Boxing: No joke, Hatton is on the move

If LS Lowry were alive today and fancying the possibility of painting a boxing match, a Ricky Hatton contest would surely be the artist's chosen subject. After all, Hatton is Manchester through and through and a folk hero. A visit to a Hatton fight where thousands of fans gather - many of them claiming to be personal friends of their champion - can be a spine-tingling experience.

The World Boxing Union light-welterweight champion still seems unfulfilled, though. At nearly 26 years old, Hatton is at the peak of his powers and cannot take a walk down Manchester's principal shopping street, Deansgate, without being mobbed. But take him out of his homeland and it is a somewhat different story.