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Urkal slips into Hatton's firing line

05/06/2006

Oktay Urkal, the European welterweight champion, is in line to face Ricky Hatton for the Manchester Hitman's WBA welterweight title.

Promoter Dennis Hobson revealed today he has reached an agreement with the German fighter's camp following the controversial cancellation of Jose Luis Castillo's proposed fight with WBC lightweight champion Diego Corrales last weekend.

Hatton was due to face the winner of that match but it was called off after Mexican Castillo failed to make the weight.

Their two camps are now set for a legal battle but Hatton, and Hobson, are unwilling to wait around for the conclusion to the case and have targeted Urkal as the fighter to step in.

Talking to BBC Sport, Hobson confirmed: "We have an agreement to fight Oktay Urkal, who is the mandatory contender for Ricky's WBA welterweight belt. We're not waiting about for court cases and suspensions."

Urkal, 36, boasts a solid professional record of 37 wins, 11 coming via knockout, and three losses from his 40 fights.

He has, however, been criticised for lacking the power needed to be a major force in the division as was made obvious during his three previous world title fights, against Kostya Tszyu in 2001 and then two against Vivian Harris the year following, all of which he lost.

Meanwhile, Hatton, 27, is still unbeaten in his 41 fights, with 30 coming inside the distance, and, although he struggled to impress, became a double weight world champion by beating Luis Collazo in Boston last month.

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