By Mark Vester
According to father and trainer Ray Hatton, former champion Ricky Hatton should have withdrawn from his May 2 bout with Manny Pacquiao. Hatton was knocked out in two rounds. Ray says the training camp for the fight was so chaotic that Ricky should have pulled out and postponed the fight to another date. There were pre-fight rumors that trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. was at odds with Ricky and assistant trainer Lee Beard. During a recent interview with BoxingScene.com, Beard denied that he and Ricky have issues with Mayweather.
"It could have been a lot, lot better - massively better. I'm very disappointed with some of the things that I heard," Ray told Setanta Sports News. "I'm also very disappointed in some of the things I personally saw. I had reservations early on. It wasn't ideal by any means. I'm not making excuses about the performance because I wouldn't do that but I think the fans know Ricky Hatton and they know what we're all about.
"In hindsight, if the truth be known, he probably would have been as well making this the first fight he had pulled out of."
Ray says the only reason Ricky went forward with the fight was to stay loyal to the thousands of fans who flew over from the UK to Las Vegas.
"Ricky's had 47 fights and when has anybody had their money back because the fight's been called off?" Ray said. "That shows what Ricky's all about. He's never pulled out of a fight, never disappointed the fans.
"But, when you've got people travelling thousands of miles, you've got to think of them. It doesn't take anything away from Manny. He's a great, great fighter but, for me, personally, that wasn't my son in that ring."
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