Ricky Hatton had been in and out of a Las Vegas ring just a few months before the emotional walk to face Floyd Mayweather there. That night in December 2007 Ricky was back in Vegas and he loved it.
On that previous occasion, a short deadly hook to the sweet spot, just under the elbow, sent Juan Luis Castillo down for the full count and led directly to the fight with the man he was about to meet once he had sucked in the atmosphere on the long, long walk to the ring’s steps. All fighters admit that the lonely walk takes a toll.
“I had spent a lot of time with him [Mayweather] on the road during the tour,” says Hatton. “I was sick and tired of him, I just wanted to get in there and go to work. I never liked him.”
The tour had started in Hollywood, gone to Mayweather’s old high school, then New York before the O2 in London and ended on a wet day in September outdoors in Manchester. “I just want to get home and have a bath and get him out of my head,” the British fighter said at the time.