FIRST THINGS FIRST: Ricky Hatton is MUCH better than Jose Luis Castillo. At least on Saturday night June 23rd. 2007 he was. The JC Castillo who somewhat showed up for the skirmish (I would be hard pressed to call it a fight) against Britain's favorite son was not the JC Castillo who we saw in the ring twice against the late great Diego Corrales and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Castillo has rarely if ever taken a step backwards, the epitome of a Mexican fighter. Against Ricky Hatton he had very little defense and his offense was pretty offensive. Castillo said to me following the fight that the move from 8 oz. gloves to 10 oz. gloves which is mandated by the Nevada Athletic Commission, was a big factor in the outcome of the fight. A factor yes but not the deciding factor. Ricky Hatton thoroughly outclassed and outboxed Castillo.

Castillo may not quite be at the end of the line yet but he definitely can see the train depot from here. There will probably be the now requisite "Salute to the fans" fight, which is basically a salute to a bank account one last time. One of the usually unacknowledged sad signs of our own aging is to see our sports heroes age to the point of forced retirement because they just can't do it anymore. It tends to remind us all of our own mortality. Boxers have one of the most exaggerated aging processes that there is in the world of sports and it sometimes seems that they get old right before our eyes. I will never forget watching Larry Holmes literally begging the referee to stop his fight with Muhammad Ali because he was fearful that The Greatest was going to be seriously injured or killed and Ali would not just stay on the stool thus ending the fight. When it mercifully ended, Holmes had tears streaming down his face, realizing that the time had come for Ali. It has come for Castillo and Ricky Hatton carried the clock.

As for Ricky Hatton he still exhibits every bit of youthful exuberance that we want our heroes to show but he does it with such a different style, both in and out of the ring that he is about as charismatic and captivating a sports personality as there is. Hatton's fighting style is straightforward and forceful and so are his wonderful sound bites from the obligatory press conferences both preceding and following fights.

The unbeaten and for the most part truly untested Hatton has now called out the also unbeaten but VERY tested Floyd Mayweather Jr. The hype will almost surely outpace the actual extravaganza that big fights are, especially here in Las Vegas. Mayweather will be somewhere from a 4 to 1 to a 5 to 1 betting favorite due to many factors, not the least of which is that Hatton will be going up in weight again without benefit of a preparatory fight against a Kleenex box. Floyd Jr. ALWAYS comes to the fights in tremendous shape, both physically and mentally. His team of Uncle Roger Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe are second to none so Hatton has most certainly bitten off a very big chunk of boxing prime rib to try to swallow, but he honestly has a chance as most punchers in the boxing world do. I doubt that Hatton will be overwhelmed by the hype and he'll probably take some of the steam out of Floyd's sails by using his sharp wit and great sense of humor to defuse some of Mayweather's verbal attacks and taunts that Floyd has used to great advantage in his previous big fights.

I, amongst many, think that the aforementioned Castillo beat Mayweather in one of their fights and that somewhat gives that full-circle thing some credence. A draw is not out of the question and it would lead to an even bigger rematch possibly in front of 60,000 or so semi-rabid fans in London's Wembley Stadium.

Ricky Hatton is in my opinion the very necessary breath of fresh air that boxing so sorely needs. Just a note for those who like to dream, Ricky Hatton wore a UFC patch on his boxing trunks and he just might be the carryover superstar that could do for the fighting world what Joe Namath did for professional football so many years ago. All he has to do is beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. and he can write most any of the terms into a Hatton vs. the UFC or Hatton vs. anybody for that matter that suit him and the world of ringed combat as we know it will be changed forever. All he has to do is beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. and then stave off Father Time, the truly undefeated, impossible to avoid opponent.