• Boxing

Hatton unlikely to fight Marquez

ESPN staff
March 26, 2010
Juan Manuel Marquez had been keen to fight Ricky Hatton © Getty Images
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WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, who had been earmarked as a potential opponent for Ricky Hatton's comeback fight, is close to agreeing a deal to face Juan Diaz in July.

Marquez's promoters Golden Boy suggested earlier this month that they were planning to offer Hatton the opportunity to fight the Mexican this summer, with both pugilists said to be keen on the prospect.

Now it seems Golden Boy were unable to organise the bout, leaving Hatton in search of an opponent for his proposed return to the ring this summer.

"[Diaz-Marquez] is very close," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said. "We are getting everything signed, we have agreed on terms."

The news was similarly positive from Diaz's camp. "It looks like [the fight] will happen," Diaz's manager Willie Savannah said to ESPN.com.

Marquez knocked out Diaz when the two last fought in February 2009, in a bout lauded by many as one of the year's finest.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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