Hatton urged to bow out on top

Ricky Hatton's trainer Billy Graham has urged the Manchester 'Hitman' to land a lucrative showdown against Floyd Mayweather before walking away from his sport for good.

Graham has seen too many fighters battle on past their prime to allow 27-year-old Hatton to do the same once he has cemented his legacy as one of Britain's best fighters.

Hatton will move closer to a projected showdown with IBF welterweight champion Mayweather if he beats WBA ruler Luis Collazo in Boston on Saturday night.

Graham said: "Ricky won't be satisfied until he has tried to become the best by beating the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and we won't stop until we get that.

"If I had my choice I wouldn't want him to have a long career. I want him to achieve all that he can do and after he beats Mayweather that is enough for me.

"Obviously Ricky is the kid who makes the decisions. But for now he has still got things to achieve and money to be made and he is in the best form of his career right now."

Graham and Hatton have come a long way together since a 17-year-old Hatton first set foot in his trainer's Salford gym just under a decade ago.

Top trainer Graham remembers the moment as if it was yesterday, adding: "It must have been like when Manchester United found George Best.

"I told him that first day he was the best 17-year-old kid I had ever seen and if he wanted it badly enough, he could win whatever he wanted to win.

"I was used to working with good fighters and he stood out from them. I told everyone who would listen. People still come up to me in Salford now and say, 'you told us, Billy'."