By Jimmy G

Whether or not the world truly awaited Oscar De La Hoya against Floyd Mayweather is open to debate, but one thing is for sure, the aptly named promotion ‘Gladiators’ could not have had two fighters more worthy and fitting of such a billed accolade.

In Ricky Hatton and Jose Luis Castillo, you have two boxers whom encapsulate the term ‘Gladiators’, and although hailing from differing homelands,  both could have been born quite easily on opposite sides of the dusty, hardened Mexican streets; such is their natural temperament and respective machismos within the sacred square.

It was a fighter’s fight, the proverbial ‘Irresistible Force’ once again classically pitched against the ‘Immoveable Object’. Both are bravado based, pound for pound marquee stars, both renowned for refusing to take a backwards step, and both clinically versed in the supreme art of murderous body punching. It was an intriguing match up provided by Fight Academy and Banner Promotions in collaboration with Bob Arum’s Top Rank that had the boxing world foaming at the mouth in eager anticipation of a prospective ‘Barnburner’, and a subsequent potential fight of the year candidate.

After two previous below par performances by Hatton’s very high standards, finally he had an aggressive, orthodox opponent in Castillo to showcase his fire. Castillo also had added incentives, both personal and financial. The recent unfortunate and sad death of his brother Cesar from a brain aneurysm, and the financial repercussions of his proposed third fight with the late, great Diego Corrales still fresh in his mind and pocket. Castillo was not only fighting for his dedicated family name, but also his economic future well- being.

"I started in the gym 12 weeks ago and I have never worked this hard for any fight. It will be the best Jose Luis Castillo the world has ever seen."

"I cannot wait. It is like a new beginning for me. My last fight (against Herman Ngoudjo) was just a warm-up. This is the real thing," added the two-time world champion."

"I need the motivation of facing someone like Hatton to get the best out of me. I have been in a lot of big wars and I need the best opponents to make me fight at my best. When I lost to Diego Corrales the first time, I regrouped and beat him easily when we met again."

"But those fights showed I have the heart of a lion and that will come to the fore again on June 23. Hatton will have never seen anything like me."

Castillo said: "I have best upper cut in the division and I will use it against Hatton. Ricky is used to slow, cumbersome fighters, but I have real hand speed and that will cut him down."

"Hatton is there to be beaten and I know I am going to be the first boxer to do it. My trainer told me he has never seen me any better in the sparring I have done. That is a warning to Hatton and he should know that on June 23 it will be a war."

"I am going to win that war." predicted a confident Castillo.

The Hitman responded ‘"The achievements have been a little better than the performances in my last two fights," conceded Hatton, who is unbeaten in 42 professional bouts.

"But there have been reasons. Against Collazo, I was fighting in a division I didn't want to be in [a proposed bout with Juan Lazcano at 140lb fell through after Lazcano injured his wrist].

"Against Urango, the hotel air conditioning brought out a head cold in the week of the fight and that affected me in the last four or five rounds."

"I was fighting a couple of awkward southpaws and I was maybe a little complacent without even realising it."

"This is more up my street, someone who is going to stand in front of me. I'm bang on; I've got the same excitement and motivation as before the Tszyu fight."

“This is the best training camp I’ve ever had; it even leaves the Tszyu camp in its tracks”.

"I've been walking around snarling for the last two weeks and I've not had that for the last two fights. On Saturday night, Castillo is going to realise I'm the real deal." concluded a very upbeat Hatton.

The infamous Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas Nevada was named as the hunting ground for which the ‘Gladiators' were set to do battle. Live on HBO in the States, and as a Box Office extravaganza on Setanta Sports in the UK, the stage was set for a ferocious encounter between the self proclaimed ‘Manchester Mexican’ and the brutally efficient Mexicali Mexican.

It was Hatton’s second visit to the bright lights of boxing’s Mecca, but the 11th appointment for Castillo, who 21 months previous, chopped down the late ‘Chico’ Corrales in four ruthless rounds within the very same arena.

The fight had all the magical ingredients to make it an enthralling affair, and the weigh in at Caesar’s Palace 24 hour’s prior, added further excitement. With over 3000 fans in attendance, both fighters tipped the scales bang on the 140lb limit, with Hatton noticeably looking as ‘ripped’ as he’s ever been, focused, and completely in the zone. The preceding sterling work of Billy Graham and team nutritionist Kerry Kayes spoke volumes, an undeniable testament to the Hitman’s sensational physique, advantage Hatton.

