HBO Championship Boxing

Luis Collazo vs. Ricky Hatton

May 13, 2006

TD Banknorth Garden

Boston, Massachusetts

Featured Bout:

WBA Welterweight Title Bout (12 Rds)

Champion Luis Collazo (26-1, 12 KOs) vs. Ricky Hatton (40-0, 30 KOs)
 

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Ricky Hatton vs. Luis Collazo

Headlines World Championship Fight Card

On May 13 At TD Banknorth Garden In Boston

Televised Live On HBO's "World Championship Boxing"

Promoters Art Pelullo/Banner Promotions and Dennis Hobson and Robert Waterman/Fight Academy

will present a sensational world championship fight card on Saturday, May 13, 2006, at the TD Banknorth

Garden, located on Causeway Street in Boston’s Downtown North section. The main event will be televised

live on HBO’s “World Championship Boxing” series.

In the 12-round main event, World Boxing Association and The Ring jr. welterweight world champion Ricky

“Hitman” Hatton, 40-0 with 30 knockouts, of Manchester, England, will move up in weight and challenge

WBA welterweight world champion Luis Collazo, 26-1 with 12 knockouts, of Brooklyn, New York.

Now 27 years old, Ricky’s outstanding performances last year stood head and shoulders above those of

any other fighter. He was named “2005 Fighter of the Year” by The Ring, the Boxing Writers Association of

America, and ESPN.com.

From TheRing-online.com, December 21, 2005: The Ring is pleased to announce that it has selected Ricky

Hatton as 2005’s Fighter of the Year. Hatton is the first-ever British boxer to receive the award since its

inception in 1928.

Hatton earned top honors by stopping long-reigning junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu at the end

of the 11th round on June 4 in Manchester, England. In his second bout of the year on November 26, Hatton

knocked out WBA junior welterweight titleholder Carlos Maussa in the ninth round in Sheffield, England.

“Not only did Hatton take the title away from one of the greatest 140-pounders of all-time and make his first

defense against a highly rated challenger, he did it in the sort of entertaining and definitive manner that

attracts fans and fills venues,” said The Ring’s Editor-in-Chief Nigel Collins.

Collazo, now 25 year old, won the WBA world title in April, 2005, with a 12-round decision against defending

champion Jose Antonio Rivera in Rivera’s hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts. A talented lefthander,

Luis successfully defended the title last August with a seventh-round TKO win against former WBC

lightweight world champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez.

In the co-featured 12-round fight which will not be televised, International Boxing Federation featherweight

world champion Valdemir Pereira, 23-0 with 15 knockouts, of Sao Caetano Do Sul, Brazil, will make his

first title defense against former former European, British, and Commonwealth super bantamweight

champion Esham Pickering, 29-4 with 11 knockouts, of Newark, England. Pereira won the title on January

20 with a 12-round unanimous decision against Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym of Thailand.

An exciting lineup of supporting bouts is planned to complete the event. All bouts are subject to change

without notice.

Ticket prices: $50, $100, $150, $250, $400, $500. Tickets are available at: The TD Banknorth Garden Box

Office, located on the West Side of the North Station Platform, to the right of the Pro Shop. Open Monday -

Sunday: 11:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. (The TD Banknorth Garden Box Office does not accept any incoming

phone calls); and all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 617-931-2000, and online at TicketMaster.com.
 

- Press Release issued by Fight Academy with a little editing from us (color, highlights, etc...)

(4/20/06)