WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING

Ricky Hatton vs. Luis Collazo headlines World Championship Boxing fight card on May 13 at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.

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.