Hatton-Maussa Preview From Across The Sea by Dave Oakes - 11/21/2005 On Nov. 26 Ricky Hatton makes the first defense of his IBF title and also tries to pry the WBA title from the grip of the unorthodox Colombian Carlos Maussa. Hatton is a fairly heavy favorite, but will Maussa be deterred by the oddsmakers? At a time when Hatton should be concentrating on his preparations, he has been involved in a contract dispute with his now ex-promoter Frank Warren. Warren has dropped an attempted injunction application to stop the fight from happening and it now seems he'll only be carrying out legal proceedings to claim compensation from Hatton for breach of contract. Warren claims that Hatton had signed for another three fights (although Hatton strongly denies this). Hatton has stated that his preparations have not been affected by the dispute and that he's ready, both physically and mentally. Only time will tell if he's true to his word. While Hatton's training camp has been chaotic, Maussa has been working hard in the gym and will be sure to be focused on the task at hand. Maussa pulled off an epic upset last June against former champ Vivian Harris and this confidence boost will only help his chances. Maussa will never be a smooth, well-skilled boxer but what he does, he does well. At times Maussa looks like a puppet that's had a few of its strings cut. Maussa can be all over the place, but still finds a way to throw hard punches that can hurt his opponents. Maussa is very easy to hit, but he counters that with a very solid chin. Maussa also has enough power to stop a lot of his opponents from rushing in at him. The combustion of Hatton's swarming style and Maussa's ability to throw punches from weird angles could make for an untidy fight. Neither boxer is adverse to fouling as well, guaranteeing it'll be a rough-and-tumble fight. All the factors are guaranteed to make this fight entertaining. There's no doubt that Hatton is the better boxer and he'll go straight after Maussa from the opening bell. However, with Maussa's power and rock-solid chin it should be a long hard fight with the winner being the one who can take the punches better and finish stronger. |