Nick Westby: Boxing needs characters like Hatton to stick around for as long as possible

The PA clearly had a large chip on what I guessed from the other end of the phone line, were very broad shoulders.

"Under no circumstances do you ask him about whether he is returning to the ring or not."

This was six months ago, and the will he, won't he? saga about the Hitman's impending return had already rumbled on for just as long.

The pushy PA, who I might have caught in the middle of an audition to play Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, clearly thought it was none of this Yorkshire Post reporter's business.

Two questions in however, and the former world champion needed only the slightest jab to start waxing candidly about the dilemma he faced, and how he was torn between his fighting spirit and the grim reality that few fighters can accept.

I could hear the PA gnashing his teeth in the background.

Fast forward to the present day and Hatton still can't make his mind up, and reporters are trying to swerve around jobsworth assistants and cut to a chase Hatton only wishes he knew the answers to.

Hatton has been one of the great characters of the last decade in a sport sadly lacking in the men who elevate boxing from the mere 12 rounds of blood and thunder.

David Haye is another with the rare ability to talk as well he punches, and although he has only really slain one giant, he has restored heavyweight boxing to the sporting agenda.

He makes his first mandatory title defence this Saturday against John Ruiz in Manchester before the match-up we all want to see and the sport badly needs, against either Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian brothers who hold the other three recognised belts.

These two dour, characterless men have strangled the life out of boxing for far too long.

The heavyweight division is the lifeblood of prize fighting. Every now and again a British gem like Hatton, Barry McGuigan and Prince Naseem Hamed elevate their sport, or we enjoy a golden age like the middleweight era of Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. But it is the graceful sluggers like Muhammed Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson – love him or loathe him – who add gravitas.

Haye may only be just talk, but if he overcomes Ruiz as expected and gets the fight with a Klitscho brother towards the end of the year, maybe heavyweight boxing will be ready to awaken from its Ukrainian-induced slumber.

Boxing needs great fighters and great characters, ambassadors for the sport who put as much into it as they get out of it.

Hatton, pictured below, has dabbled in audience talk shows and promoting the sport he loves, as he tries to determine if he needs one last payday at the MEN Arena.

Whether he does or doesn't, let him make his own mind up and in his own time. Boxing needs to embrace these characters while it can.

Talking of greats, how exciting on the verge of a football World Cup, is the form of the great triumvarate of Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

The three forwards are at the top of their game, and have been for a good few years now, and carry the hopes of their respective nations in South Africa this summer.

Only injury will rob them, and us, of what could be their crowning glories on the grandest stage.

Performances at a World Cup shape destinies and define greatness; think Johan Cruyff, Pele, Maradona, Michel Platini, Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer and Zinedine Zidane.

If one of this trio want to be acknowledged as not only one of the best of their generation but also among the greatest in history, then helping England, Argentina or Portugal to glory in Johannesburg in July will surely aid that cause.

As an Englishman, the hope is that it is Rooney who caps his phenomenal form this year by holding aloft the trophy. His transition from flank man to focal point of attack for Manchester United this season has been seamless. Adding an aerial deadliness into the mix has made him the complete centre forward.

However, from a football purists perspective, if it is Lionel Messi then there can be no qualms.

Ronaldo would be slighty harder to tolerate – and harder to accomplish with a weaker Portuguese side – but there can be no denying his status in the game.

These three geniuses have transformed the common perception that great goalscorers have a ratio of one in two. Rarely does a game go by that Rooney, Messi or Ronaldo do not find the net. Barcelona's Messi, in particular scored eight goals in three games recently, including successive hat-tricks in La Liga.

One of those goals came against Zaragoza when he weaved through the visiting backline and laced the ball past the goalkeeper. It was reminiscent of Maradona's against England in 1986 but all the more impressive because of its genesis, with Messi facing his own goal and wrestling possession from two opponents with his awesome strength before setting off on a mazy run, the ball seemingly glued to his instep.

Immortality beckons for one of these three men.

If it is all three who continue their majestic form into South Africa then we are in for quite a summer.

We just hope it's Rooney nodding home the winning goal to deny Messi or Ronaldo.

and another thing...

SPORTS fans, whether from England or Egypt, Scotland or Sweden, were able to register their interest for tickets for the London Olympics last week.

The fact that a genuine follower of teams and individuals of this sports-mad nation, who has pumped hundreds of pounds into the industry over the years, has as much chance of seeing the 100m Olympic final as a visitor from Mars has wrankled in certain quarters.

If you are one of those miffed that the chance to see the crowning of another Chris Hoy or Rebecca Adlington will pass you by, then take comfort in the fact that the latter will be competing here in Yorkshire this week.

Adlington, Jo Jackson, Gemma Spofforth and Lizzie Simmonds are among the stellar cast at swimming's British Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield from today until Saturday.

It is an event that requires no internet registration and costs less than a fiver. So put the London argument on hold and get down to the Steel City.