BOXING/IBF world light-welterweight title:For a man who had referred to himself as "boxing's Mr Entertainment", Ricky Hatton looked a long way from the ultimate showman in producing a muted performance on his Las Vegas debut to outpoint the strong but limited Colombian Juan Urango and regain the IBF world light-welterweight title he first won against Kostya Tszyu 17 months ago.

Hatton had been looking for an eye-catching victory to seduce a new audience, but he fell away after a bright start and was ultimately content to steal rounds with a fairly cynical display of hitting and holding that would have brought jeers from a less jingoistic crowd than the 6,000 or so in the Paris hotel convention centre, most of whom only had eyes for their Manchester hero.

A unanimous points verdict, with all three judges scoring it 119-109, makes it look as though Hatton had an easy night, but it was anything but as he laboured to repel the big-hitting champion. From the outset it was clear he had no intention of standing and trading, and Hatton employed neat skills to comfortably take the first four rounds.

"He was very, very tough," said Hatton, before adding a little fancifully, "the first four or five rounds, I looked like Willie Pep" in a reference to the brilliant former world featherweight champion (who died last autumn) who was rated by many as perhaps the most supremely gifted defensive boxer ever.

"I felt really comfortable," he said. "Then I showed something different - when to hold off and just nick it. It was never going to be an easy fight."

If the undefeated Hatton had a weakness after shedding 40lb of his body mass in only three months, the Colombian reckoned his trademark hooks to the Englishman's body would take a toll sooner or later. Urango was back in the contest in the fifth when he finally found his target.

Hatton's gloves dropped and he visibly winced as Urango clubbed him under the rib cage with left- and right-handers. But it was soon apparent the Colombian was a one-trick pony, having neither the speed nor talent to capitalise on the openings he found.

Almost immediately, Hatton reverted to defensive ploys, using all the savvy he had acquired in the 41 fights of his pro career to recover from the mini-crisis.

The referee, Tony Weeks, who did not have a good night, let Hatton settle into a pattern of holding and spoiling that did nothing to enhance the spectacle and allowed the challenger to fiddle his way through the remaining rounds with only minimum risk of being tagged again.

"I don't think it was boring, by any stretch," said Hatton, but it was not the view of all observers, and the watching Jose Luis Castillo - the experienced Mexican who will be Hatton's next challenger - must have been pleased with what he saw.

The harsh evidence of recent displays is that Hatton, at 28, can no longer sustain 12 rounds.

By common consent, the way Hatton allows his weight to balloon between fights is a career-shortening habit. And, lovable lad though he is, it seems the binges may be beginning to catch up.

Against Urango, he got away with it because of his opponent's technical deficiencies. Other more gifted performers, like Castillo, might not be so charitable. On the ringside microphones, as Hatton literally tried to cling on to his advantage, his trainer Billy Graham was heard to say "Never mind winning the rounds, just get through this" as he recognised the danger signs.

Hatton spoke of being "reasonably pleased" with his performance and added: "You know the way I fight, and I've shown that over and over. I think I showed another side, I can box."

But Graham had been concerned about his opponent. "He's tough as teak and I knew he would be unbelievably strong. Ricky boxed well in the early rounds, but I said he had got to save something for the stretch," he said.

Perhaps there is some justification in Hatton's observation that there is no light-welterweight who could have knocked out Urango. But it is hard to believe Floyd Mayweather, whom Hatton regards as his ultimate target, would have struggled against such a limited fighter.

Now attention turns to the June meeting with Castillo, whose promoter Bob Arum was heard offering Hatton's manager Dennis Johnson a bet that there would be more Mexicans in the arena than Britons. That is a wager Arum could lose because most of the 3,000 who travelled from Manchester to Nevada this week will be back.

"They don't seem to care he didn't fight well," was an observation heard at ringside. It drew the reply: "That's because they don't know what they're watching."

That may be harsh, but this indifferent night will remain in the memory of Hatton. He may come to realise that, on this showing, there are not too many glory nights remaining.

Guardian Service