Ricky Hatton made his Las Vegas debut a successful one, defeating Juan Urango by three scores of 119-109. Somehow, Urango acted as if he won the fight. Hatton has been generally recognized as the world junior welterweight champion since 2005, but had to defeat Urango to regain a major title belt, in this case the IBF as well as the IBO. Although Hatton lacks the natural athleticism of a Floyd Mayweather, he showed considerable boxing technique against the heavily muscled Urango. Hatton showed the ability to get off first and then slip Urango's counterpunches while maintaining a brisk pace. The first four rounds were all Hatton, but in the fifth, Urango concentrated his attack on Hatton's midsection with great success, seeming to slow Hatton down. In the sixth, Hatton fought fire with fire. slowing Urango down with a body attack of his own, including one that strayed below the belt. By the seventh, Hatton had reestablished conrol of the bout. There was an accidental headbutt in the eleventh. With the win, Hatton improves to 42-0 and has now accomplished a rare, if not unique feat of defeating four consecutive reigning world titlists: Kostya Tszyu, Carlos Maussa, Luis Collazo and now Urango, who falls to 17-1-1. Next up for Hatton is a likely June pay-per-view showdown vs. Jose Luis Castillo. source: hbo