The pre-fight tale of the tape told a different story, and gave Castillo the presumed eminence; a 12cm reach advantage on paper looked tactically favourable to the Mexican. But the anticipated superior natural strength of the Hitman, his irrefutable conditioning, combined with the 200 hours of meticulous studying of Castillo’s style by Hatton’s trainer Billy Graham to devise the perfect strategy, looked to negate any prevalence Jose Luis may have pre-empt.

As the former two-time world lightweight champion made his way to the ring, the rapturous chants of Mex-i-co, Mex-i-co echoed around the Thomas and Mack Centre. There was no Mexican wave, but the Hispanic chants were quickly to be drowned out by the Hatton fans, as the presence of Manchester’s own Tsunami could be seen smashing the pads from his dressing room, courtesy of the television screens throughout the arena.

With the lights dimmed, Manchester’s hired gun was preparing to make his customary spine-tingling entrance into the fray. The legendary words of Winston Churchill – “We will fight, we will fight, we will fight” began to reverberate around the arena, as if proclaiming Hatton’s intent. The trademark melodic charms of Blue Moon were released and welcomed by an adoring deafening ovation of appreciation from the 10,000 travelling fans in attendance. The Hitman was back, and Las Vegas was no longer in the state of Nevada, more in a state of delirium.

As testament to Hatton’s superstar status, his pursuing entourage into the ring, carrying his belts, included his close friends, and legends in their own right, the epitome of supreme technique-Wayne Rooney and Marco Antonio Barrera.

As the familiar big fight figure of the verbally unmistakable Mr Buffer introduced the ‘Gladiators’ within the lion’s den, the atmosphere was reaching melting point, and the strip was getting ready to rumble Hitman style.

As the bell rang to indicate the beginning of the opening round, it was barely decipherable amongst the rambunctious noise generated by the Hitman’s fanatical barmy army. Hatton came out fast throwing a lead left hand that shaved its proposed target, as the fighters tied up on the inside. Castillo responded in kind with a short right uppercut. A left hook to the body followed by an arcing right hook by Hatton had Castillo off balance, and subsequently sent the Mexican to the canvas. Referee Joe Cortez ruled it a slip, although the shot did connect, it was certainly open to interpretation but Cortez decided otherwise.

Hatton was looking super-charged; a huge left hook missed the target and the following clinch had Cortez reprimand the fighters for holding. Hatton was looking like a man possessed, and maybe a little too eager to please, but the crowd were loving it as they chanted “There’s only one Ricky Hatton” in resounding appreciation. Hatton was trying to bully Castillo, holding, leaning in, and firing off shots out of the clinches. Another warning from Cortez to “Clean it up” was seemingly falling on deaf ears as Hatton continued the role of the aggressor.

If Castillo hadn’t realised previously, he certainly was aware now, he wasn’t going to have to look for Hatton as he did Mayweather. Hatton was right in front of him, a proverbial firestorm in the offing. Hatton continued to press the action, Castillo was looking bemused and uncomfortable. A trademark left hook downstairs, followed by a right hook upstairs landed for the Hitman as he applied ruthless albeit reckless pressure. It wasn’t clean action, but already it was looking effective. A right uppercut doubled up from Hatton, finished with left hook to the body seemed to be the plan; it seemed no coincidence Hatton’s combinations were all ending with his honey-punch.

“I don’t want to see that, I don’t want to see that again, steady him down, set him up with the jab, it will be quicker to steady him down" was the constructive advice to his protégé. Hatton seemed caught up in the frenzy, keen to produce the goods, but he was neglecting his boxing ability, and taking unnecessary risks.

As the bell kicked off the 2nd round, Hatton was back on the attack, doubling up the jab with authority, and landing a left hook to Castillo's hardened head for good measure. Castillo's face bore the repercussions of the offensive, the Mexican's bloodied nose clear evidence of the assault. Castillo fired back with sharp left hook, Hatton acknowledged, with a spiteful looking left hand to the ribs. The action was frenetic albeit chaotic, as Castillo rocked Hatton's head back with purposeful straight left which forced another clinch. Although the holding maybe perceived as excessive by the boxing connoisseur, there wasn't a break in the action, it was a brutal battle, and if nothing else, the paying audience loved it.

As Cortez split the fighters from the clinch, the Hitman let his hands go, but both shots were caught by Castillo's

As the seconds elapsed to draw close to the activity, Hatton was on top, with two rounds safely in the bag. And although he was blatantly smothering his own work, he was nullifying Castillo's, such was his industry. It wasn't Billy Graham's game plan that was being executed; Hatton was improvising his own agenda. It wasn't pretty, but it was relentlessly potent, and served to act as a release for his pent up frustrations from previous outings.   

