HATT’S MY BOY
Campbell out to emulate dad Ricky
CAMPBELL HATTON was inspired to take up boxing after his dad’s ill-fated comeback to the sport.
But it still took him two years to convince his mum Claire to let him follow in his father’s footsteps.
Hatton Jnr, 20, is set to make his professional debut this weekend on the Matchroom show in Gibraltar against Spaniard Jesus Ruiz.
His father Ricky and mum Claire did not stay together but both brought up the super-featherweight hopeful. Campbell was around for his dad’s glory days as a two-weight world champion but does not remember the highs of his career.
But he was 12 when Hatton had a crack at a comeback against Vyacheslav Senchenko in 2012 at Manchester Arena.
Campbell got a taste of how adored his dad was and even the defeat on his return did not turn him off giving the sport a crack.
It just took a while to convince his other parent.
“That was the first time I was old enough to take an interest and I started watching his fights,” he said. “I started taking it really serious when I was 14. It was my mum I had to convince, she wasn’t having any of it.
“My dad – it wasn’t like he wasn’t bothered – but he never put me off. But it wasn’t until I was 14 that I got into it. It took two years to convince my mum.
“She’s still the same really. Excited but frightened – maybe frightened a bit more. She is at every fight but she is just always near the door.”
Campbell will be trained by his uncle Matthew – another famous Hatton fighter – while his dad will be his manager.
He will have to be a special talent to emulate his father’s ring heroics, pack out
Manchester Arena and take thousands across the Atlantic to take over Las Vegas.
But he has been signed by Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and has two people in his corner who know what it takes to make it in the sport.
So what key advice has Ricky given him?
“Do as I say, not as I do,” said Campbell about his dad, who was famous for pint swigging and blowing up in weight between fights.
“That’s the main advice. When it was the time to knuckle down and stay strict, he did it more than anyone.
“Outside of the camps, he was the opposite.”