Corrales up for Hatton challenge
Ricky Hatton’s new number one rival Diego Corrales has promised to come to Britain to claim his IBF light-welterweight title.
Double lightweight king Corrales is one of the hottest properties in world boxing after his stunning knockout win over Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas last month.
Now Corrales wants to move up in weight and target Hatton in a bout which could take place at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in front of 60,000 roaring fans.
Corrales’ promoter Gary Shaw said he had begun talks aimed at securing the contest on the same card as Joe Calzaghe’s projected super-middleweight title defence against Jeff Lacy in November.
Shaw, who was ringside with his fighters to see Hatton’s sensational win over Kostya Tszyu on Sunday morning, told the Press Association: “Diego would love to come to Britain and make a super-fight with Ricky.
“I have been talking with [American pay-per-view network] Showtime about making the fight on the same card as Calzaghe-Lacy in one of your biggest arenas.
“It is something that could really happen and it is the biggest fight out there at the moment. Diego never takes a backward step and neither does Ricky. It would be an incredible fight.”
Corrales holds the WBC and WBO lightweight titles, having stopped Castillo last month in a war most ringsiders described as one of the greatest in boxing history.
He was on the verge of being stopped after going down twice in the 10th round before responding immediately to leave Castillo sagging helplessly in the ropes.
Corrales revelled in the atmosphere generated by the 22,000 crowd in Manchester and said it had sold him the idea of crossing the Atlantic to take the fight.
Shaw added: “Diego loved the crowd and said he would thrive on that kind of atmosphere if he gets the fight with Ricky.
“Diego knows Ricky is the number one light-welterweight in the world because he beat Kostya Tszyu. He is the man Diego wants and he is willing to come to Britain to get him.”
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Tszyu has denied reports that the Australia-based Russian has fired long-time trainer Johnny Lewis following his defeat to Hatton.
Tszyu’s promoter Vlad Warton told a Russian newspaper that Tszyu did not agree with Lewis’ decision to stop the fight at the end of the 11th round.
However, Team Tszyu publicist Kristy Doyle dismissed talk of Lewis being sacked as she told fightnews.com: “It’s completely 150 per cent untrue.
“I spoke with (Tszyu’s manager) Matt (Watt) and Kostya was sitting right beside him, so I was
hearing him talk as well.”
