Your One Favourite Fighter Ever

[Freedom]

James "Cinderella Man" Braddock

[Beanz]

Hatton. There have been better fighters before, (even in Britain) and after, but nobody pulled so many casual fans in alongside for the ride and made so much out of an under rated but still limited ability and maximized there potential so unconventionally.

It sounds plain wrong because the guy obviously threw the between fight conditioning rule book out of the window and gave himself a mountain to climb even before he stepped into the ring but strangely it seemed to add to his appeal. It was not just his everyman likability as someone you could see yourself sharing a pint with, but the ferocity with which he threw himself at life whilst at his peak. That same grit and bulldog determination helped him walk through walls in the ring, that would have been insurmountable mountains for other men.

He made you smile at press conferences and had you on the edge of your seat during fights. He knew he was no Duran but he loved the guy and Hearns the real Hitman,and you could see that love of boxing running right through him like the Blue Manchester City colouring in a stick of northern rock.

Cooper,Turpin,Benn,Bruno,Buchanan,Honeygan and Lewis made you proud to be British and Calzaghe painted with a different brush but Ricky represented the English spirit magnificently, warts, piss ups, bad singing, crap shirts and all. Legend.