SOURCE: www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Boxer Ricky Hatton will set a gambling record when he steps into the ring in Las Vegas early on Sunday.

He will become the most heavily backed British sports star ever in a single event.

Punters have rushed to bet on the Manchester-born welterweight in one of the most anticipated world-title fights in years. The bookies are just about the only people in the UK who don't want Hatton to win.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said: "We are having to raise our estimate of the amount being bet on this fight every day."

"We are confident that the fight will smash through the £10million barrier easily and could go as high as £15million."

They have taken 50 four-figure bets - including two punters who put a grand each on Hatton winning in the seventh round at odds of 40-1.

No-frills Mancunian Hatton, with his loving family and witty one-line gags, is a far cry from his American opponent, Floyd Mayweather, a five-time world champ.

Mayweather, 31, fashions himself as the "king of bling", with diamond cufflinks and a wristwatch designed more to dazzle than to tell the time.

Hatton, 29, has taken hundreds of fans to Vegas, many of whom have made sacrifices to be at the ringside on Sunday.

Two women who can rightly lay claim to being Hatton's No1 fans arrived yesterday after a 10-hour flight from Manchester.

They are his fiancee Jennifer Dooley, 26, and his mum Carol.

Both will cheer on their boy during the the fight, which will net Hatton a guaranteed £5million. Continued

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