Will
01-21-2007, 10:05 PM
LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- Ricky Hatton came to the United States and went home with his old IBF light welterweight title.
Hatton scored a grueling decision Saturday over previously unbeaten Colombian Juan Urango at the Paris Casino to reclaim the belt.
Although he won by wide 119-109 verdicts on all three judges' scorecards, Hatton (42-0) was taken to the limit by his opponent and seemed to fade badly through the final two rounds.
Frequently jolted to the body throughout the contest, Hatton also appeared to be hampered by a recurrence of an old right arm injury as he increasingly became more reliant on his left hand.
Ultimately, the dazzling footwork and superb movement of the "Manchester Hit Man" secured the victory over a charging opponent whom he made look relatively one-dimensional.
"I have done what I had to do to win it," Hatton said. "The way the two of us fight, it was always going to be tough. He takes some shifting - he is very strong."
A right hand through the middle of round 2 gave Hatton early control, with the much more static Urango struggling to figure out a way to get close to his foe. He figured it out with a series of right hands at the end of the third round.
Urango crashed home a right in the fifth as Hatton momentarily lost his balance. It was a difficult round for the Brit, who was hurt to the body and using his right hand sparingly.
"The first six rounds felt too comfortable," Hatton said. "Maybe I took my foot off the gas, but I don't think it was boring by any stretch. You know the way I fight - I've shown it over and over again. I think I showed another side, that I can box."
Hatton stabilized matters before Urango emerged again in the ninth, digging another left hand deep to the body. Behind on points, Urango stepped up the pace in the 11th with a left to the body followed by a superb right hook which had Hatton blinking.
Urango (17-1-1) won the vacant IBF title when he beat Naoufel Ben Rabah in a 12-round decision last June.
Hatton held the title in 2005 when he recorded a TKO of Kostya Tszyu in the 11th round and added the WBA crown with a knockout of Carlos Maussa later that year. But Hatton vacated the title when he moved up in class to beat Luis Collazo for the WBA welterweight crown last May.
Hatton scored a grueling decision Saturday over previously unbeaten Colombian Juan Urango at the Paris Casino to reclaim the belt.
Although he won by wide 119-109 verdicts on all three judges' scorecards, Hatton (42-0) was taken to the limit by his opponent and seemed to fade badly through the final two rounds.
Frequently jolted to the body throughout the contest, Hatton also appeared to be hampered by a recurrence of an old right arm injury as he increasingly became more reliant on his left hand.
Ultimately, the dazzling footwork and superb movement of the "Manchester Hit Man" secured the victory over a charging opponent whom he made look relatively one-dimensional.
"I have done what I had to do to win it," Hatton said. "The way the two of us fight, it was always going to be tough. He takes some shifting - he is very strong."
A right hand through the middle of round 2 gave Hatton early control, with the much more static Urango struggling to figure out a way to get close to his foe. He figured it out with a series of right hands at the end of the third round.
Urango crashed home a right in the fifth as Hatton momentarily lost his balance. It was a difficult round for the Brit, who was hurt to the body and using his right hand sparingly.
"The first six rounds felt too comfortable," Hatton said. "Maybe I took my foot off the gas, but I don't think it was boring by any stretch. You know the way I fight - I've shown it over and over again. I think I showed another side, that I can box."
Hatton stabilized matters before Urango emerged again in the ninth, digging another left hand deep to the body. Behind on points, Urango stepped up the pace in the 11th with a left to the body followed by a superb right hook which had Hatton blinking.
Urango (17-1-1) won the vacant IBF title when he beat Naoufel Ben Rabah in a 12-round decision last June.
Hatton held the title in 2005 when he recorded a TKO of Kostya Tszyu in the 11th round and added the WBA crown with a knockout of Carlos Maussa later that year. But Hatton vacated the title when he moved up in class to beat Luis Collazo for the WBA welterweight crown last May.