By Terence Dooley
Ricky Hatton dropped another comeback hint when speaking to the Manchester Evening News over the weekend. Hatton, who has been AWOL since losing in two rounds to Manny Pacquiao last year, skirted coquettishly around the subject of his retirement before letting slip that Bob Shannon will be named as his trainer should ‘The Hitman’ decide to comeback.
Hatton, in dropping Shannon’s name, gave the clearest indication yet that he could return to the sport of boxing. Bob, who trains out of Hatton’s gym in Hyde, recently guided Denton Vassell to the Commonwealth welterweight title; the veteran trainer was tipped by many in the trade to guide Hatton’s in-ring career should Ricky return to the sport.
Ricky, however, looked heavy at the Mayweather-Mosley weigh in, training looks to have been the last thing on his mind in recent times. That said, few fighters drop their weight as effectively as Hatton and Shannon is a fierce conditioner, as evidenced by Vassell’s workrate during his points win over Lee Purdy last month. A partnership with Shannon could be just what the two-division world title holder needs in order to get going again.
Indeed, Hatton could be tempted back for a mega money rematch against Kostya Tszyu, who recently confirmed that he is toying with the idea of a ring return; the fight itself would make a huge amount of sense given that Hatton, in his signature win, forced the Australia-based Russian legend to quit on his stool after eleven intense rounds in 2005.
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