HE is the world champion boxer who demolishes opponents so brutally they call him The Hitman.
He has emerged triumphant in 40 fights - and Ricky Hatton is now determined to make it 50 unbeaten.
But when he isn't pulverising people in the ring, the British boxer couldn't be nicer.
In fact, as he shows us around his cosy Manchester home, he strikes me as a bit of a softie. Despite his sporting success, it's his role as a family man that means the most to him.
Dad to five-year-old Campbell, Ricky, 27, who has won the IBF and WBA light-welterweight titles, says that fatherhood is fantastic.
"Being a world champion and being the best is what I work for but none of it compares to being a dad," he smiles.
"Having Campbell as my son is - and always will be - my biggest-ever achievement.
"I love boxing and I'm so proud of everything that I've achieved but Campbell is my pride and joy.
"He is a complete clone of me," he adds, laughing. "When I introduce people to him, they do a double-take because we're so alike."
Scooping up the blond-haired boy in his huge arms, and gently adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses, he explains: "He's so cute.
"Everything I do, I do for him. Every fight, I have him in my mind - if I can do more, it will make the quality of Campbell's life better."
So would he want him to follow him into boxing? "If he wanted to I'd support him - he'd have my backing whatever he wanted to do.
"But, to be honest, I'd rather he found something else..."
Ricky hadn't planned to become a dad so young. Campbell was conceived during a brief relationship with an ex-girlfriend, Claire.
But as soon as she told him 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, Ricky set up a trust fund to make sure his son was always provided for. He also makes sure that he sees him every day.
NOW, Ricky's dedication is proclaimed in the vivid tattoo on his bulging left arm - a scarlet boxing glove with Campbell's name alongside his.
Inside the glass cabinet where his belts are displayed sit two miniature copies, made especially for his boy.
Currently training for his next fight - against WBA welterweight king Luis Collazo - Ricky has moved up a weight division and hopes he'll soon be adding another trophy to the collection.
The fight, in Boston, is a bill-topping showdown that will earn him an estimated £2million and, hopefully, enhance his reputation as an international star.
But when he steps into the ring on May 13, the smiling, cheerful Ricky who likes karaoke, darts and playing with his "lad" will be gone - replaced by a terrifying fighting force.
"People say that I'm very friendly outside the ring," he explains. "But when the bell goes, I'm not the same. When I fight, I have a very aggressive style.
"Being top of the bill in America is amazing. It's what I've worked for. Making it there isn't easy but people know me now."
For the Collazo bout, Ricky has been following the strict regime he calls being "in the monastery".
As well as spending much of the day at the gym - sparring and using weights - he runs five miles a day and sticks to a high-protein diet. "I'm hard at it now," he says. "This is the crucial time. My diet kicked in nine weeks ago and I've since lost a stone and a half. My target weight is 10st 7lb, so I have another 7lb to go.
"I've moved up from light-welter, which has made things easier, but I've never found the diet side too difficult - I just cut out all the rubbish."
Ricky, who will take his own plastic surgeon with him to America, adds: "If I come through it OK, I'll celebrate by having my favourite Chinese - deep-fried, shredded, chilli beef - and a few pints of Guinness with my mates. I'll enjoy it because I'll have earned it. I will have five or six weeks off but will probably come back to the gym after a couple. I miss it - just like some people would miss the office or factory.
"I won't be training. I'll just catch up with everyone and do things at my own pace."
Brought up on a tough council estate near Hyde, Manchester, it's clear that Ricky has stayed true to his roots.
A former carpet-fitter, when not training he still drinks in the local his parents once managed, the New Inn, and relaxes by watching his favourite Only Fools And Horses DVDs. As well as making regular trips back to his old school, he works quietly with local charities, signing gloves for various good causes as we speak.
Tellingly, his best friends are the people he grew up with and they'll be among the 5,000 fans expected to follow him to Boston.
But his biggest support comes from his family - parents, Ray, 55, and Carol, 52, and his brother "Magic" Matthew, who is fighting on the same bill.
"They go through hell when I'm in the ring but they always come to my fights," he says.
"Having them there means a lot to me. The support is amazing. I always loved sport and they always helped me in whatever I wanted to do.
"OK, I think they would have preferred me to do something else but they're used to me boxing now."
Ricky certainly had plenty of options. Kick-boxing at seven, as a boy he was also on the books at Manchester City.
BOTH his father, now his business manager, and grandfather played for the club. In fact, along with a huge BMW 4x4, a private box at City's stadium is one of Ricky's few extravagances.
But it was as an amateur boxer that young Hatton showed most promise.
No one knows where his extraordinary talent came from, although Ray thinks that Ricky's maternal great-great-grandfather - a champion bare-knuckle fighter - could have something to do with it.
Whatever inspired it, his professional career was almost over before it began when, on the eve of his first fight, doctors discovered he had a hole in the heart.
"They started doing all kinds of tests," he explains. "I thought that was it, that my career was gone. But it turned out not to be a problem. I didn't need any treatment, just more tests and it was all fine."
Since then, Ricky has gone on to win 40 fights - 30 of them knock-outs. And despite a very public fall-out with his former promoter Frank Warren last year, he shows no signs of slowing down.
As he says: "When I started out, my heroes were people such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Nigel Benn.
"Now I'm at the stage where I've done what they've done and I'm really proud of that. I've fought 40 times and never been beaten - even my heroes never made 40.
"The buzz you get when you're winning is brilliant. Now, my goals are to get to 50 not out and retire at 30. By then, I hope I'll have continued to achieve enough to still be proud of myself.
"First though comes Collazo... and it will be another great fight."
One person who won't be there to see it next Saturday is Campbell. "I won't let him watch it live because I don't think it would be nice for him.
"I'd rather be able to ring him, say it was all OK and he can watch it the next day.
"He doesn't realise how serious it all is. He watches me in the gym but it's just like another job to him, isn't it?"
And with that Ricky, a true working-class hero blessed with one of the world's most effective punches, is off to drive his son home and have a game of darts with his dad.
claire.donnelly@
They say I'm a friendly guy out of the ring. But when that bell goes..
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