According to Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez, lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and former jr. welterweight champion Ricky Hatton have verbally agreed to fight each other some time in 2010. The announcement was made shortly after Paulie Malignaggi's dominant unanimous decision victory over Juan Diaz. When Malignaggi expressed his strong desire to face either Marquez or Hatton in his next bout, Gomez quickly shot down those plans when he revealed the news of the the verbal agreement during the post-fight press conference.
Although a verbal agreement doesn't necessarily mean that a fight is close to being finalized, it does give an indication that Hatton is indeed planning on making his return to the ring some time in the new year. Of course, that news should come as no surprise to FightHype readers as Hatton practically let the cat out of the bag nearly two weeks ago in an interview with FightHype's own Mike Juhas. "I'm starting to get that itch again and in the new year, I'll have a serious think about things," he would tell Juhas. "I don't want to drop any levels. I've fought the top ten guys, obviously Pacquiao and Mayweather. Kostya Tszyu was number two when I beat him and Castillo was around nine or ten. That's the type of level where I want to be," he continued.
Marquez was considered by many to be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport prior to his unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather. In fact, he's still currently ranked #5 by Ring Magazine, so it would appear that Marquez presents the perfect level of competition that Hatton is looking for. The bout would likely take place at Hatton's natural fighting weight of 140 pounds as Marquez previously expressed his plans to continue campaigning at jr. welterweight in hopes of becoming the first Mexican to win a world title in four different weight classes. "It's time to rest, return in 2010 and try something at super lightweight with fighters like Ricky Hatton," he comment just days after his loss to Mayweather. "I would like to make history at the age of 36."
Assuming plans move forward, the decision likely means that Marquez will be vacating his WBO lightweight title as he was recently sent a letter with an ultimatum to face interim champion Michael Katsidis or he would be stripped.
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