It could be Pride In Battle v National Fist, rather than the Battle of The East and The West at the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 2.
Ricky Hatton sports a new tattoo for this fight, perhaps the toughest contest he will ever had, given that it remains a crossroads for his blazing trail which could lead him to legacy fights of greatness.
'Pride In Battle'. He got it early - before his fistic meeting with Manny Pacquiao, in sporting terms the greatest export from The Philippines in modern history. The little man from Mindanao is not known as 'The National Fist' for nothing.
Hatton wants to end his career thought of as a great champion, whose 'Pride In Battle' was never far from the surface.
"I always thought I would get the tattoo done after the fight. But the trouble is that after a fight I'm always too pissed [drunk] to get it done."
It sums Hatton up. And it for this reason his legions of fans follow him - to the ends of the earth.
I have been studying my notes on Hatton's words in Manchester before he left for Las Vegas, and his 5-week training camp. They compare closely with the words he used when I saw him in Nevada this weekend.
Hatton thinks back to his fight with Kostya Tzsyu, in 2005. "No one thought I would fight at that level, or get to that level. Have I got the credit for it ? Yes and no. He'll top the bill at the MEN Arena, they said, but when he gets to world level, he'll get beaten."
"I'm now fighting Manny Pacquiao, the world's No 1 pound for pound fighter, in his prime. With the size of my fan base, obviously, I get praise, and it is clear that everyone likes me for the way I fight, but you will always have your critics."
"If I beat Manny Pacquiao, which I expect to do, 47 fights, 46 wins, four world titles, two weight divisions, I've fought many former world champions, I had 35,000 fans come to Las Vegas for Mayweather. A lot of people thought the little fella from Manchester would never do that..."
"When I was on the way up as WBU champ, I'd get Boxing News, Boxing Monthly, and it felt like from them no one expected me to do what I've done. I think we are quick to knock people in this country."
"I want to be one of the best fighters we have had. It would have been easy to walk away after [the loss to] Mayweather. That's the one thing that bothers me about Naz [Hamed]. Naz was one of the great champions. He just got beat by Marco Antonio Barrera and that was it. I'm a boxing fanatic, I remember so many great nights with Naz Hamed, and he went too quickly after he was beaten."
"That's how great champions are made. There is something in me. Great champions are made of tougher stuff. I was down after Mayweather. I cried. But people are saying I'm shot, or it is all over, is all part of the motivation for me."
Then Hatton's mind falls on the present. Manny Pacquiao stands before him, a silhouette in the doorway. "There is a size difference. But technically you cannot afford to fall by the wayside. Next to Luis Collazo and Jose Luis Castillo, who are monsters at 140lbs, Manny is smaller. I bulldozed them, so look at that. If I get careless I could walk onto a shot."
Then Hatton starts to get the bit between his teeth. He is thinking in fighting terms. "Surely to God when I look at the size of him, Manny has never been hard so hit. He's a little bit open, when he comes for you, he gambles, puts all his eggs in one basket. There's no reason I shouldn't be very confident. I just don't see anything he has to beat me. Not that I am taking him lightly or disrespecting him. I don't want to sound over-confident. It is partly because I have never lost at light welterweight and I will be a lot heavier than him. I want to be a great champion. I want to be remembered for that."
Remembered for 'Pride In Battle'. Always that.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
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