Hatton pledges not to 'duck' fights

Ricky Hatton has vowed to continue stretching his unbeaten record to the limit after scraping past Luis Collazo to claim the WBA welterweight title in Boston.

Hatton's win was in doubt until the final seconds of an exciting contest but the Manchester 'Hit Man' warned he has no intention of reverting to the easy route.

Hatton said: 'I have set myself goals from the start and becoming a two-weight world champion is the stuff of my wildest dreams. There is no way I am going to start taking easy fights.

'I have always said I will fight absolutely anybody. Fights like that are the ones that create your legacy. I have won world titles in three consecutive fights and that is what I am all about.'

However, Hatton must make the big decision whether to continue at the 147lbs limit where he appeared to lack spark and admitted to being hurt by Collazo's counter-punching style.

Despite dropping the New Yorker inside the first 20 seconds, Hatton struggled to figure out the dangerous southpaw and was also rocked by a flurry in a thrilling final round.

Hatton added: 'Luis hurt me several times in the fight and he hits a lot harder. I still believe I am a light-welterweight and moving up I did notice the difference.

'But the way he hit and hurt me in the last round and how I was able to stay close and smother him showed I am able to cope with it. Now I will sit down and decide where to go from here.'

Collazo, who was not expected to pose such a threat boasting just 12 early wins in his 27-fight career, accused Hatton of fighting dirty and attributed the knockdown to hitting on the break.

'The referee said break and he jumped in and threw a punch at the same time,' said Collazo. 'He did a lot of things he shouldn't have done that he got away with.

'The fact that he was holding all the time showed that he couldn't deal with my power. I believe he should go back down to 140lbs but if he wants to stay at 147lbs he needs to give me a rematch.'

That is unlikely to happen as Hatton considers his future options but such a dramatic conclusion looked improbable when Collazo was on the canvas from Hatton's crisp left hook.

The rangy champion looked unlikely to be able to deal with Hatton's relentless assaults but the trademark rib-bending body shots never truly arrived to threaten Collazo.

Instead it was the New Yorker who took a stranglehold on the contest with his fine counter-punching until a rally by Hatton in the second half of the bout just turned the contest in his favour.

Hatton admitted: 'It was the toughest fight of my life. It ebbed and flowed and I will have to watch it again on the tape but I think I just edged it by a couple of rounds.'