Ricky Hatton: Splashes £80k on copy of waxwork

Ricky Hatton boxer was so knocked out by a lifesize waxwork of himself that he has ordered a replica.
He needed to take it home when he unveiled it.
Now the Hitman, 31, has paid £80,000 for a copy of the model on show at the Louis Tussaud's Waxworks in Blackpool. The attraction's general manager, Matthew Titherington, said: "I think Ricky likes it so much because he's in his fighting gear and in his fighting prime.

"When he unveiled it, he was bowled over. He wants to put it in his games room although his manager suggested he put it outside his front door to scare people off."
The original waxwork cost about £100,000 and took six months to make. But the replica will take half the time and will be cheaper because the mould is reusable. It will still be painstaking work - 30,000 hairs will have to be inserted into the head alone - and should be finished by spring.
At the unveiling former world champion Hatton said: "To have a waxwork at Tussaud's is a massive compliment.
"I'm surrounded by stars of the sporting world so this is great. When they asked me to be a waxwork I couldn't say no. It's an honour to be a part of it."

MY GREATEST NIGHT Ricky HATTON

Freddie Roach says Manny Pacquiao's crushing frustration of Ricky Hatton was his greatest moment.
Pacquiao's trainer confidently predicted the Filipino icon would beat Manchester's finest inside three rounds when they met in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas back in May.
And Manny duly backed up that boast, sending the Hitman to the canvas twice in the opening session before producing a chilling knockout in the second.
Roach, speaking on HBO's Pacquiao/Cotto 24/7, said: "Hatton, and I hate to say this about a world champion, he wasn't that good.
"The Hatton night, I was actually satisfied, I was glad my prediction came true, and to look it work was the best night of my life."
Pacquiao meanwhile said: "Freddie and I were so happy because we learned is perfect for Hatton's style."
Pacquio and Cotto will lock horns on November 14 at the MGM Grand in one of the most eagerly-awaited bouts of 2009.
They'll fight at 145lbs with Cotto's WBO world welterweight crown at stake.

HATTON: HAYE CAN DO IT

Ricky Hatton believes David Haye's speed will help him defeat Nikolai Valuev when they meet head on next month.
'The Hayemaker' will go toe to toe with the giant Russian for the WBA world heavyweight title in Nuremburg on November 7, live on Sky Box Office.
The fight has been billed as 'David and Goliath', but despite Valuev's 7ft 2in frame Hatton is confident Haye will be leaving the ring as world champion.
"I think he can beat him and I've thought from the start that he will," he told Soccer AM.
"As big as that fella is, he isn't the quickest and he isn't the most mobile and if there's one thing that David is, it is quick and he can hit double his body weight.
"When I saw him at the press conference though, I was a little more nervous! But to be honest I still think he will beat him.
"David is about 15 or 16 stone and if you get it on the chin with 15 stone, it doesn't matter how big you are, you're going to go."
Hatton himself hasn't stepped into the ring since his devastating second-round knockout by Manny Pacquiao in May, and he is yet to make up his mind about his future as a fighter.
Instead 'The Hitman' has taken his first steps on the road to becoming a top boxing promoter.
Last month his friend and sparring partner Matthew Macklin gave him his first significant champion in his new role and the Manchester City fan admitted that he didn't have the desire to fight again just yet.
"At the moment I'm just sitting back, recharging the batteries and having a bit of a break really," he said,
"As far as the actual fighting goes it is the hardest game in the world. So to get up at six in the morning and go running and go in the gym everyday you've got to want to do it and you've got to have the bit between your teeth and I don't really feel that at the minute.
"But like any fighter once you've had a rest and you start getting itchy feet I'm sure you'll come back."
"There's no time limit on it," he added. "I've likely had more fights than most British world champions over the years - I've had 47 fights now - and I'm still only 31 years of age, so I've got loads of time to come back, but I just want to have a rest at the minute."

