Hitman targets Oliveira to set up defining fight

Ricky Hatton will hope to make a capital gain when he fights in London for the first time in three years.

A successful defence of his WBU lightwelterweight title against Ray Oliveira tomorrow will complete Hatton's share of the task of securing a career-defining showdown with the king of the division, Kostya Tszyu.

It will then be up to Frank Warren, Hatton's promoter, and Matt Watt, manager of IBF belt holder Tszyu, to start negotiating the only fight that makes any sense to either party.

Warren's announcement that he had a tentative agreement for a fight in Manchester next spring was this week rubbished by Watt.

But proper talks will begin as early as next week provided Hatton extends his unbeaten record to 38 fights against Oliveira at the ExCel Arena in London's Docklands.

Hatton's problem has been to retain his focus while all the talk is of Tszyu. But the 26-yearold 'Hitman' insists he will concentrate on the job in hand when he takes on an opponent who has not been stopped in 58 contests.