Never knew much about this lad, but he appears to be a rock of sense.
"Hatton then spoke about the relationship between himself and Wayne Rooney, a fact that astonished many observers given Hatton's frequently stated love for Manchester City.
"Wayne and me go back a long time, as he is from a family of boxers. I fought his cousin David who boxed for the Croxteth club and Wayne saw the fight, since then he has followed my career with great interest. He is a great lad and we don't have none of that stupid hatred that you get between certain clubs. Wayne could have actually been good at the boxing if he had chosen to go that way instead of football."
Hatton was touched by the level of support that he received in Las Vegas, among whom were Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole and Wes Browne. Did he see any blurring between the sports of football and boxing?
"I have a lot of mates who are footballers, Robbie (Fowler) and Joey )Barton) took me up to watch Rangers as they are big fans, but to be honest I really didn't enjoy the atmosphere at all. It might seem strange coming from me ,but the atmosphere was aggressive without being hard if that makes sense. I really didn't understand them at all. I then went with Wayne and Roy a few years back to watch Celtic and it was magic. Their fans were passionate and supportive and gave us a great welcome without getting in our faces all the time. Celtic has a lot in common with City in that they are the people's team of their city (sorry Wayne!) and they haven't forgot their roots, a real working class team which does credit to the city they represent".
The same may be said of Ricky Hatton a man who has brought great distinction to his city without compromising his background or his working class values"
