Hatton determined to fight on

Ricky Hatton has made up his mind to fight on following the first defeat of his career to Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Some big names, including former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, had called on Hatton to quit following his 10th-round knockout loss.

"I'm not going to finish," said Hatton. "My training camp went really well and the top and bottom of it is I got beaten by the better man. I'll be damned if Ricky Hatton is going to finish the last fight of his life being knocked out."

Hatton's handlers will now aim to convince him that his future lies in the light-welterweight division, where he continues to reign as the widely-regarded number one.

His trainer Billy Graham has long maintained that Hatton would only ever return to the 147lbs limit for super-fights against the likes of Mayweather.

Now he wants Hatton to return to his natural limit and concentrate on cleaning up his rivals, who include Junior Witter, Gavin Rees and New Yorker Paulie Malignaggi.

Graham said: "I'm not being wise after the event but I've always said Ricky is a natural at 140lbs and from now on I think he should stay there.

"It was well worth going up to challenge Mayweather because it was such a big and lucrative fight, but now Ricky can go back to his own category.

"The knockout will only affect him if he wants it to. I don't see any reason why he should quit now. He's still far better than any other light-welterweight in the world."