Eyes trained on ‘The Hitman’

Ricky Hatton

ALL eyes will be on Ricky Hatton at Oldham Sports Centre on Saturday when he makes his debut as a trainer.

In July, Hatton Promotions put on a professional boxing show at the venue.

On that occasion fans flocked to watch hometown scrapper Craig Watson beaten by Lee Purdy.

This time, Manchester’s Denton Vassell headlines in a second defence of his Commonwealth welterweight crown against Samuel Colomban. The show is live on Sky Sports.

Victory for Vassell could lead to a mouth-watering rematch against that man Purdy, whom he defeated in 2010.

And Hatton himself is back in the spotlight. He launches his training career in Adam Little’s corner. Unbeaten in three professional bouts, Blackpool fighter Little is up against Billy Smith.

‘The Hitman’ feels he will have to prove himself all over again.

He said: “Just because you are a good fighter does not automatically mean you will be an accomplished trainer.

“But as always I relish the challenge and look forward to Saturday night.

“The spotlight will be on me in one respect but the most important people are the boxers — that has always been the case and always will be.

“Not many people have heard of Adam Little but it won’t be long before his name is on everyone’s lips.”

The bill also features 21-year-old super featherweight Kieran Farrell, from Heywood. He takes on Youssef Al Hamidi.

Former world welterweight champion Hatton, who retired earlier this year after two years out of the ring, is delighted to be back in Oldham and believes the area will soon have an embarrassment of boxing riches.

He added: “Coming to Oldham is one of the highlights of our boxing calendar.

“We will definitely be back next year with more shows.

“Obviously Craig Watson fell short against Lee Purdy in the summer, but I am waiting to hear from Craig. I am sure he will return in 2012.

“I have also been very impressed by Ronnie and Mark Heffron.

“Even though they are from a rival camp, I am in the corner of every British fighter and every North-West fighter.

bright

“With the likes of Craig Watson, Tommy Stubbs and the Heffrons, the future of boxing is bright in Oldham.

“I am looking forward to seeing Kieran in action this weekend — he is a body puncher, which is right up my street, and he has a great coach in Bobby Rimmer.”

Saturday’s bill: Denton Vassell v Samuel Colomban; Paul Truscott v Dezzie Higginson; Matty Askin v Roman Kracic; Kieran Farrell v Youssef Al Hamidi; Jazza Dickens v TBA; Adam Little v Billy Smith; Kieran Maher v TBA.