Hatton lines up De La Hoya fight

Ricky Hatton is already in talks over a homecoming fight against Oscar de la Hoya as he prepares for Saturday's showdown with Floyd Mayweather.

The 29-year-old wants to face the 'Golden Boy' in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley next year - a fight that could shatter box-office records.

"The chances are very strong," said Hatton's lawyer Gareth Williams.

"We have strong links with Oscar de la Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions and we've had discussions with them."

It is planned that the fight with De La Hoya will go ahead regardless of how Hatton fares in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Williams believes De la Hoya, who lost to Mayweather on a split decision earlier this year, could be tempted to come to the UK by the idea of a record-breaking fight.

"It would be the perfect venue and we could look at selling in excess of 80,000 tickets," he said.

"Oscar has achieved everything in boxing bar recording the record live gate - and he could achieve that if he fought in the UK against Ricky."

De la Hoya, 34, told BBC's Inside Sport in September that he wanted to fight Hatton.

His Golden Boy company is promoting Saturday's fight and De la Hoya has been a regular at Hatton's gym in the lead-up to Saturday's much-anticipated showdown.

Source: BBC Sport