Hatton to fight WBA king Maussa

Hatton set for court fight

IBF light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton plans to make his first defence against WBA king Carlos Maussa at the Sheffield Arena on 26 November.

Colombian Maussa, 33, won the WBA belt in June with a shock seventh-round stoppage of American Vivian Harris.

The title fight will be promoted by Dennis Hobson after Hatton, 26, split with former promoter Frank Warren.

Warren claims he has a contract to promote Hatton's next three fights, a claim the Hatton camp angrily denies.

They insist they only had a verbal agreement with Warren, who has promoted Hatton's first 39 bouts as a professional, and are happy for the matter to go to court.

Hatton, who won the title in July with a brilliant stoppage of Kostya Tszyu, insists the threat of a legal fight will not affect his preparations for the clash with Maussa.

I said after I beat Tszyu that my next fights would be unification matches Ricky Hatton

"It's not unusual that things don't go smoothly in the build-up to a fight, and this looks like that will be the case," said the Manchester fighter.

"But that is when you have to show what a champion you are, and if it does go to court it might prove a distraction, but then I am just as confident I will win that battle.

"It's a shame things have come to this because we've previously had a good relationship with Frank."

Father Ray added: "Ideally, it's not a good thing. But if his 40th fight has to be in the courtroom, then I have no doubts it will be a 40th victory."

Fight record: 19 wins (17kos), 2 defeats Maussa stuns Harris

Maussa is a difficult opponent for Hatton in his first defence but the Englishman insisted he did not want to take the easy option.

"I said after I beat Tszyu that my next fights would be unification matches," he added.

"Dennis has put his money where his mouth is and put this deal on the table for me because he said he could get me what I wanted.

"This is going to be quite a tricky fight. I saw him beat Vivian Harris and, like me with Tszyu, I think people were expecting him to come off second best.

"But you only have to look at his record. He is a very dangerous puncher with a lot of knockouts, and he has a very unorthodox, unconventional style.

"He throws punches from awkward angles and he will be a bit of a nightmare, but people are regarding me as the number one and I have a chance to grab another belt.

"It's the best fight for me, and the harder the fight, the better I perform."