belt were all won within four rounds. He then gained the WBA Inter-Continental title following a unification bout against Giuseppe Lauri. The following month he fought Jon Thaxton for the vacant British title. Despite sustaining a cut over his left eye in the first round, Hatton continued for the full twelve rounds and won on points, the first time in his career that he had been taken beyond six rounds. As the cut was his fourth above the same eye, Hatton had plastic surgery on his eyebrow that November, with a view to a world title shot in the spring. Hatton claimed the vacant WBU title in March 2001, having sent opponent Tony Pep to the canvas three times in the process. Hatton vs. Tszyu On 5 June 2005, Hatton defeated IBF and The Ring champion Kostya Tszyu, then widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world by a TKO after the Australian failed to answer the bell for the twelfth round. Hatton was a heavy underdog for this fight and the victory announced his entry to the upper echelons of the world boxing scene. Prior to the fight, the majority of boxing critics had given Hatton little or no chance and this victory was regarded as one of the best victories by an English boxer in the last 20 years. Light Welterweight Unification On 26 November 2005, Hatton won the WBA light-welterweight title when he defeated Carlos Maussa in the ninth round of a unification bout. In December, Hatton was named the 2005 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year. Hatton relinquished his IBF title on 29 March 2006 after refusing to fulfil a mandatory defence against number one contender Naoufel Ben Rabah because he intended to move up to the welterweight division. Hatton signed a three-fight contract with Dennis Hobson's fight academy after splitting from long time promoter Frank Warren. The three fights would take place in the United States. Welterweight Hatton vs. Collazo Hatton moved up a division to meet American Luis Collazo for the WBA welterweight title which took place on 13 May 2006. Hatton won the WBA title from Collazo but struggled. Hatton started well, knocking Collazo down in the very first few seconds of the first round, but it turned out to be one of the toughest fights of his career, with some boxing analysts claiming Collazo won the fight, although