Ricky Hatton's shoes John Murray ready to step

John Murray emerged as British boxing's next superstar in waiting, with the potential to take over from Ricky Hatton as a Manchester legend, as he took only four rounds to stop Jon Thaxton, the former European champion, on Saturday.
Aged 24 and unbeaten in 28 bouts, Murray seems ready for the big time. Saturday's win in Altrincham enabled him to regain the British lightweight title he lost when weighing 2oz over the limit for a title defence in June.
But lesson learnt, Murray is beginning to look a complete boxer. While he now chases a world title at lightweight, in the long term a clash with another boxer from Greater Manchester, Amir Khan, the WBA light welterweight champion, becomes a mouthwatering prospect.
The similarities with Hatton, another aggressive pressure fighter, are obvious. Murray trains, under Joe Gallagher, in the same gym in Denton where Hatton worked with Billy Graham for 11 years and he even supports Manchester City. But Murray must now make the step from selling out leisure centres to filling big arenas, although the healthy crowd that watched him weigh in at the Arndale Centre in Manchester shows that he is becoming well known.
“Ricky is coming to the end of his career now, so hopefully I can be the heir apparent,” Murray said. “I'm starting to make a name for myself in Manchester and I want to build on that.”
He hunted down Thaxton, 35, in fine style, throwing hard punches from behind a high guard. Thaxton was caught flush several times by Murray before an overhand right had him backtracking to the ropes, prompting Howard Foster, the referee, to stop the bout. Thaxton and his corner protested, but the outcome looked inevitable.
“Every time I landed I seemed to rock him to his boots,” Murray said. “He's had a great career, there is no point him going out on his back.”
Gallagher, who trained Matthew Macklin to win the European middleweight title eight days earlier, called it “a punch perfect performance”.
Murray is mandatory challenger for the European title, held by Anthony Mezaache, of France, but Mick Hennessy, his promoter, could look farther afield. “He's one of the very best lightweights on the world stage now,” he said. “He could be ready for a big fight in America.”
Murray has already boxed across the Atlantic four times, twice in Las Vegas in 2007, where he fought on the Floyd Mayweather Jr-Oscar De La Hoya undercard and topped a bill the night before Mayweather Hatton.
“I've proved I'm the best in Britain,” Murray said. “I want to box again as soon as possible and I want to box for a world title within 12 months. Michael Katsidis [the interim WBO champion from Australia] has just won a title. That would be a great fight and I think I have the style to beat him.” Hatton, of course, beat an Australian [Kostya Tszyu] for his first genuine world title.
Audley Harrison hopes to challenge for the European heavyweight title after winning the Prizefighter tournament in London on Friday.
“Hopefully a door in the UK has opened again for me,” Harrison said. “There is still hope for me. I don't worry or get upset about the boos. I come from the ghettos, have been to jail, went to college, went to university, won an Olympic gold and should be celebrating that I am the boy done good.”
Meanwhile, Danny Williams, looks likely to retire after losing his Prizefighter first round bout to Carl Baker. The British heavyweight champion had his greatest moment in 2004, when he knocked out Mike Tyson in four rounds in Louisville, Kentucky. He challenged Vitali Klitschko for the WBC title in Las Vegas in his next bout and was stopped in eight rounds.
A judge in Las Vegas has issued an arrest warrant for Roger Mayweather, the trainer and uncle of Floyd, after he failed to show up for a court appearance. He is charged with attacking a female boxer.

Cotto tough to beat, Pac Man

Manny Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach are expecting a tough fight for the WBO welterweight title against Miguel Cotto on November 14.
Pacquiao will enter the ring as favourite contempt being the naturally smaller man, although that hasn't stopped him beating Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in his last two fights.
However, the man currently rated the best pound-for-pounder in the world is taking nothing for granted against Cotto, who suffered the only licking of his career against Antonio Margarito last year.
"This will be my toughest test as a professional boxer," he said. "I know he is an brilliant, smart fighter and a great world champion.
"We also know that he is excellent in body punching and that he's strong so we have to study that, how to counter it and fight that in the ring.
"We also want to use our own advantage over Cotto. Everybody knows that I am faster than Cotto so how can I use that speed in the fight? I will do my best in this fight to capture my seventh title belt."
Roach, who correctly predicted Ricky Hatton would go down inside three rounds last time, expects this one to go the distance.
"It's going to be a much more tactical fight than people think because he (Cotto) is a very smart fighter," Roach said.
"It's who can apply their game plan and use it to the fullest advantage.
"I think this is going to be a 12 round fight, no knockout. This guy (Cotto) is very bounce. If a knockout comes, it comes but if you go out there looking for a knockout, you might get caught yourself. We have to be very tactical."

Ricky Hatton was Boxing's dying

RICKY Hatton has launched on the state of boxing - claiming it risks being overtaken by Ultimate Fighting if it doesn't get its act together.
The Hitman believes boxing is becoming a real turn-off for fans, sick of seeing politics get in the way of big fights.Hatton is furious that his brother, Matthew, saw a high profile clash with former undisputed welterweight champion, Zab Judah, collapse for a second time this week.
Judah made a last minute stipulation for the bout to take place at 10st 3lbs, which effectively ruled out Matthew, who fights at 10st 7lbs.And Hatton, who is now a promoter, it is typical of the state of the sport.
I look at boxing from a different angle because this is a boxing risk not a common game now and it is dying a death compared to the fashionable Ultimate Fighting Challenge," he said.
Matthew was taking all the risks. He was prepared to go out to Las Vegas to fight in Zab Judah's backyard.
"Ricky Hatton was fighting at a level so much higher with against a former undisputed champion than he'd ever fought. He was taking all the chances”