Ricky Hatton's dreams of revenge will disappear unless he gives up boozing | The Sun |Sport|Boxing
RICKY HATTON’S dreams of revenge over Floyd Mayweather Jnr will disappear on a bar stool unless he gives up boozing for good.
Mayweather’s father, Floyd, took over as Hatton’s trainer in the wake of the Hitman’s knockout loss in Las Vegas last year.
Hatton is desperate for a rematch — but Mayweather Snr insists he has no chance of avenging that defeat if he goes on the lash as one of the lads when out of training.
Light-welterweight Hatton, 30, who fights Paulie Malignaggi here on Saturday night, looks in the best shape I have seen him for three years.
He says he is prepared to meet his trainer halfway — but insists he will never totally give up drinking.
But Mayweather, who has hit it off with Hatton in a big way since taking over from sacked trainer Billy Graham, is not prepared to put up with half-measures.
The American insisted: said: “The only way is not to drink at all. Don’t meet me halfway — halfway is nothing. You don’t get half a title or half of being the best pound-for-pound fighter.
“There’s talk about fighting my son for a second time. But you are never going to beat him if you are into drinking.
“For Ricky to fight my son, he has got to get a lot more in with me. Not just one or two fights.
“He has got to get in with me totally.
“That Ricky Fatton s**t isn’t going to work. If he keeps drinking it is never going to happen.”
IBO champ Hatton has been stung by Mayweather’s frank criticism. He has knuckled down with a sensible diet and only has a few beers when he is out of training.
But he admitted: “I don’t think me cutting out the booze totally will ever happen, I am what I am and that’s what makes me.
“It’s like Roy Keane or Wayne Rooney, if you took away the fire in their belly they would not be the same on the football pitch.
“I have done it like that my whole career and I am sick of hearing about this drinking will catch up with me.”
Hatton has been known to balloon by up to three stone between bouts.
But he added: “Those days are well and truly gone. It’s still a case of losing a couple of stone but nothing like it used to be.
“I’m still going to have a pint now and again because that’s what makes me what I am.
“But as you become a little bit older and a little bit wiser you do make changes and I have made changes to my diet.
Advertisement
“Half of these tee-total merchants have not had half the fights I’ve had.
“Everyone keeps going on about me and my longevity but if they think anything of me, they wouldn’t want me to have many more fights, so f*** the longevity.”
Hatton has vowed to fight a million-pound courtroom battle with former trainer Graham.
The Hitman parted company with Graham after 12 years following the defeat by Mayweather Jnr and a below-par performance against Juan Lazcano in May, in which he came close to suffering only the second loss of his career.
Graham claims he is owed money from Hatton’s fights going back to November 2005.
Hatton’s lawyer Gareth Williams said: “Just as Ricky doesn’t take a backward step in the ring he isn’t going to start taking one out of the ring.”
http://78.110.162.82/forum/Themes/de...ify_inline.gif
