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A tough time?

23/11/2005

RICKY Hatton believes Saturday's fight against Carlos Maussa may not be as easy as some people have predicted.

There have been some forecasts of an early finish for the Hitman as he bids to take the Colombian's WBA light-welterweight belt at Sheffield's Hallam FM Arena.

Maussa gatecrashed the light-welterweight party earlier in the year by stopping Vivian Harris in the seventh round.

With that in mind, Hatton believes that Maussa deserves more respect than he has received thus far.

He said: "At first glance you wonder what all the fuss is about. He's not the prettiest to watch and certainly not the most elegant.

"When I watched him against Vivian Harris, I thought he didn't look much before the bell but he took everything Harris could throw at him.

"He even went nine rounds with (WBC champion) Miguel Cotto and only lost that fight on a cut as well.

"If you're a boxing analyst, he's very ungainly, he's awkward, he's a big puncher who comes forward all the time and he's very difficult to read - not only when you're trying to figure out what he's trying to do.

"Because of the number of punches he throws, he also turns his negatives into positives."

Bearing in mind Maussa's unusual approach, the Hatton camp have found it difficult to find sparring partners who fight in the same manner.

However, the Hitman believes training has gone well as he prepares to make what could be a temporary farewell to the UK on Saturday.

He said: "When it comes to sparring partners, you aren't going to get anything exactly like Maussa but I've had a couple in who throw big punches from peculiar angles.

"They aren't identical to Maussa because that's impossible, but I think I've got the best I could."