RICKY HATTON was a legendary fighter, a successful promoter and is now being increasingly recognised as a trainer. Darryl Williams and Mark Heffron have joined his burgeoning stable.

“I’m over the moon that two of the best super-middleweights have chosen to join my gym and I think it says a lot about the work myself, Mike Jackson and Blain Younis have been doing with our lads over the past couple of years,” Hatton said.

“Darryl is a really exciting boxer and his first fight with [Jahmaine] Smyle is probably the British fight of the year so far. Everyone knows how much I liked a tear up during my career, but I’ll be aiming to add a few more subtleties to his game.

Ricky Hatton

Boxing Britain – Nathan Gorman v Igor Mihaljevic – Heavyweight – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales – 26/11/16 Nathan Gorman and trainer Ricky Hatton pose after the fight Action Images via Reuters / Andrew Couldridge EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

“As for Mark, what more do you need to say about him than ‘pure power’. He’s had a bit of a stop-start career, but he’s really on it now and anyone who can put away 13 of 15 opponents has to set pulses racing.

“I also train Jake Haigh and Chris Blaney so the gym is brimming with talent at middleweight and super-middleweight and I think the sparring sessions alone are going to be something else.”