Boxing: My warrior spirit will help me through fight of my life says Hatton.

Byline: By MARK STANIFORTH reporting from Las Vegas 

RICKY HATTON is adamant his warrior instinct will prevail when the hype stops and the battle to be crowned undisputed pound-for-pound world champion finally starts at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

After months of unprecedented hype, Hatton, roared on by 3,000 fans at the venue and 15,000 others watching on closed circuit TV around the Strip, will seek to score a victory which will reverberate across generations.

Like Lloyd Honeyghan, who travelled across the Atlantic to dethrone the peerless Donald Curry 21 years ago for the same WBC welterweight title, Hatton is intent on steamrollering a proud unbeaten champion to defeat.

All week Hatton has held the upper-hand in the inevitable mind games and as the storm clouds began rolling in above this desert city yesterday morning, so the odds on a thunderous victory for the 'Hit Man' continued to shorten.

Hatton said: "This is what it's been all about from day one. Nerves are obviously going to kick in but if Floyd thinks I'm going to crumble on the biggest stage of my career so far, it's not going to happen.

"I have more respect for Floyd than any other fighter I've fought. He's the fastest fighter in the world and the pound for pound number one. There's a lot to admire but nothing to say I should step back and be scared of this guy.

"I think I know what he's up to. He'll try to stay out of the way and when he gets tired he'll try to sit inside and make me miss and get a breather that way. But I don't think he particularly thinks I'm as good as I am."

Hatton has cut a strikingly relaxed and confident figure since arriving in Las Vegas and remains completely unchanged by the fame and fortune - he can expect to earn pounds iom for this fight alone - which has come his way.

And he is convinced that confidence has got under the skin of Mayweather, who thrives on the ability to beat many of his opponents before they have even laced on the gloves, and seemed rattled by Hat-ton's refusal to back down in their pre-fight shoving match.

Mayweather, reasons Hatton, is a back-foot fighter whose two closest challenges have come from opponents who have sought to press forward at every opportunity, and pushed him to close points verdicts.

"I think he's a lot of show and no substance," added Hatton. "It's a corny example, but when Apollo Creed fought Rocky, Apollo's cornerman told him, 'you're here for the show, and this guy's here to fight'. A couple of times he's just crept over the finish line. He squeezed past Oscar De La Hoya and Oscar's bigger but he's not as quick and explosive and he doesn't have the ferocity that I have.

"Floyd may be one of the most talented fighters the world has ever seen but when it comes to years gone by and you've got five minutes to watch one of your fight videos, you'll watch a Duran or Chavez or a Gatti fight. Not one of his."

Mayweather, by contrast, has shrugged off the small matter of tactical issues. He says he seldom watches videos of his opponents' fights, but believes he has spotted a major weakness in Hatton which he can expose in the early hours of Sunday morning. Other than that, the unbeaten superstar from Grand Rapids is willing to put his continued ascendancy down to divine intervention. He believes he will reign untouchable at the top for as long as he wishes to lace on gloves.

"You have superstars and mega-superstars, that's the difference," said May-weather. "You can go to school and learn to be a great actor. You can't do that with boxing. It's God-given ability.

"All I want to do is pull myself out of the ghetto, make a lot of money and give to the homeless. My father went to prison when I was 6 and I raised myself. Every day when I'm running I focus on what I've been through.

"The one thing I demand is respect for what I've been through.

"Sometimes when I'm driving and a bum on the street sees me at the lights, I'll wind down the window and he'll say, 'you're Floyd Mayweather', and he'll tell me all my stats.

"Sometimes I'll give him money. Sometimes I'll give him EURioo and sometimes I'll give him EUR500. Because I think this guy could be an angel in disguise who has come down to see how I'm doing.

"It's obvious that God knows I'm appreciated. Why do you think I've had 38 great nights?"

Many may argue that attitude alone is no winner or loser of fights. But Hatton believes such bluster underlines the fact that Mayweather, surrounded by his posse of yes-men, has forgotten what life is like outside the comfort zone.

There will be no comfort zone in the eary hours of tomorrow morning. Hatton has to pour forward and make the most of his under-rated angles and variety. He will rough up Mayweather as much as possible within the laws and occasionally beyond. All week, top fight figures have insisted that nobody is better equipped than Hatton to beat Mayweather.

Those are the kinds of opinions which cannot be easily discounted, and part of the reason why the momentum has increased behind Hatton.

"This is what I dreamed of," said Hatton. "I could have stayed at home in my backyard, defending a lesser title in Manchester in front of loads of fans. But this is the challenge I want."

Honeyghan provided the blueprint all those years ago when he upset Curry in Atlantic City.

Hatton is no hopeless underdog.

He may be right when he says his biggest chance of defeat is if he cuts.

Hatton has the tools and tenacity to win on points, and shock the world.

CAPTION(S):

Ricky Hatton faces the Press in the shadow of Floyd Mayweather