Saturdays press conference for the announcement of the highly anticipated bout between Hatton and Malignaggi was supposed to start at 10:30 AM. Everyone was there apart from the Hatton camp. Hatton’s lawyer and advisor Gareth Williams, was there to take his place. Apparently the ‘Hitman’ picked up a virus and was violently sick so he couldn’t make it.

However, being a fellow Brit, I knew exactly what the problem was. His beloved Man City was playing one of their biggest games of the season against Chelsea FC…. Maybe he was sick from the loss they suffered (1-3)… Who knows… All I know is that the press room waited over an hour for him to no avail. So, no quotes from the Hitman but Malignaggi had a few interesting words to say:

PM “I am here to fight and not to wrestle, I’m here to box”

PM “After the Mayweather fight, there was a lot of talk about bad refereeing, but I think a lot of that was made up by Hatton’s camp as an excuse. Boxing is not about wrestling and holding its about fighting and I’m here to do that’’

PM “I will become the undisputed champ November 22^nd”

PM “This is the biggest fight of my career, I live for this kind of opportunity, it doesn't get any bigger”

Gareth Williams ( Hatton’s Lawyer ) – “I’m not sure why Ricky isn’t here, he seems to be fine when he’s eating burger and fries but when he has to be healthy I think it has an adverse affect on him”

Kerry Davis “Two of the most colorful fighters in boxing will enter that ring on November 22^nd”

Hatton managed to recover from his mystery illness and made it to the fight on Saturday night, maybe the virus can be called the Chelsea FC Virus...