Ricky Hatton was back in the gym this week, but don’t expect him to be announcing a comeback yet. It is nearly five months since Hatton was knocked cold by Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas and while returning to the ring is the last thing on the former world light welterweight champion’s mind, he is about to take the longest step in his next career as a promoter.
Matthew Macklin faces Amin Asikainen, of Finland, for the vacant European middleweight title at Manchester Velodrome, tonight. It is a prestigious title for Hatton Promotions’ first televised show, a title formerly held by a host of the sport’s biggest names, from Marcel Cerdan through Laszlo Papp, Nino Benvenuti and Alan Minter, to Tony Sibson and Herol Graham. And the excitement is gripping Hatton.
“I don’t think anything can replace the thrill of getting in the ring, but the next best thing to being a champion is making one,” Hatton said. “Ricky Hatton without boxing in his life would be a bit of a lost man.
“I enjoy looking our prospects in the gym, watching them spar or go on the pads and passing on my experience.” Since setting up his promotional company earlier this year, Hatton has gone on a strict recruitment drive and staged small-hall shows across the country. Tonight is the first of an eight-show deal with Sky and Hatton hopes to make an impact.
“I suppose the dream would be to build a fighter to box at the City of Manchester stadium in front of 60,000,” he said. “I’m sure when Frank Warren and Golden Boy started out they dreamed of being the best and I’m no change.
“I’ve learnt a lot of things with all the promoters I have worked with, some good, some bad. The way I was brought through (by Warren) was absolutely perfect. The right fights at the right time, plenty of fights and staying busy.
“If I would have had my way, I would have fought Kostya Tszyu two years before I did. But that would have been the wrong thing to do, I wouldn’t have been ready. When I did fight him it was exactly the right time. That’s what I have to do for our young boxers, get them the right type of fights at the right time.”
At 27, Macklin believes his time is now. In March, he won the British title with an impressive three-round stoppage of Wayne Elcock and the Brummie, who sparred hundred of rounds with Hatton when they were both trained by Billy Graham, feels he is now ready to fulfil his potential after earlier disappointments.
Three years ago, Macklin challenged Jamie Moore for the British light-middleweight title but was viciously weight drained and was knocked unconscious in the tenth round after a vicious bout. Severe evaporation has been linked to serious injuries in boxing.
“I was kidding myself that I could make the weight when I had just outgrown the division,” Macklin said. “On the morning of the weigh-in I was 11st 5lb (5lb above the limit), I have no idea how I made the weight.
“At the end of the third round I was more tired than I’d ever been in my life, I fought every round like it was going to be my last. I remember being in the ambulance and having flashes of Michael Watson and Gerald McClellan.
“I will not do anything that stupid again. I am stronger at middleweight. Asikainen is rated No 6 by The Ring and has a win over Sebastian Sylvester, who just won the IBF title. If I win, Ricky thinks that fight can be made.”
As for Hatton’s own future, he has an open mind and was shown by the brilliant return of Floyd Mayweather Jr, his former opponent, that a period of inactivity is not necessarily a bad thing.
“When Floyd retired, I’m sure he meant it,” Hatton said. “For me, it’s only been four months. At the moment I don’t have the urge. You have got to want to do it. You have to have the urge to get up in the morning and do all the training and to make the weight. At the moment I don’t.
“What I need at the moment is have a rest. Maybe I will get the urge back. If I boxed again a year after the fight, you couldn’t call that a retirement. I’m just having a break.”
Matthew Macklin faces Amin Asikainen, of Finland, for the vacant European middleweight title at Manchester Velodrome, tonight. It is a prestigious title for Hatton Promotions’ first televised show, a title formerly held by a host of the sport’s biggest names, from Marcel Cerdan through Laszlo Papp, Nino Benvenuti and Alan Minter, to Tony Sibson and Herol Graham. And the excitement is gripping Hatton.
“I don’t think anything can replace the thrill of getting in the ring, but the next best thing to being a champion is making one,” Hatton said. “Ricky Hatton without boxing in his life would be a bit of a lost man.
“I enjoy looking our prospects in the gym, watching them spar or go on the pads and passing on my experience.” Since setting up his promotional company earlier this year, Hatton has gone on a strict recruitment drive and staged small-hall shows across the country. Tonight is the first of an eight-show deal with Sky and Hatton hopes to make an impact.
“I suppose the dream would be to build a fighter to box at the City of Manchester stadium in front of 60,000,” he said. “I’m sure when Frank Warren and Golden Boy started out they dreamed of being the best and I’m no change.
“I’ve learnt a lot of things with all the promoters I have worked with, some good, some bad. The way I was brought through (by Warren) was absolutely perfect. The right fights at the right time, plenty of fights and staying busy.
“If I would have had my way, I would have fought Kostya Tszyu two years before I did. But that would have been the wrong thing to do, I wouldn’t have been ready. When I did fight him it was exactly the right time. That’s what I have to do for our young boxers, get them the right type of fights at the right time.”
At 27, Macklin believes his time is now. In March, he won the British title with an impressive three-round stoppage of Wayne Elcock and the Brummie, who sparred hundred of rounds with Hatton when they were both trained by Billy Graham, feels he is now ready to fulfil his potential after earlier disappointments.
Three years ago, Macklin challenged Jamie Moore for the British light-middleweight title but was viciously weight drained and was knocked unconscious in the tenth round after a vicious bout. Severe evaporation has been linked to serious injuries in boxing.
“I was kidding myself that I could make the weight when I had just outgrown the division,” Macklin said. “On the morning of the weigh-in I was 11st 5lb (5lb above the limit), I have no idea how I made the weight.
“At the end of the third round I was more tired than I’d ever been in my life, I fought every round like it was going to be my last. I remember being in the ambulance and having flashes of Michael Watson and Gerald McClellan.
“I will not do anything that stupid again. I am stronger at middleweight. Asikainen is rated No 6 by The Ring and has a win over Sebastian Sylvester, who just won the IBF title. If I win, Ricky thinks that fight can be made.”
As for Hatton’s own future, he has an open mind and was shown by the brilliant return of Floyd Mayweather Jr, his former opponent, that a period of inactivity is not necessarily a bad thing.
“When Floyd retired, I’m sure he meant it,” Hatton said. “For me, it’s only been four months. At the moment I don’t have the urge. You have got to want to do it. You have to have the urge to get up in the morning and do all the training and to make the weight. At the moment I don’t.
“What I need at the moment is have a rest. Maybe I will get the urge back. If I boxed again a year after the fight, you couldn’t call that a retirement. I’m just having a break.”
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