‘Hitman’ has weight of nation’s gambling hopes on his shoulders

As if preparing for the biggest fight of your life thousands of miles from home against an undefeated boxer ranked one of the greatest of all time wasn’t enough pressure in itself, Ricky Hatton will be pleased to know that a record number of British gamblers will be screaming obscenities at the TV every time he so much as fails to land with a punch.

That’s because more punters have backed Hatton than any other British sporting hero in history. A spokesman from William Hill said “The amount of money being staked on Hatton to win this contest dwarfs the gamble on Lewis Hamilton to win the F1 title; Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis or Joe Calzaghe winning world titles; Tim Henman to win Wimbledon; Colin Montgomerie to win a Major or Paula Radcliffe to win Olympic Gold. It is the greatest and biggest gamble ever on an individual British sports star to win any event.”

It’s thought total spending by betters could top £15 million. So just do your best then, Ricky…