Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Ricky Hatton and Juan Lazcano

El Paso junior welterweight contender takes on England's Ricky Hatton Saturday in England.
The fight will be broadcaast on Versus, which shows live boxing on Thursday night's and also shows classic boxing matches.

But this is the first time that Versus has shown a really big name fighter like Hatton and that is good for boxing. Often times, you have to have HBO or Showtime or you have to get the pay-per-view event to watch a fighter of Hatton's calliber. The Versus card also features Paul Malignaggi vs Lovemore N'dou in a light welterweight bout.

If everything goes as planned, Hatton will fight the winner of the Malignaggi vs. N'dou fight later this year.

You have to give Hatton credit for coming back from his loss to welterweight king Floyd Mayweather last December. Hatton got beat up pretty bad in that last bout and wants to re-emerge as a contender.

I like Hatton at the 140-pound level. He's stronger, he hits harder and he's more active. Plus, there are a lot of attractive fights at 140 pounds for him.

Lazcano, who once challenged Jose Luis Castillo for the lightweight title several years ago, will present a challenge for Hatton.

The "Hispanic Causing Panic" is a veteran fighter with one last shot in front of him. He last fought in Feb. of 2007, losing a close decision to Vivian Harris. When Lazcano is in shape and focused, he's tough. He has a good enough skill level to give Hatton fits.

But Hatton will be fighting in front of 50,000 of his best friends and he's simply younger and stronger than Lazcano. I expect Hatton to stop Lazcano late in the fight.

Hatton could have drowned in sorrow after his loss and it could have gone really bad for him. But Hatton has proven that he's tough mentally and he wants the opportunity to prove himself again. He seems motivated and eager for this fight, let's see if it's true on Saturday afternoon.

- Felix

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