Screams of appreciation from the energetic crowd accompanied the timekeepers signal to end the round, as the Hitman made his way back to his corner, and straight into the riot-act, as read by Billy 'The Preacher' Graham.

The atmosphere inside the Thomas and Mack Centre was electric; with the voltage continuing to soar as the 3rd round got under way. A straight left hand lead from Hatton grazed Castillo's brow as both fighter's once again tied up at close quarters. A three punch combination from Castillo out of the clinch worked well, a left jab, right uppercut, left hook had the Mexican's trademark stamped all over it. Hatton answered with his own patent, a nasty looking left hook to the body, as the action and intensity levels scaled new heights.

Two tight right uppercuts in succession from the Mexican brought cheers of hope from the Hispanic contingent, but another low blow via the Castillo left glove forced Cortez to have more words. Hatton didn’t look too impressed by the persistent 'birth-control' shots he was having to accommodate and fired back with a two-fisted assault. A peach of a straight right was followed by the trademark left hook south.

Hatton was winning the battle of the 'body-snatchers' hands down. As the bell rang to conclude the most evenly contested three minutes out of the nine, both fighters punctuated the round trading left hooks. The Thomas and Mack was on its feet, the fight ticket refund queue was deserted.

As the bell rang to initiate the action for the 4th round, the arena erupted with a fanfare of noise, and the expectation levels were beginning to rise off the scale. Castillo was the first to let his hands go, a left jab was duly slipped by Hatton, and countered masterfully with a dig to the Mexican's ribcage. A triple right-handed flurry from the Hitman to follow, showcased his fast hands and even quicker feet, as he landed a right body shot, right uppercut, right hook to his intended target. Hatton was now giving himself the room to work, and with his trainer's instructions being adhered to, he was looking like a different fighter. The aggression hadn't diminished, but the pressure being applied was now of the educated variety.

The Hitman's fan base in attendance, approximately 10,000 from the offset and rising as the fight progressed, made their presence felt as Hatton began to pick off a tired looking Castillo at will. The Mexican warrior was being made to miss as the Hitman landed a right hand lead, straight left down the pipe. It was all Hatton, as he manhandled Castillo to the ropes, threw punches in bunches and finished off again with the left hook to the liver. Castillo responded with devilish right uppercut off the ropes that registered, but Hatton was fighting fire with fire and kept coming. A cracking straight right hand from the Mexican scored a point that was soon to be deducted by Joe Cortez. Another low blow from Castillo was enough for the referee to take action, and stamp his authority on the proceedings. A right handed body-shot by Hatton was refunded with interest as the Mexican landed a short, sharp jolting left uppercut on the inside.

With Castillo fried on the ropes, Manchester's 'whirlwind of bad intent’ moved into the zone firing off another dual-fisted attack. The Mexican was looking beleaguered and bewildered. Hatton was in the ascendancy, a touching left hook upstairs was enough to lure Castillo's guard up and remove any protection he had to his ribcage. Seizing the opportunity, the Hitman delivered a sickening left hook around behind the elbow, which ended the argument there and then. Castillo, with a delayed reaction, turned away from Hatton to seek refuge in a zone free from pain. The Mexican dropped to the canvas for the first time in his 64 fight pro career. On one knee, biting on his gum-shield, and in obvious pain, Castillo was counted out at 2 minutes 16 seconds of the 4th round. It was a devastating shot, perfectly placed, that gave the renowned Mexican body-puncher a little taster of his own particular brand of Tequila.

The Hitman punched the air and screamed out in ecstatic delight as the Thomas and Mack Centre exploded into a state of frenzied euphoria. This was vintage Hatton, the trademark left hook finishing the job in his historically favored 4th round, and to take out a Mexican in Vegas with that shot, was just the icing on the sweetest of cakes. The Hitman had answered his critics in spectacular fashion, he'd done what Floyd Mayweather had failed to achieve in 24 rounds with Castillo, and that was stop him dead in his tracks.

After Fight quotes

Bob Arum - "In 42 years of boxing, I've seen that punch land maybe 5 times".

Fat Lad - “I trained for 12 rounds of pain tonight, I told everybody that I'd never had a training camp like it, and I think it showed tonight".

“From the very first exchange, I felt I could throw him around like a rag doll, and I think I was trying a little bit too hard. Billy was telling me to slow it down, use my boxing ability. But I think I went into the fight a very frustrated man, especially after my previous two performances which weren't vintage Ricky Hatton. Sometimes trying to put on a show has landed me in trouble in the past, and I'm sure it will again in the future."

“I think your saw more action in those 4 rounds than the whole of Floyd Mayweather's career ".