Ricky Hatton MBE - The Hitman

Richard Hatton MBE (born October 6, 1978, in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England), is a British boxer. He is seen by many as one of the greatest British fighters of all-time and is currently one of the top 10 pound for pound fighters in the world.

Hatton is a two-time IBF and IBO Light Welterweight Champion, having relinquished the IBF belt, only to step back down to the weight class and beat Juan Urango. He was the WBA Welterweight Champion, but relinquished this title on 31 August 2006. Hatton is also the former WBU, WBA Light Welterweight Champion and WBC, WBA, WBO Inter-Continental Light Welterweight Champion. He is undefeated with a career record of 43 wins (31 by KO), 0 losses and 0 draws.

Born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, Hatton was raised on the Hattersley council estate in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

Both his grandfather and father played for Manchester City Football Club, and Hatton had a trial for the youth team. But Hatton found a local boxing club in Hyde, which he still trains at, and found he enjoyed the sport. Hatton's entrance music is the Manchester City FC club song "Blue Moon" as performed by the band "Supra." Aged 14, Hatton was taken by his uncles Ged and Paul to Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium to watch the second fight between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank.

Hatton joined the family carpet business on leaving school, but after cutting three of his fingers his father made him a salesman to protect his body.

Hatton adopted his "Hitman" nickname from professional wrestler Bret Hart rather than from fellow boxer Thomas Hearns

Hatton's debut fight was on 11 September 1997 against Colin McAuley in Widnes at Kingsway Leisure Centre, while in his second fight Hatton boxed at Madison Square Garden in New York.

On 5 June 2005 Hatton beat Kostya Tszyu, then widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world by a technical knockout after the Australian failed to answer the bell for the 12th round. Hatton was a heavy underdog for this fight, and the victory announced his entry to the upper echelons of the world boxing scene. Prior to the fight the majority of boxing critics had given Hatton little or no chance and this victory was regarded as one of the best victories by an English boxer in the last 20 years. Critics denigrate his generally unimpressive level of opposition prior to the Kostya Tszyu bout (Hatton's only notable win was over ex-champion Vincent Phillips, who was years removed from his peak), but Hatton has expressed his desire to meet the most potent challengers and establish a legacy.

On 26 November 2005 Hatton won the WBA title when he defeated Carlos Maussa in the ninth round of a unification bout. In December, Hatton was named the 2005 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year.

Hatton surrendered his IBF belt on 29 March 2006 after refusing to fulfil a mandatory defence against number one contender Naoufel Ben Rabah, because he intended to move up to the welterweight class. Hatton signed a three fight contract with Dennis Hobson's fight academy after splitting from long time promoter Frank Warren. The three fights would take place in America.

Hatton moved up a division to meet American Luis Collazo for the WBA Welterweight crown which took place on 13 May 2006. Hatton won the WBA crown from Collazo but struggled with Collazo's slick south-paw style and the extra weight. Hatton started well, knocking Collazo down in the very first few seconds of the first round, but it turned out to be one of the toughest fights of his career, with some boxing analysts believing Collazo won the fight, although many also thought Hatton had done enough early on in the fight to secure victory, with the knock down a pivotal point in the fight. Hatton then moved back down to Light Welterweight.

Hatton's first fight back at Light Welterweight was against the current IBF Light Welterweight Champion Juan Urango on January 20, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton's promoter Dennis Hobson stated that the impetus for moving back down was to set up a fight with Jose Luis Castillo, a fighter who nearly beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. at Lightweight in 2002.

Hatton ended up winning a 12 round unanimous decision against Urango, to re-capture the unified IBF and IBO Light Welterweight titles. He won all but one round on all three judges' scorecards. Castillo, who was on the undercard, also won (via split decision), setting up their long-awaited fight. Hatton was forced to relinquish his IBF title again on 10 February, to be able to fight Castillo. Promoters Art Pelullo/Banner Promotions and Dennis Hobson/Fight Academy, in association with Top Rank, Inc., presented the fight card on Saturday, June 23, 2007, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. In round four, Hatton landed a "perfect" left hook to the liver, which put Castillo to the canvas, Ricky later claimed that 4 of castillo's ribs were broken with this one punch. Unable to stand up, Castillo was counted out for the first time in his career. Hatton retained the IBO Light Welterweight championship, with his record now standing at 43 fights, 43 wins, with 31 coming by way of knockout.

