RSSHatton Relinquishes IBF Title; Ndou to be Named Champ and Defend Against Hopkins?
Ricky Hatton was forced to give up his IBF Junior Welterweight Title after deciding to go ahead and face Jose Luis Castillo on June 23rd rather than defending his belt against the IBF’s mandatory challenger, Lovemore N’dou.
The June 23rd date is not yet set in stone as June 2nd is the other possible date that HBO has available to televise the bout…
The decision was made once one of Hatton’s promoters announced that his client would be fighting Castillo this summer:
“We had an agreement in place to fight Castillo next on June 23 on HBO, and after the fight with Urango we announced that fight at the press conference,” said Artie Pelullo, Hatton’s American co-promoter.
The decision was officially announced to the IBF yesterday…
Said Dennis Hobson, Hatton’s British co-promoter: “We informed the IBF by letter Friday night that we are moving on to the super fight with Castillo in June without the IBF title. Ricky is very proud to be a two-time IBF champion, and, speaking as a promoter, the IBF have always been great to work with. This is a decision we’d have preferred not to have had to make, but, having thought long and hard about it, I believe this is the best way forward for Ricky.”
While it hasn’t been actually announced yet, various reports are coming out of Australia saying that N’dou will be given the belt and then be forced to fight mandatory challenger Demetrius Hopkins providing that Hopkins defeats Contender alumni Steve Forbes on March 17th.
Broadcasters • HBO • Organizations • IBF • Weight Classes • Junior Welterweight • Demetrius Hopkins • Jose Luis Castillo • Lovemore N'dou • Ricky Hatton
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