By Mark Vester
It appears Ricky Hatton is already making moves to follow in the footsteps of his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya. Hatton promotes his first show, under the banner of Ricky Hatton Promotions, on September 4 at Birmingham’s Motorcycle Museum. Ken Purchase of Ringside Promotions will co-promote the event with Hatton. Hatton is planning another show for Bristol and is trying to obtain permission from the British Board of Control to stage title fight.
“He can become the Oscar De La Hoya of British boxing. I have no doubt about it,” said Purchase to writer Kevin Francis. “Ricky is a great friend of Oscar who, like Ricky, is still boxing but also doing so very well at promoting.”
After watching De La Hoya put together the Mayweather-Hatton event, Ricky made a decision to start his own promotional conmpany.
“Some of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world are with Oscar," Hatton said. “One of the reasons is because he’s a friend to them and there is an honesty there, which sometimes is rare with promoters. I want to take what they do in the US and bring it over here. Once I hang my gloves up I think the next best thing is to try to help fulfil the dreams of other fighters.
“I’m going to train fighters and manage fighters and give them as much happiness as I have had. I want to put as much back into the sport as I can.”
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