By Terence Dooley

Ricky Hatton emerged from his hospital bed to attend a show in Newport, Wales this Friday night.  Hatton Promotions put together the British lightweight title eliminator between Gary Buckland and Henry Castle, and Hatton believes that Buckland, 23, who won on points, can go onto bigger and better things.  Hatton also told The South Wales Argus that he is enjoying his new role.

“Every single fight was tremendous and I hope in Gary Buckland we have a potential champion on our hands,” raved Hatton.  “He had a tough fight, but like all the prospects, he learned something and won.  I told him afterwards that he was fantastic, he showed a lot of heart and you need that to reach the top.”

Hatton also had some words of encouragement for Joe Calzaghe, who has started up his own promotional firm.  “I am a promoter now, and as a fan you couldn’t have asked for more,” he said.  “All the fights were barnstorming, every prospect won and none of them had it easy, they were all competitive fights.  You learn by rounds and every single fight was fantastic, this was like a Sky Sports show, we couldn’t have asked for a better bill, I feel proud to be associated with it.”

Hatton continued: “We want to go the extra mile as promoters, I’ve done well in my boxing career, but after being a champion, the next best thing is to produce a champion.  Joe Calzaghe, like me, has worked very hard to get where we are in the boxing world, he’s looking to promote now and he wants to give back to the fans.  He doesn’t want to park his backside on the couch, he wants to give back to boxing and I say good luck to him.  Maybe I am going to retire now, but I still want to give back to the sport that gave me an exceptional life."

Hatton also confirmed that his recent heath concerns were kick-started by a bout of food poisoning.

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