just like that Hatton was 43-0 while Castillo, a former world lightweight champion, may be finished as a top contender. Only the IBO 140-pound title was on the line, but Hatton is generally considered the true world champion at junior welterweight even though he holds no major titles. Its tough to argue with Hatton's lineage: he defeated Kostya Tszyu in 2005 after Tszyu collected three titles and Hatton next beat Carlos Maussa for the WBA belt. Since then, Hatton has given up the WBA belt once and the IBF belt twice but hasn't been beaten in the ring. source: hbo world championship boxing