Hatton Eyes De La Hoya As Malignaggi Aims to Spoil Golden Boy Party

When Ricky Hatton returns tonight to the place he calls "the scene of the crime", he will engage in more than a defence of his world light-welterweight credentials. He will be auditioning for what might be the biggest night in the history of British boxing.

The man sharing the stage with him at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Paulie Malignaggi, fears his might be no more than a walk-on part. The flashy Italian from Brooklyn is probably right but perhaps not for the reasons/excuses he has put forward.

Malignaggi, whose tongue is as fast as his feathery jab, knows it is not just Hatton's International Boxing Organization 10-stone title at stake. Nor is it even the belt conferred on the Mancunian by The Ring Magazine to acknowledge the world's best light-welterweight, or redemption for Hatton, who is still haunted by his knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jnr in this ring last December.

The real prize is a retirement-enhancing payday in front of as many as 90,000 people in the UK some time next summer against the winner of what should be the fight of the year, Oscar De La Hoya versus Manny Pacquiao here on December 6.

Malignaggi points out that Hatton, who weighed in right on the limit last night, has a business agreement with De La Hoya's company and is concerned by the possible implications. "I have to believe in the integrity of the commission and the judges but they want Oscar versus Ricky, because it's an all-Golden Boy Show, you know? I could ruin those plans. The only negative thing is, will I be allowed to?"

He cites what he regards as a disturbing precedent, the fight between De La Hoya and Felix Sturm here four years ago. There was hardly a good judge in the house who didn't think Sturm had won, except the three who really mattered, all of whom scored it seven rounds to five for De La Hoya, including the last one. Six rounds even would have left the title in the German's hands.

Although Sturm's promoter, Klaus-Peter Kohl, protested that his unfashionable fighter landed 234 punches (130 of them jabs) to 188, which was 43% to 24%, the decision stood.

"They robbed him," Malignaggi states with Brooklyn certainty. "Why? Because they wanted so badly to make De La Hoya versus Bernard Hopkins."

Three months later, De La Hoya fought Hopkins at the MGM. He lost, but picked up $20m (£13.5m). Sturm defended his WBA middleweight title for the fifth time in Germany three weeks ago, for considerably less than $20m. "If it's close," says Malignaggi, "I got a feeling they're not going to give it to me. I gotta make sure I make this a one-sided fight."

In the interests of keeping the lawyers of the Nevada State Athletic Commission happy, it should be pointed out a more compelling reason for Malignaggi to expect a struggle tonight resides in his own hands, especially the right. It is an instrument so fragile eggs would be safe under his assault.

Malignaggi looked ordinary in his last outing, which fans in Manchester will remember more for his split hairs than his split-decision win over Lovemore N'Dou, when his trainer Buddy McGirt had to clip his locks between rounds eight and nine. "I tried to make an impression," the fighter admits, "and made a bit of an ass of myself."

Everybody knows a showdown with either De La Hoya or Pacquaio is just a convincing win and a signature away for Hatton. If he wins impressively tonight, he will stay for the main event in two weeks' time, then sit down with De La Hoya to work out the financial implications and debate the number of zeroes involved. If he loses, he will quit boxing after probably the biggest drinking session this town has seen since the end of Prohibition.

"But, you know, boxing's been good to me," Malignaggi concludes. "It's been good to me because, when I was young, I coulda been a porn star or stealing automobiles. I never thought I'd be in a position like this." The position Malignaggi is likely to be in tonight is standing in his corner, shaking his head, and wondering how the judges could not see his genius. He is expected to be little more than a mere dancing partner for the Hitman.