THE man who has helped Kostya Tszyu to conquer the world is hoping that Ricky Hatton will be the next world No 1 at light-welterweight, but only after Tszyu decides he wants to give up his title. Johnny Lewis, Tszyu’s long-time trainer, has been an admirer of Hatton for some while, as much impressed with his attitude outside the ring as his talent inside it.

“I would like to think that someone like Ricky will be the champion after Kostya,” Lewis said. “I don’t think his time has come yet though.” Tszyu has split with several managers and promoters, but Lewis has been his trainer since the day in 1992 that the boxer flew from Russia to Sydney to turn professional.

Lewis, 61, has worked with most of the big names in Australian boxing, from Jeff Fenech to Joe Bugner. But it was after Hatton had beaten another Australian, Justin Rowsell, 3½ years ago that he first came to Lewis’s attention. “I had trained Justin before; he told me he had been offered the fight in England and I told him not to take it,” Lewis said. “Justin was in a down period when I heard he had been beaten. I was worried what it might do to him.

“But after the fight, Ricky went into his dressing-room and said ‘I’m glad I didn’t fight you 12 months ago.’ It was a nice thing to do and he didn’t have to do it. He could have been a big-head but he was a good enough guy to make Justin feel proud, even though he’d beaten him.”

This is not Lewis’s first trip to England. He was a fitness trainer with the Australia rugby league team that beat Great Britain 2-1 in 1990, a team that featured the likes of Mal Meninga. “I will always remember coming out at Wembley with the noise of the crowd as they played Land of Hope and Glory,” he said. Now he is expecting another remarkable atmosphere in Manchester.