Hatton's dad unsure over Ricky
Ricky Hatton's father and manager Ray admits even he cannot predict how 'The Hitman' will react to his defeat by Floyd Mayweather when he fights Juan Lazcano on Saturday. Hatton Senior has revealed for the first time the despair his son went through after losing his unbeaten record to Mayweather in Las Vegas back in December.
The Hitman was outclassed by the American and was eventually knocked out in the 10th round as Mayweather retained his WBC Welterweight title.
And as Hatton warms up to fight Lazcano in front of 55,000 fans at the City of Manchester Stadium, Ray says Ricky felt he had let his friends and family down after losing his perfect 38 from 38 record.
Ray said: "He got in his head that he had let his fans down. He says that he lost his head and let everyone down and he wasn't himself.
"But the good thing was that every time I spoke to him it wasn't him feeling sorry for himself but for others.
"Even though he lost to the best pound-for-pound on the planet, that little bit of feeling of invincibility goes.
"I'm his dad and I can't tell you how he is going to bounce back from it."
Ray praised his son for "not hiding away" after the loss and believes Ricky's desire to fight at his beloved Manchester City's stadium is proof that his son has the mental strength to overcome any doubters.
Hatton added: "People don't realise this is a massive, massive, massive fight for him.
"He's training well and his spirits are high but nobody can know how he is going to feel.
"People don't realise that this is the biggest fight of his career.
"Coming here to fight in front of his own crowd shows a lot of balls.
"A lot of fighters would have returned somewhere else. Ideally we would have fought a no-hoper in a smaller venue out in the States and get it out of the way.
"There might be 55,000 roaring you on but that's 55,000 that you want to prove something to and he's putting himself under a lot of pressure."
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Posted by MVP2008 – 24 May 2008, 4:08 AM
I can fully understand why losing to Floyd Mayweather may have shook his confidence, but I also know that Ricky Hatton is too strong to just let that dominate him forever. Even if he should lose his next bout, he will just have to keep bouncing back until he gets back on track.