By Mark Vester
The stature of Ricky Hatton is starting to grow by leaps and bounds in America. No longer an uknown, Hatton is starting to get mobbed when he walks the streets of Las Vegas, where he is currently training under Floyd Mayweather Sr. Hatton takes on Manny Pacquiao on May 2 at the MGM Grand. While Pacquiao has found a second home in Hollywood, California - Ricky has become a local in Las Vegas. He predicts that his fans who will travel from across the ocean, along with the locals in Las Vegas, will treat him like the hometown fighter and Pacquiao like the outsider.
"Everybody seems to know me here," said Hatton to Steve Bunce of The Guardian. "It's impossible to try and go about my business in private and that suits me - it is just like back home in Manchester. The taxi drivers, the waitresses in restaurants, the croupiers in the casinos and even the barmen know me."
Hatton is fighting in Las Vegas for the fifth time in his career. He would have liked to fight in Los Angeles or New York, but the big money of the Vegas casinos continues to draw him back to the city of bright lights and big dreams.
"There was a suggestion that I would fight in LA or New York but the money men in Vegas want me and that suits me," added Hatton.
"It was the Floyd Mayweather fight that helped me turn the corner with the people here. They saw me in that fight and they liked what they saw and that is why they are so kind to me. Now it's like my second home and the people treat me just like I was at home. When we get in the ring he will feel like the visitor and I expect to feel like the home fighter."
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