Ricky Hatton admits he is desperate for "redemption" ahead of his IBO light-welterweight title fight against Juan Lazcano in Manchester on Saturday.

The 29-year-old's bout against Mexican Lazcano is his first outing since he lost to Floyd Mayweather in December.

And, after tipping the scales at 9st 13lbs 11oz - the same as Lazcano - at the weigh-in, he said: "I have to prove and redeem myself after that defeat.

"I must show defiance. I want to say, 'You think I'm past it? Look at this'."

A sell-out crowd of 55,000 will turn out for Hatton's "homecoming" fight - the Mancunian's first bout in his home country for more than two years.

But as doubts continue to swirl about supposed tension in his camp and the effects of his notorious out-of-training drinking sessions, Hatton knows only an emphatic victory will keep his hopes of a rematch with Mayweather alive.

"Everybody is pointing the finger a little bit, saying 'his lifestyle has finally caught up with him'," he said.

"A lot of people think you wind down your career when you come off a defeat but I think the opposite thing.

"People expect me to bow out after a couple more fights, but to me things keep getting bigger and bigger.

"I'm not saying I needed a kick up the backside but sometimes that's what a knockout defeat can do. You go back to basics a little bit and look at the bigger picture. I think that's why so many champions come back stronger from a loss."

And Hatton is not the only one out to prove a point on Saturday, with Lazcano saying: "For me this is a resurrection for my career. I've got a new team and I feel like a new Juan Lazcano.

"I always wanted to be a champion and I accomplished that. But greatness was never on my radar. Now I believe that I can be great.

"Once you believe and think something, it can happen. I believe it's destiny for me."

Lazcano has the ability to present Hatton with some problems. Earlier career victories over cagey veterans like Wilfredo Vazquez, Jesse James Leija and John John Molina are testament to his fighting ability.

But as an upright, come-forward boxer, Lazcano is the kind of fighter upon whom a hungry, top-form Hatton regularly feasts.

And already there is talk of an ambitious rematch against Mayweather, and although the likely venue could be in Las Vegas, a bumper crowd of over 80,000 could be a reality of the fight is staged at Wembley Stadium.

"I am not overlooking Lazcano," said Hatton, "but if 55,000 see me fight him, imagine what will happen against a bigger name.

"I would love to set the all-time (boxing) record for an outdoor crowd."

Any bout would have some way to go to eclipse the 136,000 crowd at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico in 1993 that saw Julio Cesar Chavez defeat American Greg Haugen, but boxing gate receipt records would certainly be broken at either Croke Park or Wembley.

Hatton said: "We have looked at Croke Park. That is an arena that could do it. It is something we have our eye on.

"You can't think it could get any better but it does. It never ceases to amaze me as I have never looked at myself as a superstar.

"But my fights have become more than a boxing match. They are events."

The chief executive of Hatton's US promoters Golden Boy, Richard Schaefer, said the Hatton phenomenon was continuing to grow.

"No other fighter in the world can bring 55,000 or more to a soccer stadium. I do believe down the road there is the opportunity for Ricky to break the all-time record."