Witter and Rees leave Hatton to it

I was somewhat surprised that the name of Gavin Rees was put forward by one paper as a likely next opponent for Ricky Hatton, not because I don't think Hatton's people would have fancied the fight but because he is already busy.
Hatton's plans are far from solid, but it seems a late May date (May 24 has been mentioned) at the City of Manchester stadium is the subject of more rumours than anything else.

Rees, who won the WBA title in an upset against Souleymane M'Baye last summer, is due to defend that against Andreas Kotelnik on March 1 in either Newport or Cardiff. If he went for anyone else he would be stripped of his title and that was the reason he did not have a voluntary defence on the Calzaghe-Kessler bill in November.
He might consider giving up the title to face Hatton - after all, it would be much more money - but it would be a terrible shame.
Meanwhile, the man Hatton should be facing, Junior Witter looks set to be defending his WBC title against Demetrius Hopkins (the cousin of Bernard) in March. it is a cracking good match for Junior, who would start a strong favourite in my opinion. Hopkins is 27, not much of a puncher, and his best win was on points against Steve Forbes last year.
The bout (like the Rees one) has not been announced and Mick Hennessy told me he has hopes of holding it in Britain (Carl Froch has his WBC super-middleweight title eliminator against Denis Inkin on March 15, which would be the likely date).
But some sources are saying the bout will be on March 22 in Las Vegas on a bill that also includes Joel Casamayor versus Michael Katsidis. Seeing that the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch is in Las Vegas the week before, I can't see that happening - well, not in Vegas anyway. Wherever it is, I hear HBO will be screening it in the US, which puts an end to the Hattons claims that US TV doesn't want Witter.
As for Hatton - there has been talk that Ricardo Torres, the WBO light-welterweight champion, could be next in line (which would be the third Colombian Hatton has faced in world title fights). However, I have a feeling it could be Kendall Holt, the American Torres beat recently, providing he beats Ben Tackie next month.
Meanwhile, I hear that the Calzaghe-Hopkins fight is likely to be confirmed next week and it might NOT be on April 12, which has been the much reported date. So don't book those flights yet.