Self-deprecating Hatton confident the joke will be on Mayweather

Ricky Hatton walked into the UFC Gym on West Sahara Avenue dressed in black from head to toe. Maybe he thought he was Johnny Cash. Or Jerry Glanville.

The front of his T-shirt showed his face superimposed on a fat guy's body with the words "Ricky Fatton" above the unflattering photo. On the back was stenciled, "Fatty's Gonna Get Ya."

Let it be said Hatton isn't afraid to poke fun at himself. When he's not training for a fight, the welterweight star from Manchester, England, tends to put on a few pounds. And it is noticed. He shows up at the grounds of Manchester City, his favorite soccer team, and is serenaded with, "You fat bastard! ... You ate all the pies!" And that's from the fans who idolize him.

But he promises when he enters the ring at the MGM Grand Garden on Saturday to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. that he'll be in optimum shape and ready for the biggest fight of his life.

"There's a time to have fun, and there's a time to get serious," Hatton said of his self-deprecating humor. "But make no mistake, I'm deadly serious about this fight."

On Saturday, he will climb through the ropes carrying a nation's sporting hopes on his back.

Hatton is a national hero in England, just as Manny Pacquiao is in the Philippines, as Julio Cesar Chavez was in Mexico, as Roberto Duran was in Panama. Thousands of fans shelled out thousands of dollars to support Hatton this week in Las Vegas, even though only 3,900 of them were able to get inside the Grand Garden through a ticket lottery.

The majority of his supporters will be watching on closed-circuit telecasts at MGM Mirage properties on the Strip, hoping their chants and songs will penetrate through the screen and into Hatton's heart.

"I deal with it quite well," Hatton said. "I have a fantastic following. It spurs me on. It makes me feel proud. I get a huge rush when fight fans turn around and say how much they love me and that I'm the people's champion. They respect me because of all the success I've had and I haven't changed one bit. My feet are still firmly on the ground. I'm the same as the man in the crowd.

"The only pressure I have on myself is to myself. But I want to use it to (my) advantage, and it is an advantage."

He might be a regular guy playing darts and hoisting a pint in a neighborhood pub, but at the same time, Hatton is one of the U.K.'s most popular athletes, right up there with soccer star Wayne Rooney. Hatton said he has a responsibility to the fans beyond putting on a good show against Mayweather.

"In many ways, I have the hopes of the nation on (my) shoulders," Hatton said. "Needless to say, I want to make my fans and my country proud. I just look forward to doing them proud rather than (thinking about) the burden of letting them down."

Hatton's rise to prominence is storybook. He stumbled onto boxing by chance, going into a gym with friends and trying his hand at kick boxing. As it turned out, he was more proficient with his fists than his feet and decided to give boxing a try.

Now, at age 28 and with a 43-0 record, Hatton thinks he is ready to ascend to ultimate greatness. That is, expanding his immense popularity into the United States. This is his third visit to Las Vegas and his fourth straight fight away from home. He came over earlier than usual, arriving the day after Thanksgiving and setting up training at a house in southwest Las Vegas. He said it is a comfortable environment and that training camp couldn't have gone much better.

"If I could write down on paper how I wanted this camp to go, I couldn't have drawn it up better," Hatton said. "I think being in Vegas for two weeks has been good for me."

Hatton is a 3-to-1 underdog and relishes the fact that few in the American media are giving him a shot to beat Mayweather (38-0).

"I think a lot of people in Vegas are going to lose a lot of money," Hatton said, allowing himself a moment of immodesty. "I could give two (expletive) if everyone picks Floyd to win. Nobody gave me a chance to beat Kostya Tszyu, and this is a very similar situation."

This time, though, the stakes are higher. Hatton knows if he beats Mayweather, he'll become a worldwide celebrity.

"What would it mean? It would mean everything," he said. "Being a world champion is obviously the dream of every youngster who starts off boxing. To be the best fighter in your weight division in the world is one thing, but to be the best fighter in the world in any weight division, I think it goes without saying ... it will be the biggest win in British boxing history.

"These are the days you've dreamed of. It's massive. It's huge."

Hatton is proud that he has yet to experience defeat in the ring. It has helped increase his marquee value and his bank account. He's being paid a personal-record $5 million to fight Mayweather, a figure that could grow to $6 million based on the number of pay-per-view buys in England.

"It's nice to have that unbeaten record," Hatton said. "It's important, but it's not the be-all and end-all. Fighters have gotten beat and come back to be better fighters. But, yes, it's important if you're a fighter and a fighter in your heart. It's pride knowing that you've never tasted defeat."

If Hatton is nervous, he's not showing it. He sounds at ease talking to reporters from both sides of the Atlantic and is respectful of Mayweather but seems not the least bit intimidated. He isn't fazed that Mayweather demeaned him on the weekly HBO 24/7 show that is serving to promote the fight.

"I'm enjoying the show," Hatton said. "I like what I'm seeing from his training camp. I like watching his pad-work because, although it's fantastic for his hand speed, he's hitting the speed ball and hitting the bag and the pads very, very lightly with very little power.

"The more I watch the 24/7 show, it fills me with confidence. As the fight gets nearer, sometimes doubt can come in. It's not been the case."

When Hatton enters the ring, he still might be the man in black. But "Ricky Fatton" will be a distant memory. At least until he gets back home and starts hitting the pubs.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2913.