Ricky Hatton was a boss during his peak days.
He will always be considered an icon in British boxing history as he was able to garner a lot of fan interest in all of his fights, long before the days of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
The Mancunian always drew massive attendances to his fights, both home and even abroad, and that was never clearer when he fought none other than Floyd Mayweather.
More than 30,000 fans went with him to Las Vega for his fight with the American back in 2007 and boy did he enjoy himself in the lead up to the bout.
The build-up to the fight with Mayweather was iconic and it helped to grow Hatton’s fan base even further.
Boxing’s world champion everyman did not take his opponent seriously whatsoever and constantly mocked him instead.
Hatton even went all the way to turning one of their pre-fight press conferences into a stand-up comedy routine, which seemed to baffle Mayweather at times.
During a particular media event with fans and a Hatton-supporting band in attendance, The Hitman said: “He’s been talking about my a** all week. Kicking my a**, whooping my a**, I think there’s something wrong with him.”
He continued: “I’ve missed my son, my six-year-old son. But I probably haven’t missed him quite as much as you would think because I’ve had the misfortune to spend the full week with another f****** six-year-old,” and that drew a lot of laughter from the crowd.
Hatton was particularly hilarious, making good references when he said: “Floyd’s gonna run away all night – he says he isn’t, but he is – he’s gonna run away all night and I know I’m gonna have to be fast on my feet to catch him. So I’ve got two wonderful sparring partners coming in – Forrest Gump and Carl Lewis.”
The atmosphere at the weigh-in was on another chart altogether, with the multitude of Hatton fans chanting and rallying in support of their man.
The fight did not end on such a funny note for the Brit, however, as he was knocked out by Mayweather in round 10.
Ricky Hatton now writes a column for Metro.co.uk while his son Campbell Hatton just knocked out an opponent ‘by accident’ in his last fight.
We’re hoping he is as much of an entertainer as his father.