Belfast's Eamonn Magee has laughed off Ricky Hatton's boast that he can become the new Naseem Hamed of British boxing. Magee and Hatton meet at the MEN Arena on Saturday night in what will be the Mancunian's sixth defence of his WBU light welterweight title. Hatton has long since been hailed as the brightest prospect of his generation and sees this long-awaited clash as the chance to elevate himself to superstar status.
Magee, however, believes he will burst the 23-year-old's bubble in the same way as Marco Antonio Barrera exposed Hamed's shortcomings at world-class level.
"Hatton says he wants to be the new Naz, but Naz was booed out of the ring after his last fight and lost the one before that," said Magee. "Hamed was totally out-boxed by Barrera and let's see what Hatton is like when he starts getting hit back."
Filed by Johnny Proby
