Ricky Hatton ready for Vegas return.

Retirement was on the Hitman’s mind ahead of the fight against Paulie Malignaggi, but training camp has proven best ever.

THE cheeky glint in his eye was back. “I’ve been stepping out at 5.30 in the morning to run for five miles, which is a big change from the usual routine, getting in at 5.30 in the morning after a night on the town,” Ricky Hatton said with perfect, deadpan delivery. This training camp, he insisted, has been his best ever but when he started his preparation two months ago under new coach Floyd Mayweather Sr for next weekend’s Ring magazine light-welterweight title fight against his Italian-American challenger, Paulie Malignaggi, retirement weighed heavily on the 30-year-old Mancunian’s mind.

“I was really thinking about it and I started asking myself, ‘Am I past it? Have I seen better days? Have I just had too many hard fights?’ I thought about quitting a couple of times,” said Hatton. “The warning signs were there and I seriously thought that, if I didn’t see any improvement in my performance, maybe it was something I had to think about seriously. I’ve had two fights on the trot against Floyd Mayweather Jr and Juan Lazcano in which I didn’t produce a vintage Ricky Hatton performance. I started thinking, ‘Why have I stopped using my jab and my boxing ability?’ I’m a sensible lad and you need to be honest with yourself in this sport.”

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