Gym-shy Ricky Hatton is heading for a heavy fall

Ricky Hatton runs the risk of another embarrassment if he makes a comeback without changing his training methods. Photograph: by Al Bello/Getty Images
Ricky Hatton said before Christmas he was going to take a holiday in Australia with his girlfriend Jennifer and come back early in January to start getting in shape for a comeback.
His timetable was centred on June against an opponent yet to be signed, and he was going to start by ripping off the several stones of flab he'd piled on since Manny Pacquiao knocked him out in May. He would follow that with a 12-week training camp to get back into fighting trim.
Well, Ricky has either changed his mind about a comeback or has got his dates mixed up. Sitting ringside in Stoke last Friday to oversee his promotion on Sky, he looked like the very substantial promoter he has become. If he weighed anything less than 14 stones, it would not be by much. He didn't look as if he'd been anywhere near a gym except to check on his fighters.
I spoke to a leading boxing nutritionist about Hatton's training methods and lifestyle during the week and he is convinced the fighter is heading for a heavy fall.
"You cannot treat your body like that," he said. "Just taking the weight off will drain him. As you near a fight, you should be gaining strength, not worrying about having to get rid of that much excess weight. Ideally, fighters who are active should not be more than a few pounds over their fighting weight at any time. You should not be losing much more than a pound a week in any circumstances, let along preparing for a fight. And I'm not convinced by Ricky's training methods, relying so much on supplements to both lose weight and gain strength. It is not natural. And anything that is not natural is no good for a fighter's body in the long run."
This is an old theme, of course. But still Ricky will not listen. He has the affection of so many fans and is desperate to please them. He can do that by either abandoning the habits of a life time – which is not going to happen – or quitting the ring right now. And I don't think that is going to happen, either.