Hatton 3/1 To Stay Unbeaten Until End Of 2008

William Hill were left feeling as sore as Ricky Hatton's knocked out opponent Jose Luis Castillo as fans of the popular world champion relieved bookies of over half a million pounds.

"Ricky was backed from 6/1 to 5/2 to win by knockout; from 1/ 2 to 3/10 to win the fight outright and at 40/1 to win in round four. The result was a six figure loser for William Hill alone and the industry is facing up to its worst loss on a boxing match since Frank Bruno won the World Title." said William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe. "A fight between Ricky and Floyd Mayweather in England would be the biggest betting fight of all time, with over ten million likely to be at stake on the outcome, double even Lewis-Tyson."

William Hill make Hatton 3/1 to stay undefeated until the end of 2008, 2/9 to lose before then."Hatton is unlikely to have any easy fights before the end of next year and he'll do well to maintain his unbeaten record" said Graham Sharpe. "We're perhaps taking a chance by offering 3/1 that he will maintain his perfect career statistics but he won't be clear favourite to beat any of the three most likely contenders out there."

One punter staked £10,000, another £8000, on a Hatton victory, and another gambled £1500 on a Hatton knockout victory as bookies were unable to take any significant cash for the beaten Castillo.