The smiling build-up to the weekend’s bout took an ugly turn yesterday when a face-to-face photo opportunity between Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather Jr ended in a shoving match and insults.

The two were brought together for photographers at the end of their final press conference and after standing toe-to-toe for two minutes the pair started shoving and swapping abuse, before Hatton made a throat-slitting gesture towards Mayweather. “He leaned on me a little bit, I just leaned back on him and he spat his dummy out,” Hatton said. “The fight is two days away now and I’ve done my laughing and joking. When I leaned back on him he said, ‘don’t touch me, don’t touch me’. I gave him a bit of a ‘you’re dead’ gesture. If he’s upset at that, just wait until the bell rings.”

Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s manager, separated the pair and held the American back, but it was the “Pretty Boy” who seemed the more upset.

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