BoxRec

Ricky Hatton said he was "absolutely heartbroken" following the news that former world champion Diego Corrales had died in an accident on Monday.

Corrales will be remembered for his epic win against super-featherweight and lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo - the man Hatton fights next.
"I'm going to dedicate my next fight to Diego Corrales," Hatton told the BBC.


"And obviously I'm sure Jose Luis Castillo, being a former opponent of his, would like to do the same."


Corrales, who was a former two-weight world champion, died in a motorcycle accident in Las Vegas on Monday night.


"I was absolutely heartbroken," Hatton told BBC Sport. "I met him a couple of times and he was a fighter I've been linked with fighting in the past.


"I couldn't believe it when I heard the news.


"I'm really saddened because he's a fighter's fighter, a real man's fighter, very passionate when he got in the ring, always went forward, was always in good fights.

"He always used to gee the crowd up before his fights and when you lose a character like that from boxing it's always a very, very sad day for the sport."

I may be a Hatton critic at times but Ricky is certainly a classy respectful kind of gentleman

I'm probably one of his harshest critics but he seems to be a good guy outside of the ring.... a Hatton vs Corrales fight would have been great ... another one that Rickys let go... the most frustrating thing about Ricky is that I'm sure he could have given the likes of Corrales a great fight but he's wasted his best years fighting the likes of Collazo, Maussa etc!... I think he'll regret it in years to come...

I'm a Hatton critic too but don't turn it into a dig. It's not the right time