What do you get when a Brit and a Brooklynite get together in Boston? Hopefully, you get one hell of a boxing match.

Ricky Hatton, 40-0 (30), the British pound-for-pound junior welterweight champion, makes his American debut since becoming undisputed titlist against Luis Collazo, 26-1 (12) at the Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachussetts. The fight is ostensibly a stiff challenge for the hard-hitting Hatton, presented as his first test in a major HBO headliner on American soil. But really, isn't this just a tune-up for an eventual Madison Square Garden fight against Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto?

Hatton has proven to be a one-man wrecking crew, bulldozing over his idol Kostya Tszyu in a gruelling 12-round fight and forcing him to quit on his stool in the 11th round. He overcame two cut eyes and an awkward Carlos Maussa by knocking him cold in the 8th round of their fight with one punch. It seems there is no one out there than can match the intensity at which Hatton fights. Perhaps a power-punching Antonio Margarito, or a slick, speedy Floyd Mayweather, but surely not the light-hitting Collazo?

Collazo is a tough boxer who, though little known, is capable of giving Hatton some trouble early on. But the only name on Collazo's resume is a faded Miguel Angel Gonzalez, who Collazo stopped in the 8th round, and Collazo doesn't pack a big enough wallop to keep a pitbull like Hatton at bay. The fact that the Brooklyn native has a tendency to get into wars should play right into the "Hitman's" hands. Collazo will provide Hatton with a stiff challenge, but ultimately, judging from the perfomance Hatton demonstrated against Tszyu, Colazzo will have little chance of stopping his opponent.

Collazo's only advantage is that he is a welterweight fighting an opponent making his debut at 147. But barring a flawless boxing clinic on ther part of Collazo, Hatton will be successful in stripping him of his WBA title. Look for Hatton to take a few rounds to settle in, then go to work on Collazo's body. Collazo will use some angles and land some punches, but will quit on his stool late in the fight.

Prediction: Hatton KO 9