Ricky Hatton wants to put Manchester back on the boxing map after tempting Michael Brodie back.
Hitman looks to uncover next Mancunian world champ
Ricky Hatton is keen to put Manchester back on the boxing map after tempting former IBO featherweight champion Michael Brodie back into action.
Hatton is currently focusing on promotion while he takes a break from the ring and he has lined up an event at the Manchester Velodrome on August 21 to promote local fighters.
The event, entitled The Boys Are Back In Town, will involve Brodie as well as former British light-welterweight and welterweight champion David Barnes, former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Andy Morris and Joe 'Genius' Murray, who won bronze at the 2007 World Amateur Championships and is now a pro with Hatton Promotions.
And Hatton is confident that he can reinvigorate the city's boxing scene through such events and potentially produce new champions.
"As a promoter, I want to broaden my horizons and be promoting all over the country, but I think in Manchester there is a hotbed of champions," he said.
"It's like the capital of boxing and I think probably since I stopped boxing at the MEN Arena, all the other local Manchester boxers - who happen to be personal friends of mine - all the work seemed to dry up for them.
"Once you've been fortunate enough to have been a champion in your own right, the next best thing is to try and make champions out of people, so that's what we are doing."
Hunger
Hatton, who has already hinted at a comeback, says he can completely understand 35-year-old Brodie's decision to return to the sport after a four-year absence.
"I find myself in a similar position to Mike Brodie in many respects," he said.
"He's had a break from it, recharged his batteries and now he is hungry as ever.
"I'm recharging the batteries and, once I've done that, I can sit down and, like Michael Brodie has done, come back with the bit between my teeth."
