Tyson Fury has praised Ricky Hatton's remarkable weight loss as he continues preparations for his ring return.
The British star will make a one-off comeback when he faces Marco Antonio Barerra on July 2. It will be Hatton's first appearance in over a decade, and he has shed a significant amount of weight after referring to himself as 'Fatton' following his retirement.
And after showing off his new trim physique, Hatton was praised by heavyweight champion Fury who posted on his Instagram story: "Get up there my boy. Very proud of Ricky Hatton for losing all the weight and getting fit again."
The pair previously flaunted huge physiques in a famous image during Fury's time away from boxing in 2017, before he made a comeback after a dramatic weight loss. Since that image, Fury has gone on to become one of the sport's most popular fighters.
Hatton has made a full return to training in his gym in Manchester after struggling to maintain his weight following his retirement from the ring in 2012. The high-profile star has even been confused with his son Campbell by fans.
The 43-year-old has insisted this will be the one and only chance fans will get to see him return. "I am doing this for fans who struggled being locked up with Covid," Hatton said on his reason for returning. "I got a call and was asked if I would come back to do this for the fans who have been locked up for ages after Covid.
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"Covid has been tough for me, for everyone. I want to inspire people who have had mental health problems, too. They can look at me and say ‘He struggled and now look at where he is’ so they can do it too. It’s an exhibition but it will be competitive, because we’re both proud champions.
"I don’t think he’ll want to come to Manchester and have me box his ears off, and I don’t think I’d like Marco to box my ears off either. We all know what a great fighter Marco was, no one needs to tell me, but to actually go in there and share the ring with him and find out first hand just how good he is it’s going to be a dream come true."
Hatton accumulated a professional record of 45-3 with his losses coming against Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and Vyacheslav Senchenko in the final fight of his professional career. He reigned as world champion in two divisions and played an instrumental part in the revival of UK boxing.
