Hatton wants to train at home, not Vegas

By Robert Morales, Staff Writer

Ricky Hatton of England is known to gain quite a bit of weight between fights. He likes to hang out with his buddies at the neighborhood pubs and drink lots of beer.

Hatton's trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., is stationed in Las Vegas. He would like Hatton to come to Las Vegas for eight weeks of training leading up to his May 2 fight against Manny Pacquiao at MGM Grand.

But Hatton told British newspapers earlier this month that he doesn't want to be away from home for eight weeks. He said he would miss his girlfriend, his son and his favorite soccer team.

Hatton, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, will be facing the best pound-for-

pound fighter in the world. Yet he is worried about being away from home too long?

That's not a good thing.

But Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said he is not concerned.

"I have two comments on that," Schaefer said this week. "One, he should talk to Bernard Hopkins. He'd make sure his priorities are straight."

Hopkins is 44, but still one of the best fighters in the world, pound-for-pound. Sheer dedication is one of the reasons.

"The other one is, I'm not really worried about it because the guy who is going to train him is Floyd Mayweather Sr.," Schaefer said. "I can assure you Floyd Mayweather Sr. is going to make him forget his girlfriend and whatever else he has in his life, because Floyd Mayweather Sr. is a trainer who does not accept any of that whatsoever."

Schaefer said that although every fighter boasts he is going to be in the best shape of his life for a given fight, Mayweather is the trainer who will make sure Hatton is just that.

Schaefer said Mayweather also wants to show that he can train a fighter to beat Pacquiao. Mayweather formerly was Oscar De La Hoya's trainer, but not when De La Hoya fought and lost decisively to Pacquiao in December.

Schaefer said that to Mayweather, a win over Pacquiao would prove that De La Hoya made the wrong choice by not having him work his corner for that fight.

"One thing the Mayweathers have is an incredible will to win," Schaefer said.

So how long is Hatton going to be in Las Vegas? Only the last four weeks of his training camp. The first four will be spent in England.