Hatton agreed terms on Friday July 27, for a December 8, 2007 welterweight fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr which is considered to be the biggest welterweight fight since the 1999 clash between Oscar De La Hoya and puerto-rican legend Felix 'tito' Trinidad. The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas was announced as the venue on August 17, 2007. This fight was agreed less than three months after Mayweather had said he planned to retire following a victory over Oscar De La Hoya. The fight will pit a pair of unbeaten fighters to decide who is the best pound for pound fighter. The fight has recieved much publicity, with both fighters promoting the fight heavily.

Hatton is a passionate supporter of Manchester City Football Club, with strong links to the club via his father and grandfather, who are both former players. Ricky also once had a trial at City for the youth team. His entrance music is the club's song "Blue Moon" as performed by the band "Supra". Wayne Rooney has been with Hatton in his dressing room before a match and carried one of his belts to the ring. Ricky's best friend is Lee Rawsthorne, he will carry Ricky's belt into the ring in his next fight if Wayne is not available. He is also good friends with another footballer, Joey Barton, a former Manchester City player.

Hatton is sometimes referred to by boxing fans as "Ricky Fatton" because he's been known to allow himself to weigh as much as 175 to 180 pounds (35 to 40 pounds over his fight weight) when he's not in training for a fight. Ever since Hatton turned professional, he has always opted to eat a full English breakfast before fights. His favourite place in Hyde is The Butty Box in Mottram Road; and he is known to drink Guinness on Thursday night when he plays darts for the New Inn. Hatton defends his diet, citing that he plans to retire within the next four major bouts - experts have used his ill-balanced diet, akin to Jake La Motta's ballooning up between fights, to explain his poor performances in recent fights, and nature to tire towards the end of fights.

Hatton appeared on the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show in March 2007. When the host, Ross placed some pads on his hands and gave Hatton gloves to hit them with, he knocked a pad clean off Ross's hand with a powerful left hook.

Hatton also appeared on ITV1's daytime show Loose Women in August 2007, stating that the reason why he puts on weight between fights is because "I have a lot on my plate at the moment".

Hatton received the award of MBE for services to sport in the 2007 New Year's Honours List.

Hatton was again interviewed, this time on Parkinson on October 13 2007, at the beginning of the interview, Hatton handed Parkinson a custom made pair of boxing shorts with 'Mike' and 'Parky' written on them, the shorts had the Barnsley FC emblem on them and were colored red and blue, Barnsley FC's colors, this is because Parkinson supports Barnsley FC. While talking about Floyd Mayweather's arrogance, Hatton said "if there was such a thing as re-incarnation, Floyd would come back as himself".

Hatton's mother, Carol, still works on the carpet stall on Glossop Market in the Peak District. His father Ray is his manager, and also manages his brother and fellow boxer Matthew Hatton.

Hatton has a son, Campbell, conceived after a short reconciliation with ex-girlfriend Claire. When she told Hatton she was pregnant, the then 22-year-old did everything he could to be a good dad. Long before he was a big-money earner, Hatton set up a trust fund to make sure his son was always provided for, and sees him every day.

Hatton is a supporter of 'The Village News', Haughton Green's local children's newspaper made by children in aid of charity. Hatton supported them at a charity auction by appearing and signing boxing gloves, with the evening raising £1,600. Ricky was also recently a special guest-speaker for The Toby Henderson Trust at a sportsmans' dinner at the Gosforth Marriott Hotel. Thanks to Ricky's help via donations and a highly successful auction, a lot of money was raised for the Centre for Autism Development.

Championships

* The Ring magazine's World Light Welterweight Champion
* IBO World Light Welterweight Champion
* WBC International Light Welterweight Champion
* Former 2x IBF World Light Welterweight Champion
* Former WBA World Light Welterweight Champion
* Former WBA World Welterweight Champion
* Former WBU Light Welterweight Champion
* Former British Light Welterweight Champion
* Former WBO Inter-Continental Light Welterweight Champion
* Former WBA Inter-Continental Light Welterweight Champion
* Former British Central Area Light Welterweight Champion
* The Ring magazine's 2005 'Fighter of the Year'