Hatton delivers on promise
Swinging wildly at times and charging fearlessly the entire time, Ricky Hatton delivered exactly what he promised in a performance worthy of a classic fight.
Unfortunately, Jose Luis Castillo failed to hold up his half of the deal. A shadow of his former self, Castillo was badly outclassed.
Hatton retained his IBO super lightweight title by knocking out Castillo with a body shot at 2:16 of the fourth round Saturday night before a crowd of 13,044 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“In my heart, after the first round I felt he wasn’t going to last long,” Hatton said. “I was a bit more at my best.”
The 28-year-old Hatton (43-0, 31 knockouts) remains undefeated and, some will say, untested. “The Hitman” from Manchester, England, barely broke a sweat.
As dominant as Hatton was, he put away a 33-year-old opponent obviously drained by a long career that is near the end. Castillo was exposed as a has-been, stumbling around the ring as if he no longer belonged.
“I am very, very sad and disappointed because of the way I lost the fight,” Castillo said. “I would like to send an apology to all the people I let down.”
After three one-sided rounds, Hatton continued to impose his will in the fourth. He threw a left hook that rocked Castillo’s ribs. It was a powerful punch, but possibly one a younger Castillo could have handled.
Castillo spun around and dropped to his right knee by the ropes. He glanced across the ring to his corner and was counted out, never attempting to get up.
“He got me with a great body shot. It was a perfect shot,” Castillo said. “I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t get up.”
Hatton said the punch caught Castillo on the ribs. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum claimed it was a blow to the liver.
“I’ve been in boxing 42 years, and maybe I’ve seen that shot land perfectly five times,” Arum said. “A guy can’t breathe for 30 seconds. There is nothing he can do, no matter how bad he wants to get up.”
Castillo (55-8-1) trailed on all three judges’ scorecards after three rounds — Adalaide Byrd and Clark Sammartino scored it 30-27, and Duane Ford had it 29-28 by awarding the third round to Castillo.
Referee Joe Cortez deducted a point from Castillo in the fourth for a low blow. Not long after that, the fight was over.
The first round featured no dancing or posturing. Both fighters came out swinging, with Hatton landing the better shots and taking the round.
Hatton said he felt stronger than Castillo and proved it by constantly pushing him around the ring. The fighters locked arms several times, forcing Cortez to separate the two, although they continued to mix it up at close range and launch body blows and uppercuts.
“I felt very strong inside,” Hatton said. “Jose certainly brought the best out of me.”
Hatton landed 81 of 220 punches (37 percent). Castillo connected on 58 of 192 punches (30 percent).
After saluting his large contingent of British fans, Hatton retreated to his locker room and took a phone call from Oscar De La Hoya.
“He called just to say congratulations on a fantastic win,” Hatton said. “Now, hopefully, I am on to bigger and better fights.”
Hatton said he hopes his next opponent is Floyd Mayweather Jr., who won a split decision over De La Hoya for the WBC super welterweight title on May 5 at the MGM Grand Garden.
Hatton verbally challenged Mayweather, who contends he is retired, as he called Mayweather’s elusive fighting style boring.
“I think you saw more action in these four rounds than Floyd has had in his entire career,” Hatton said. “There’s a lot of great fighters out there. Mayweather is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and who wouldn’t want to fight him?”
