When Ricky Hatton dreamt of conquering the United States, it was tonight he was thinking of. After two comparatively false starts, tonight he will have the big crowd, the big location and the big-name opponent – the world will be watching.

In Hatton’s three bouts since his breakthrough win over Kostya Tszyu in Manchester two years ago, his achievements cannot be knocked, but he has remained on the fringes of the world boxing elite. He won the WBA light-welter-weight title with a stunning knockout win over Carlos Maussa in Sheffield, scraped a fortunate points win to take the WBA welterweight title from Luis Collazo in Boston and then ran out of steam in the later rounds against Juan Uran-go here when regaining the IBF light-welterweight title that he first won against Tszyu.

Tonight the big titles have been sacrificed – the bout will be for only the fringe IBO light-welterweight title – but in José Luis Castillo, a Mexican two-times world champion, he has an opponent whom no one has had to go scrambling through record books to find.

“I won’t let the country down,” was Hatton’s message to his supporters. “I’ve always been patriotic and my fans mean a lot to me. You can’t kid people, it’s a proper fight – that’s why 10,000 Brits are coming over to watch. Castillo is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. This is becoming more of an occasion than just a boxing match.

“It’s been frustrating because, while I’ve won two world titles in two weight divisions, I don’t think you’ve seen me perform. Maybe I took them [Collazo and Urango] a little bit lightly because they weren’t household names, but against Castillo I was excited before I even signed for it.”

Hatton must improve to beat Castillo. His past three performances have been flawed and it seems to have been forgotten that he can be a smart boxer and not simply a brawler who relies on his strength.

“He punches harder on the front foot, but loses leverage on the back foot, so I’ve got to get him going backwards,” Hatton said. “But it has to be educated pressure. I think I have the edge in speed, I have the edge in footwork and that’s going to enable me to get inside and move him backwards, but I can’t just go and try and bulldoze him.”

Hatton has dedicated this bout to the memory of Diego Corrales, the two-weight champion who died last month in a motorcycle crash and is best remembered for his two thrilling bouts with Castillo.

Corrales’s widow, Michelle, was at the press conference and Hatton presented her with a bouquet of flowers. As the pair posed for the photographers, with Hatton’s arm around her, he was not about to let pass the opportunity for a wise crack. “He’ll be up there now saying, ‘Keep your hands off,’ ” he said.

The two sides of Hatton, boxer and boy next door, are displayed by the men whom he has asked to carry into the ring his belts – one from the IBO and the other to signify his unofficial world champion status in the light-welterweight division as accorded by The Ring, the leading boxing magazine. One is Marco Antonio Barrera, the Mexican three-weight world champion, the other is Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United and England striker, who is Hatton’s drinking buddy and a big boxing fan.

“I’m really buzzing about it all,” Rooney said of his first trip to Las Vegas. “I’m incredibly proud of what Ricky has done and that he has asked me to carry his belt into the ring. It will be one of the most fabulous experiences of my life.”

Everyone loves Hatton, though, and if there is a battle to win over the American media, he is succeeding, which will be crucial if bouts against Floyd Mayweather Jr and perhaps even Oscar De La Hoya are secured in the future.

“It’s never been just about the winning with me, the performance means a lot,” Hatton said. “I live by the sword and die by the sword – that’s why people come and watch me fight.”

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