Hatton laughs off jibes

12 April 2012

Ricky Hatton laughed off a series of vicious jibes from forthcoming opponent Paulie Malignaggi and launched a vigorous defence of his record in the ring.

The brash New Yorker believes Hatton is on the slide and vowed to expose his weaknesses, claiming the Mancunian struggles to compete against world-class opponents and has "plenty of flaws".

Hatton, still rated as the number one light-welterweight, having never lost in the division, said: "Can anybody take these comments seriously? I've had 45 fights and 44 wins - four world titles, two weight divisions and fought the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world in Floyd Mayweather."

Hatton, 29, returns to the scene of his only defeat against Mayweather Jr at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to take on IBF light-welterweight champion Malignaggi on November 22.

And he added: "It didn't quite come off against Mayweather but I think Paul is deluding himself if he doesn't think I've ever fought any world-class fighters."

Malignaggi, whose only defeat came against Miguel Cotto, feels he can follow Mayweather Jnr in beating Hatton in Las Vegas, but Hatton is confident he will silence his opponent and will next week begin working with Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Hatton recently employed the American, who has trained the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Chad Dawson and Joan Guzman after splitting with long-time trainer Billy Graham.

"I'd be a liar if I didn't say I could knock Malignaggi out, because I think I can, but I just want to get the win," added Hatton.

"Floyd arrives over here next week and we already are working on one or two different things in the new camp and I think Malignaggi will get a surprise.

"I don't intend to just beat him up like everyone associates with Ricky Hatton. I expect to outbox him and then knock him out inside the distance. That's how it will go if I could write the script."

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