Hatton Turns Promoter As Future Remains Unclear
The Hitman Takes On New Role As Brother Matthew Goes For World Title
Nov 3, 2009
The Hatton family will be hoping for their second boxing world champion when Matthew, younger brother of Ricky, goes head to head with the highly rated South African next Friday (13th November), for the IBO World Welterweight title, at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex, in Stoke-On-Trent.
Hatton defeated Congolese fighter Ted Bami in March to set up the title fight with N’Dou. Having fought on many of his brother’s undercards in the past, Matthew will finally get the chance to have the spotlight placed on firmly on himself, but knows his 38-year-old opponant, who has previously worked as Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s main sparring partner, will provide stiff competition, having ran the likes of Pauli Malignaggi and Miguel Cotto close in the past.
The Hatton brothers were at Stoke City’s Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, as part of their promotional campaign for a fight which will be Stoke-On-Trent’s first ever world title bout. The undercard will feature local fighter Scott Lawton up against Liverpool’s Derry Mathews, and the undefeated Super-Bantamweight pair Paul Enocomides and Steven R Russell going head to head.
The Future
The move into promoting will no doubt add fuel to the rumours that Ricky Hatton may retire from professional boxing following his second career defeat to Manny Pacquiao in May. The Hitman has previously spoken of lacking the hunger to get back in the ring in the immediate future and has refused to rule out the possibility of quitting altogether. However he has also maintained he would like another shot at the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jrn, the man who inflicted Hatton’s first career defeat upon him, following the American’s decision to come out of retirement earlier this year.
In the meantime his focus remains on helping his brother deliver another British world champion to the boxing world. He may also have one eye on fellow countryman David Haye’s fight with giant Russian Nicolay Valuev this Saturday (7th November) in Germany.
WWE Appearance
Elsewhere The Hitman has been confirmed as the special guest host of WWE Raw when the wresting event comes to England at the Sheffield Arena next month. He will follow in the footsteps of Mayweather Jr. who performed a similar role in the summer, and provides further indication that Hatton is still popular enough both at home and across the Atlantic to draw the crowds should he decide to fight on.
But for now Ricky Hatton seemingly remains happy to stay out of the public spotlight.
