People kept cheering when Ricky Hatton hit the canvas after being “knocked the f*** out!” by Floyd Mayweather Jr. We called him an idiot for fighting Mayweather in the first place. Well, that idiot is cheering himself all the way to a British brothel bank because he obliterated the record for revenue generated by a British fighter.

The reality is that the Hatton ‘Wonderland’ is paved with gold. When the counting is done, the 29-year-old former carpet fitter from Hyde is set to earn between 15 and 20 million pounds from his prize fight with Mayweather, the greatest amount ever earned by an individual British sportsman for a single sporting event for the first loss of his 44-fight, ten-year career as a professional.

Hatton’s pay day is greater than linear world heavyweight champion Lewis earned for any of his US fight nights. This year Hatton will have earned almost 25 million pounds, and with his management team this week projecting five more fights in the next 24 months, Hatton could hang up his gloves in two years’ time with over 45 million pounds in career earnings.

That translates to around thirteen years until he goes bankrupt. If all goes well, and his brain doesn’t turn into mush, he can rake in more quid than any British boxer ever. Take that Mickey O’Neil.

Ricky Hatton shatters viewing record [Telegraph UK]
Image [AP]