It has been ten years since Ricky Hatton last boxed in front of his loyal Mancunian fans, the former World Champion losing on his last comeback against Vyacheslav Senchenko way back in 2012 at the Manchester Arena. However, things have changed since then with his son Campbell having entered the ring in recent years in a bid to emulate his father's exploits.
Claims that he is being mistaken for his son these days following his return to the gym may well be an exaggeration, but it is hard to deny that the 43-year-old is in impressive shape as he gears up to face former three-weight world champion Miguel Antonio Barrera at the AO Manchester Arena next month.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph, the man who is still ranked by BoxRec as the fifth greatest pound-for-pound British fighter of all time claims to have lost two stone in seven weeks as he gears up for his comeback fight on July 2. The fight will take place on the undercard of Hughie Fury's WBA world title eliminator fight against Michael Hunter.
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In the interview, the man who fought both Manny Pacqiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at his peak said: "The bad times that happened through my life are why people see me now and see the change more…if I’d always been like this they’d say, 'look at him, he looks well at 43', but because I fell from grace, I had such bad times, it makes more of an impact on people."
Hatton has had well documented issues with drugs and alcohol, but a return to the ring appears to have worked wonders for the former champ. Fans will be happy to see a return to good health both mentally and physically for the man known as 'The Hitman' in a story akin to Tyson Fury, a man with whom he has worked in the past.
When talking of the benefits of a return to the gym, he highlighted that the camaraderie was something that he missed in his time away. He added: "I like to think it’s an inspiration and I haven’t done the fight yet but I like to think people can sit back and say 'you know what, remember him a few years ago, wasn’t he in a right state? The size of him, depressed, wanting to kill himself, drinking, drugs, the whole lot, look at what he’s done to himself.
"If one person turns around and we save a life and one person goes look at Ricky Hatton now what he’s done, I'm happy. You’re still going to get the people saying what’s he doing the exhibition for, but I think it’s pretty obvious, us fighters, we’re champions.
"We retire but we don’t die, we still miss that training camp, we still miss that camaraderie in the gym, we still miss working your game plan out and looking at your opponent's tapes. If me and Marco we raise awareness, raise some money for charity along the way, which is exactly what we’re going to do, I can’t see how it’s not going to be a success."
