Hatton gears up for tough test

Ricky Hatton has warned his world light-welterweight title unification showdown with Carlos Maussa in Sheffield tonight will not be a fight for the faint-hearted.

Hatton expects an explosive battle against the hard-punching Colombian as he bids to add his opponent’s WBA title to the IBF crown he took from Kostya Tszyu five months ago.

And he has left his five-year-old son Campbell strict instructions to be tucked up in bed by the time daddy enters the ring for the 40th time in his career at just after 10pm.

Hatton said: “My little boy Campbell is five and he understands that dad boxes but I don’t like to let him watch my fights live, especially not one like this which could be explosive.

“He liked the Tszyu fight and he likes going through my belts but I would hate to say come and watch daddy on telly only for him to see me get flattened.

“I am realistic and by the time he is old enough to go to fights hopefully I will be sat in my armchair with the pipe and slippers.”

Hatton has dismissed suggestions that the gangly, unorthodox Maussa represents a straightforward assignment following on from his epic, high-profile win over Tszyu.

The Colombian surprisingly seized the WBA title from favourite Vivian Harris by seventh-round knockout in Atlantic City in June, a fight watched by Hatton at ringside.

Hatton said: “Maussa doesn’t seem to know what he is going to do next and because he can punch as well it is the last thing you want.

“But I don’t want to be in stinkers. That’s why I have got the reputation and the following I have – because I am never in bad fights, and that is down to the opponent as well.”

Maussa has been in with the best, suffering one of his two professional defeats to the accomplished WBO champion Miguel Cotto in December 2003 when he was unluckily stopped by cuts.

It is Maussa’s only other defeat on his 20-fight record, on points to the little-known Arturo Morua in December last year, which adds weight to the contention that it will be another successful night for Hatton.

Hatton insists he has worked too hard to get into the position of being the widely-acclaimed world number one light-welterweight to throw it all away before he gets the chance to crack America.

He already has his sights firmly set on bill-toppers in Las Vegas or New York and believes he will bid farewell to Britain after this fight to pursue the biggest matches across the Atlantic.

Hatton added: “I would be absolutely heartbroken if I put my feet up one day and had to say, ‘ah, but I never boxed in Las Vegas or I never topped the bill at Madison Square Garden’.

“I go to Las Vegas on a regular basis to watch fights and I see all the great fighters of today on the big screens. I think I’ve earned the right and it’s about time my ugly mug went up on one of them.”