MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA is thrilled by the prospect for a legend versus legendary clash with Ricky Hatton – but he feels 'weird" about facing his old friend.
SunSport announced earlier this month that preliminary discussions had been held regarding an exhibition bout between former world champions.
Ricky Hatton, 43, is preparing for a surprise return to the ring
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After years of friendship, Mexican mauler Barrera (48) will find it odd to share the ring with Manchester Hitman.
SunSport quoted him as saying that Ricky Hatton was "one of the greatest from the UK fighters ever to be seen, and our friendship was so close that even he went to all his fights, and I went to all his fights.
Ricky Hatton's style is very much like the Mexican style. He just goes forward and throws punches. There's no running and not a lot wasted movement.
"Yes, Ricky Hatton is great friend, we haven’t seen each other for years so going on about getting in the ring and going on will be strange, but we’ll just kind of sit down to talk a bit."
Barrera will use the same training program he used to train when he was at his peak.
He said, "I would do a very comparable style of training when I was preparing to fight."
The former world champion at three-weight isn't planning to return to full training in the wake of 11 years of retirement.
He stated, "Ricky's a very good fighter.
"He is a fighter who moves forward, so it would not be an easy camp.
Ricky is 43 years old, and I am 48. He's five more years older than me, but he's very talented. Since retiring, I have been running almost every day to keep fit.
"Mental preparation matters more than physical preparation."
"As a matter fact, Eric Morales was my opponent when I was fighting him. I told myself that no one could beat me and that no boxer can beat me. He won't.
"Same with Naseem Hmed - I signed not to defeat him, but to win. And that's exactly what happened.
"You must mentally prepare yourself to step into the ring, and you have to be ready to do what you did in the training."
He said, "To fight Ricky Hatton I must be in good physical condition and in good shape so that people can see me in good health."
"Also, in exhibition fights there is no winner. It's entertainment for the people, and it will be an excellent fight for them."
El Barreta would love to share the ring with his old friend, but he'd rather have a chat with him before they attempt to take each others heads off.
He stated: "My regards to Ricky, I haven't seen him in a long while and second, please call me!"
"It's an honor to know that he spoke about me and considered my return fight, so it's exciting to make this happen."
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