Ricky Hatton of England lands a solid right to Juan Urango's midsection, and Hatton went on to win the IBF junior welterweight championship Saturday night at Paris Las Vegas. Photos by Isaac Brekken. Former IBF junior welterweight champion Juan Urango absorbs a right hand from unbeaten Ricky Hatton of England during their fight Saturday night at Paris Las Vegas. Hatton a unanimous winner, climbs the ropes to acknowledge fans after the fight, which failed to live up to expectations. Hatton landed 258 punches, 105 more than Urango.

Ricky Hatton managed to avoid the dreaded British-Vegas curse Saturday. He also managed to avoid just about every punch lackluster IBF junior welterweight champion Juan Urango threw at Paris Las Vegas.

Hatton (42-0) was far from sensational in his Las Vegas debut, but he hardly needed to be. He landed a lead right nearly at will throughout the fight and waltzed to a one-sided decision, regaining the belt he surrendered last year to pursue a welterweight crown.

All three judges -- Dave Moretti, Robert Hoyle and Jerry Roth -- scored the fight 119-109. The Review-Journal card had Hatton, 119-109. The only round Urango won was the fifth.

"He was very, very tough," Hatton said diplomatically. "Those first four or five rounds, I looked like Willie Pep. I'd like to think I made the top 10 pound for pound."

Perhaps Hatton accomplished that, but his imitation of Pep -- a Hall of Famer regarded among the greatest defensive fighters ever -- left much to be desired.

Hatton's defense was good only because of Urango's lack of activity.

Still, he looked better than many British fighters who have come to Las Vegas on the precipice of greatness only to suffer a devastating defeat.

Hatton was asked repeatedly in the days leading up to the fight about the so-called curse, but he sloughed off the questions and said he wasn't concerned. That was probably because he saw more of Urango than anyone else and knew what he was getting into.

Hatton didn't put on the kind of show he did in 2005 when he routed heavily favored Kostya Tszyu before a rabid home crowd in Manchester, England, but it's difficult to criticize any fighter who wins 11 of 12 rounds and lands 105 more punches than his opponent.

Hatton connected on 258 of 755 blows, according to CompuBox statistics. Urango managed just 153 connects out of 570 punches.

The fight, expected to be a pitched battle on the inside, was so dreary that even Hatton's staunchest supporters in the crowd of 6,379 had a difficult time getting worked up.

The biggest rise from the crowd came in the 10th round after the fighters clashed heads and referee Tony Weeks called time. Both threw heavy shots when the action resumed, briefly awakening the crowd.

Urango, who dropped to 17-1-1, didn't seem to be near the same league as Hatton. He occasionally winged a wild hook, landing less than half of the time, but otherwise spent most of each of the three-minute rounds following Hatton around and eating a handful of straight rights.

Hatton, who will fight Jose Luis Castillo, a controversial winner over Hermann Ngoudjo earlier Saturday, on June 2 at the Thomas & Mack Center, appeared surprised when Urango threw a combination to begin the final round.

But Urango fought with little urgency in the final three minutes and the crowd began to boo the lack of action.

After the bout, Hatton grabbed the microphone from ring announcer Michael Buffer, climbed the ropes and spoke to the fans.

"Las Vegas! Manchester, England! Thank you for your wonderful support," he said. "It was like I was fighting in my backyard. I hope I did you proud and I'll see you back here in June."

That would be for a fight with Castillo, one that promises to be similar to Castillo's epic 2005 fight against Diego Corrales.

Hatton said he hopes to get past Castillo and then to unify the 140-pound belts.

"I don't think that will be a dancing competition," Hatton said. "That will be a very handsome fight."