Days after consensus 140lbs (10stone) champion Ricky Hatton was forced to give up his newly acquired IBF championship because he has the audacity to take on the other leading junior welter - Jose Luis Castillo - the International Boxing Organisation has re-affirmed its’ mantra of not crossing over into matchmaking.

Over the last few years the IBF have forced champions like Lennox Lewis, Glen Johnson, O’Neil Bell, Joe Calzaghe and Hatton to give up their belts by insisting they fight undeserving and unproven fringe contenders like Ben Rabah (whom the IBF have twice tried to force Hatton to fight despite the fact that he, and the man who beat him last week in an IBF final eliminator, Lovemore N’dou, haven’t beaten two genuine contenders between them).

However, while it is not perfect in itself, the Florida based IBO does not force these types of mis-mandatory, and, today they took advantage of the IBF’s most recent own goal.

IBO President Ed Levin said: said: “The IBO welcomes its newest world champion Ricky Hatton. Superstars like Ricky realize that the IBO is a different type of sanctioning body.

“We will not impose questionable mandatories, rather, preferring to let our champions fight who the public wants them to fight.”

The IBO is the only sanctioning body - including the de facto ‘championship’ of New York boxing magazine the Ring - to have fully automated (‘computerised’) rankings which are based on fighter results and nothing else.

Levin added: “In an era when some sanctioning bodies have come to represent a threat to their very own champions, we at the IBO look to support our champions careers not hinder them. Let the best fight the best and the IBO will stay out of matchmaking.”