Campbell Hatton has lifted the lid on sparring his old man ahead of his next fight.
The undefeated son of British legend Ricky Hatton returns to the ring on Saturday, exclusively live on DAZN.
Hatton has a record of 7-0 with two quick since turning his back on the amateur code and turning pro in March last year.
The 21-year-old is back between the ropes in a few days’ time when he meets Michal Dufek over six rounds at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield.
And ‘Hurricane’ has told Boxing Social about the preparations for his upcoming fight:
“I don’t think I’ve had a bad camp [since I turned pro], but this one’s been the best one by a country mile.
“I had a little time out where I just recharged the batteries. Towards the back end of my last camp, I slowly started feeling the year creeping up on us a little bit where I had seven fights in just over a year.
“We’ve had a short break but I’ve come back full of energy and we seem to have slipped a few gears, so I’m just looking forward to showing everyone the improvements I’ve made.”
Matthew Hatton, Ricky’s brother and Campbell’s uncle, is the head trainer and runs the corner on fight nights – but the former world champion Dad is never far behind.
Campbell opened up on what it was like sparring his dad, the ‘Hitman’, in the build-up to his latest assignment:
“It was a bit of a weird experience.
“Obviously, we did it when we were younger and when he was enjoying his retirement as everyone could see, but now he’s got the weight off and he’s looking well and got himself back into shape, I was actually looking forward to it when he said he wanted to do it.
“It surprised me just how fit he was. I knew that the sharpness and the boxing brain wouldn’t leave him when he’s trained for that many years, but he had a solid six rounds in him.
“I didn’t hold anything back, I wanted to try and push him and he managed to dig in for the six and was well prepared and showed a lot of fitness.”
Hatton’s fight against Dufek, who comes with a winning record of 34-23-2 (22 KOs), lands on the undercard of Dalton Smith’s vacant British super-lightweight title clash against fellow Yorkshireman Sam O’Maison.
Sandy Ryan is in a must-win rematch showdown against Erica Farias, having lost on points last time out, with the vacant WBC International super-lightweight title at stake, and Jordan Thompson is in title action for the first time at cruiserweight, looking to win the vacant IBF European title against Vasil Ducar.
Kieron Conway warms up for a fight against Austin Williams on the Canelo-GGG card next month with an eight-round contest, while Leeds talent Hopey Price is also in action over eight.
Johnny Fisher, the heavyweight, is hoping to be double-lively in front of his travelling army when he fights for the sixth time as a pro and there are outings for Aqib Fiaz, Nico Leivars and Junaid Bostan.