Mandatory Eight Count: From Ricky Hatton to Mark Twain

It's almost as good as From Justin to Kelly.

Ricky Hatton's father not ruling out ring return for Ricky (ESPN UK)
Ray Hatton says Ricky is not ruling out a return to the ring, which I think is something we should expect. Hatton has a lot of fighter's pride, and I don't think he'll want his lasting image to be a fat ex-fighter allegedly snorting cocaine off of a hotel dresser. I'd root for his comeback. Ray says Ricky's working out and getting back to "his old self."

Nate Campbell and Erislandy Lara Added to Marquez-Katsidis Card (411mania)
If you're out in Vegas, make an attempt to hit this show. Not only is the televised triple-header solid and headlined by a FOTY possibility, but Nate Campbell will be fighting familiar trial horse Walter Estrada to gauge where he's at in his career, and Erislandy Lara will be in action. Also featured will be prospects Keith Thurman, Bastie Samir and Michael Finney.

The Pugilist: In defence of Haye-Harrison (Yahoo! Eurosport)
James Garner of Yahoo! Eurosport says critics of Haye-Harrison don't understand how the sport works. I'd say we definitely understand how it works -- that's what we disagree with most. Garner also calls Tomasz Adamek "dull" and says there's "something deeply fascinating about Harrison." Adamek has been involved in three Fight of the Year contenders in his career. Harrison is fascinating (if that's what you want to call it) because he's a flop. You know what boxing fans like? Boxing, and Adamek's good at it. Harrison has proven to be a lackluster heavyweight even in a truly bad era for the division. But that's cool, man. Diff'rent strokes. Enjoy bad fights.

Q&A: Carl Froch (Fightnews.com)
Carl Froch can't talk about his bad back without a lawyer present, but he can talk about Arthur Abraham, and does he ever.

Segura vs Vargas Set For Nov. 27, Cuello is Now Out (BoxingScene.com)
Ryan Burton of BoxingScene.com reports that junior flyweight champ Giovani Segura will defend against Manuel "Chango" Vargas on Nov. 27 in Tijuana. The original opponent, Denver Cuello, is out. Vargas isn't a great challenger, but neither was Cuello, and the real issue is riding on Segura surviving the fight and facing Ivan Calderon in an April 2011 money rematch. There have been a lot of upsets in the lower weight classes in 2010, and nothing would stun me at this point. Part of the fun at 105/108 this year has been the shocking losses of guys like Omar Nino, Brian Viloria, and then Viloria's conqueror, Carlos Tamara. It's been a fun year for the little guys.

Steve Collins found not guilty of assault (RTÉ News)
Ireland's Steve Collins was acquitted of assaulting a bouncer in a 2006 incident at National Stadium in Dublin. Collins won the WBO middleweight title in 1994, then moved up and dethroned Chris Eubank as WBO super middleweight titlist in 1995, holding the title through his final fight in 1997. Collins once said that he'd been chasing Roy Jones Jr. so long that he would forget about money and "fight him in a phone box in front of two men and a dog."

Tua vs Evander Holyfield? (NZ Herald)
Promoter Cedric Kushner is working on David Tua's comeback within the comeback, as they're trying to schedule a New Zealand fight in March against Monte Barrett, Hasim Rahman or Evander Holyfield. I don't "get" Tua's career. He says he wants to fight for a title again, but he just keeps fighting guys who aren't in contention. Oh wait! That DOES get you shots at heavyweight titles!

An Aside
Mark Twain once said, "Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."