There's No Place Like Home For Hatton
By TK Stewart
Say what you will about Floyd Mayweather, Jr., but it seems like after guys lose to him, they, like Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz' just close their eyes, click their heels together and repeat the words, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home."
Last weekend it was Oscar De La Hoya, who after losing to Floyd "The Wicked Witch of the West" Mayweather, Jr. last year, went back home to fight in Los Angeles for the first time in eight years. The promotion was titled "Homecoming" and it attracted nearly 30,000 fans.
In two weeks it'll be Ricky Hatton's turn to fight in front of his family and friends. Hatton, of course, was beat down by Mayweather under a twister of blows last December in Las Vegas. And after licking his wounds, Ricky and his entourage pretty much hopped on the first broomstick back to Manchester and have barely been seen outside of England since. Tickets for the fight have been red hot and Hatton's return to England, like De La Hoya's to L.A., promises to be a sell-out, too.
Hatton is going to face off against the "Hispanic Causin' Panic" Juan Lazcano on May 24th in Ricky's hometown of Manchester and it sure feels like deja vu all over again.
Didn't we just live through all of this with Oscar?
"It's always nice to be home," said Hatton who, last month, was already down in weight to 150 pounds. "My last four fights have been in America and the support I've gotten over there has been absolutely phenomenal."
And just like De La Hoya, Hatton claims that he could have made a lot more money had the fight been in Las Vegas. Hatton says it's costing him "extra quid" to fight in the City of Manchester Stadium which holds 55,000 for boxing. But, just like De La Hoya, Ricky is calling this a "thank you fight" for all of his fans, especially the tens of thousands who made the trek to Vegas to see him fight Mayweather when only a measly 4,000 tickets were made available for his ardent supporters.
It'll be Hatton's first fight in England in 2 1/2 years and it, like De La Hoya's fight last weekend, promises to be another blockbuster event.
"It's all about achieving my goals now and doing right by the fans. I want to be remembered as a fans' favorite and a people's champion," says the likeable Hatton. "I put my contract with HBO and Golden Boy on hold so that I don't have to fight at 2 a.m. for American TV."
The fight against Lazcano is being televised in the U.S. by upstart sports network Versus and it means a return to the live Saturday afternoon boxing format that many fans in the United States have craved for. It also means that Hatton's supporters in England don't have to stay up half the night for the fight to begin to appease HBO or Showtime.
"It's for the fans that have supported me from day one back in England, Great Britain and Manchester, who probably thought maybe they had lost the chance to see me fight again here live," said Hatton. "They probably thought I was going to have all my remaining fights in the United States, so it's nice to come back."