British boxing legend Ricky Hatton returns to the ring this weekend for the first time in a decade when he takes on another member of the sport’s royalty, Marco Antonio Barrera, at the AO Arena in Manchester.
The pair had been scheduled to collide with one another on July 2nd but the fight had to be cancelled when an injury to Hughie Fury prompted broadcast partner Sky Sports to postpone the show. The decision left Hatton, who had dropped 40 lbs for the bout, devastated, but he believes it has helped him come back even stronger.
“I was left heartbroken for a couple of days, I must admit,” the Hitman told The Sportsman.
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“I’d done a full month camp up to that point because obviously when I first started my camp, 12, 13, 14 weeks out, when I stepped on the scales I was 15 stone four, so to get to where I got and the shape I was in and everything, I was absolutely heartbroken.
“But, you know, they say things happen for a reason and I think it’s happened for the better. That was my first training camp in ten years, where I was getting used to doing my weights, my bar bag, my body belt, my pads, my sparring and everything like that.
“So I was feeling fantastic, a few aches and niggles as you’d expect, but for this second camp, I went to Tenerife for a month, had a proper holiday, not like the usual Ricky Hatton holiday, and then started where I left off. No injuries, no pain, no nothing; sharper, faster, stronger.
“And in that time, I’ve inspired a lot of people, whether it be with the weight [loss] or the mental health. It’s been a tough time for people and I think they’ve looked back and looked at what I’ve done and been proud of me and I’ve inspired them.
“So yeah, I was devastated for a couple of days, but it wasn’t for nothing.
“I feel Ricky Hatton’s been happier now than he has in the last few years.”
Stepping in front of Hatton in Manchester on Saturday night is one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in recent memory.
Barrera, 48, is a three-weight world champion who has shared the ring with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Prince Naseem Hamed and is probably most famous for his blockbuster trilogy with fellow Mexican Erik Morales, one of boxing’s most electric rivalries. And Hatton is expecting his dance partner to come into their exhibition in great shape.
“I think Marco will be in fantastic shape. He’s a very proud fighter, a very proud warrior. He looks after himself 24/7, where Ricky Hatton hasn’t done in the past, so I think he’s going to come prepared.”
Ricky’s son Campbell is currently flying the Hatton banner as a professional and has racked up a 9-0 record since his debut last year. At the weekend, Hatton stopped Denis Bartos with a devastating body shot in the first round in Abu Dhabi, a finishing move that will look more than familiar to fans of his dad’s back in the day.
Speaking about Campbell’s latest performance, Ricky said: “The best thing about Campbell was he was going forward, [had a] solid defence and his punch placement.
“He’s always started off great in his fights but he’s not been able to maintain it because of that Hatton red mist that sometimes sets in. We’ve been telling him for the last couple of fights and essentially said ‘listen, you’re starting off well, you’re making mistakes but you keep making the same mistakes, we keep telling you, you keep doing it, we want it putting right this fight.’
“And he did, a peach of a left hook to the body and it was his punch placement. He didn’t just get close to his opponent and go whack, whack, whack, like he previously does. He got close to his opponent, sit, sit, sit, whack - and that’s what me and Matthew [Hatton, Campbell’s uncle and trainer] want more from him.”
As for the body shot in question and its roots, Hatton said: “I think I hit him with one of them when he was 15 - don’t tell his mam, Claire. But that’s where he might have got it from.”
Meanwhile, with I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! returning to screens this week, we asked Hatton if he’d ever consider following in the footsteps of other boxers like Amir Khan and David Haye for a stint in the jungle.
“I got asked a couple of times, years ago, but I wasn’t really bothered because I was cracking on with my boxing,” claimed the 44-year-old,
“Then after boxing, there was a period when my head fell off and everything like that.
“The jungle is the one reality TV show I watch because you’re achieving something and it's not a load of b*llocks like some of the others. You’re achieving something by conquering your fears and being away from your loved ones. It’s like a training camp in the bush.
“My life has moved on from boxing and the bad times. I’m in a nice, happy place and if a phone call was to come in then I’d look at it. It’s not something I’d traditionally do.”
