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Hatton: Losing not an option

Mike Whalley
16/ 5/2008

RICKY Hatton admits he faces the biggest fight of his career against Juan Lazcano in Manchester on May 24.

The Hyde Hitman said that losing was not an option against the Mexican in front of 55,000 fans at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Hatton insisted he never even considered retiring after losing his WBC middleweight world title fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr, the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, in Las Vegas in December.

Despite losing for the first time in 44 bouts, Hatton still has an unbeaten record at light-middleweight to protect at the home of his beloved Blues.

He said: "It's the biggest fight of my career bearing in mind the circumstances and what happened in the Mayweather fight.

"Losing is not an option. Where do you go from a defeat from here?

"It wouldn't be the end of my career, but nonetheless, for someone such as me, it doesn't bear thinking about."

Hatton looked in shape on Thursday, throwing sharp punches at trainer Billy Graham in a training session.

And the 29-year-old revealed it was the fear of mirroring Naseem Hamed's fall from grace that pushed any thoughts of retirement from his mind after the Mayweather defeat.

Hamed won his first 35 fights as he became WBC bantamweight and featherweight champion, but fought only once after losing his unbeaten record to Marco Antonio Barrera in 2001.

Legacy

Hatton said: "My legacy would be severely tarnished if I threw in the towel the first time I got beaten.

"I always look back to Naseem Hamed. He's one of the greatest fighters we've ever produced.

"He got beaten by Berrera - no shame in that. He had one comeback fight, and wasn't too clever, then disappeared off the face of the earth.

"It's a shame, as a lot of people now remember Naz for the way he bowed out and not the great stuff he did.

"I don't want people to think that Ricky Hatton was never the same after getting beaten by Mayweather. That would kill me."

Hatton plans a spectacular entrance on fight night against Lazcano. Though he won't reveal the details, he hopes it will ram his critics' words back down their throats.

He said: "I feel that the knives are out a little bit now. Critics are thinking: `Ricky's had a lot of hard fights, he's been up and down in weight , maybe he's looking to get in a couple more fights and then retire.'

"That's driving me on. But I won't let the crowd go to my head.

"A lot of Hatton fans, my family and my team are going to be sitting in the stands hoping I can bounce back.

"When they see me come out, they're going to think I've flipped. They will think: `Wow. He's just lost his unbeaten record and he's doing that. He's got some bottle.'

"The biggest clue I'll give is that I've felt the daggers have been out for me. It's my way of answering the critics."

Hatton has set his sights on a rematch with Mayweather, providing he can beat Lazcano, and then American IBF champion Paulie Malignaggi in the States.

But one fighter definitely off the menu is Junior Witter, who has repeatedly stated that he wants to fight the Hitman. Witter lost the WBC light-welterweight title to Timothy Bradley last week, effectively ending any hopes of tempting Hatton into combat.

But Hatton has revealed that he offered Witter the chance of a match - only to be knocked back.

He said: "We made Junior Witter an offer via his promoter Mick Hennessy. It was the biggest pay-day of his career and he turned it down.

"Then Witter made a statement on some website saying he would fight for training expenses.

"My solicitor Gareth Williams sent him a letter telling him to give us a run-down of his training expenses. That was six weeks ago and we've heard nothing."

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