Ricky Hatton told Soccer AM how he ignored one of the most beautiful women in the world - who had come to see him!
How dazed Hatton snubbed Hollywood's darling couple
Ricky Hatton is that much of a superstar, he had Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie queuing up to meet him - it's just a shame he snubbed them.
The Hitman's fights are now a who's who of Hollywood and Tinseltown's premier couple were just part of a star-studded cast that turned up to see his Las Vegas showdown with Floyd Mayweather in December.
Brad and Angelina were there, Will Ferrell was there, Denzel Washington was there, Wesley Snipes showed up, Gwen Stefani dropped in and Tiger Woods and David Beckham were the stellar sportsmen at ringside.
But never one to get carried away with the hype, Hatton told
Soccer AM how he walked straight past one of the world's hottest women having been KO'd by Mayweather.
"It was the first fight Angelina Jolie had been to apparently and she couldn't get her head round the viciousness of the knockout," he said.
"Needless to say I was back in the changing room and my head was in bits and they were both in the changing room as well. They said 'How you doing Ricky?' and I just went 'Alright', and walked past. I felt a right clown after that!
"She just wanted to meet me. They were dead quiet and it was if
they were dead nervous!
Occasions
"In the past 18 months they've stopped becoming boxing fights, they've become occasions.
"You just looked at ringside, saw Will Ferrell, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and they all come in the changing rooms afterwards."
Hatton though, still struggles to come to terms with the fact that your average man in the street still flocks to his fights.
An estimated 35,000 Brits invaded Las Vegas the weekend of the Mayweather fight, a record for fans following one of our fighters overseas.
And even though his dream of becoming the best boxer on the planet was shattered by a 10th-round knockout, the support has not wavered in the slightest.
His next fight is a little closer to home in Manchester and all 55,000 tickets were snapped up in just nine days - and this time, he is incredulous at how many are - if not who is - coming to watch him.
Incredible
"People must be sick of me saying for so many years as a big Man City fan, how it's my dream to top the bill at their ground and now my dream's come true," he said.
"But back to the fans situation... 55,000? I had a feeling I'd probably sell out, but not in nine days! It's absolutely incredible.
"It's a dream. I went to the Benn-Eubank fight that was at Old Trafford, that was open air and there were 45,000. This is 10,000 more. I can't thank the fans enough."
The best way would be to beat Lazcano, then Paulie Malignaggi in New York, to set up a rematch with Mayweather some time in 2009.
Hatton revealed that talks have already taken place to bring the Pretty Boy over to England, but one man who they won't want making the trip is referee Joe Cortez.
The official was widely criticised for his handling of the December fight and even though he admitted that he was beaten by the best in the world, the Hitman is still seething at the third man in the ring.
Cheesed off
"He (Mayweather) is talented as well, so while I lost the fight I can't just solely blame it on the referee," he said.
"But he (Mayweather) ducked under the belt a couple of times, he was fore-arming me and the referee wasn't warning him - he just seemed to be warning me.
"As the rounds went on and on I got a bit cheesed off with it and from round six onwards my head had gone, I was turning my back on the referee saying 'where do you want me to hit him?'.
"Anybody who knows boxing can see that he did a terrible job but it wasn't just the referee who beat me, it was his talent that also beat me. But if you look up to the halfway stage, it was level.
"Floyd said to me after the fight 'after six rounds I was scared to death but after that I was able to find the right punches' and I put that down to me losing my head.
"In the end I think I lost it as much as he won it. You can't knock the fella for his ability, but I think the referee had a bad day. I knew he was a bit dodgy when he counted to 10 and went two-four-six-eight..."
