Hatton to fight for Corrales

Ricky Hatton has vowed to honour the memory of former world lightweight champion Diego Corrales by producing an explosive performance against Jose Luis Castillo at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Hatton presented Corrales' widow Michelle with a bunch of flowers at the final head-to-head press conference, and promised: "We will fight in a way which would have made Diego proud."

Corrales, who fought two epic battles against Castillo and had been mentioned as a prospective future Hatton opponent, was killed in a motorcycle crash in Las Vegas two months ago.

Michelle Corrales, heavily pregnant with the couple's child, said: "It's a special fight because Diego made a legacy with Castillo and had so much respect for him.

"On the other hand, Diego was looking forward to working with Hatton, so we want to thank Ricky for dedicating the fight to him and for his kind words, prayers and thoughts.

"I know that if Diego was here he'd have nothing but the best to say."

Hatton has good reason to feel confident of preserving his proud reputation as a warrior in the Corrales mould, insisting his training camp has gone better than ever.

Hatton said: "It's the best of my 42 fights. I keep thinking I'm going to reach my peak but in each training camp I keep improving.

"It has irritated me that I have not shown the work I have done in the gym in the ring in my last few fights. But this is the kind of fight I need to bring out the best in me.

"It's a fight that from the minute it was announced, I was excited about."