Hatton out to prove he is not past it

BOXING NEWS:A REJUVENATED Ricky Hatton is aiming to put the record straight against Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas tonight after admitting he looked like he was "past it" in his last fight.

Hatton (30) will climb into the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena looking to prove he is still the best fighter in the world at junior welterweight following an unimpressive victory over Juan Lazcano at the City of Manchester Stadium in May.

The Englishman had been looking to bounce back from the first professional defeat of his career last December when he was stopped in the 10th round by Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Though his performance against Lazcano was hampered by a chest infection, it failed to raise morale and Hatton parted company with long-time trainer Billy Graham and sought a fresh start with Mayweather's estranged father Floyd Sr.

The change has worked wonders according to Hatton, who says any talk of him hanging up his gloves is way off beam.

"Everybody says to me 'You're thinking about retirement' but I'm not. I don't want to retire, I love having a fight," Hatton said.

"I don't want to retire but you've got to be honest with yourself. I lost to Mayweather, there's no shame in that, but in the Lazcano fight I looked like I was past it.

"There were reasons, I was ill, I had a terrible chest infection, my sparring partners went home early and I didn't do half the work, so I was delighted to get through that fight with the performance I put up.

"If I was 100 per cent and I'd put up a performance like that I'd have said it was nothing short of crap.

"My training camp's been great but if I don't perform on Saturday then everyone's going to think, well, Ricky's a bit . . . There's only one person who can sort that out.

"I'm excited about what kind of performance I think I can bring on Saturday. I can tell everyone until I'm blue in the teeth about how good my training camp was but you only get judged in the ring. I've got to do it Saturday night and I think it is coming."

Hatton, notorious for piling on the pounds between fights, also refuted suggestions he had been struggling to come in under the 140lb limit ahead of last night's night's weigh-in after ceasing to work with conditioning coach Kerry Kayes.

"I worked with a good 'un in Kerry Kayes and I'm 30 years old now and I've been doing this a long time," Hatton said.

"But I'm doing exactly what Kerry told me from a food point of view, from a drinks point of view and he's said he'll still be on the end of a phone for any advice I need if I'm overweight."