Ricky Hatton is still in denial. Denial is actually a pretty good place for a boxer to be after he has lost his first bout. But Hatton is convinced that fortune erred against him when he lost his unbeaten record in Las Vegas in December and he remains coolly determined to stage a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr, the man who so convincingly beat him.

“A few pals have said, 'Why don't you retire now? You've got nothing more to prove, you've gone way past what everyone expected of you,'” he said. “But I don't think I'd be much of a man if I stopped at this. That's not what I'm all about. There's one or two things I want to do and one of those is to prove people wrong. If you're a man, that's what you do. So I'd like to fight Floyd again; last time, I don't think I was given a fair crack of the whip.”

It was surprising, if reassuring, to find Hatton in this frame of mind in this, his first interview since his return from the United States. A first defeat, especially for one who has risen so high, can be one hell of a fall; just ask Naseem Hamed, whose career disintegrated, or Sugar Ray Leonard, who witnessed Hatton-Mayweather at ringside and afterwards described the psychological scars of a first defeat as some of the most significant blows a prizefighter can suffer.

It is not as if Hatton simply shrugged them off. In the days after the bout, he says, he would find himself breaking down in tears and he has had to come to terms with a feeling that his “world had come to an end”.

But there is no denying now that his self-confidence has healed remarkably well. In our conversation, he betrayed not a hint of self-doubt. He considers Mayweather as a hurdle that he only narrowly failed to clear, but he has picked himself up and intends to keep on running exactly as before.

It has been suggested widely that now might be the time to curb his notorious dietary excesses between bouts, but that certainly has not happened. “I've never hidden the fact that I like a drink,” he said. “I always have.”

Other critics have suggested that technical deficiencies in the ring would be solved by making changes within his training personnel, but his response is: “I've had one of the longest unbeaten reigns in the sport so whatever I was doing, I was doing right. I've always done the same thing and I'll carry on doing so.”

Whether these decisions are the right ones is another matter. For the moment, convincing himself that all is well in his world is a considerable step in the right direction, but it did not come easily. “I was heartbroken and I still am,” he said. “I was convinced I was going to win that fight and that added to the mental blow. For a few days I was breaking down. I'd just turn the tears on. When you are a fighter used to so much success, you wouldn't be human if you didn't.”

The recovery began back at home before Christmas when he watched the bout for the first time. “I watched it in my house on my own,” he said. “I was with my girlfriend, Jennifer, although she walked out of the room. It's not nice for your girlfriend, your mum, your dad, your family to see that. Jennifer hates boxing, period. She's not a boxing fan at all. But I've watched the fight five or six times now and I think that will be it. It is upsetting to see. I never thought that would ever happen to me. I'm sure every fighter has thought that in their career, but you have to swallow your pride and learn from it.”

What he saw convinced him that it was not a gulf in class that defeated him, as was widely reported, but the referee, Joe Cortez, refusing to allow him to fight at close quarters. “I'd rather give credit to Floyd than blame the referee,” he said. “But this is not just me feeling sorry for myself and finding something to complain about.

“I have a lot of respect for Mr Cortez. Maybe he just had an off-night. And I was a little bit over-keen, over-eager and I made the cardinal sin of losing my composure. But I thought I could have won the fight, yet I started having arguments mid-round with the referee. I'd never done that in 43 fights. Floyd would be turning his back and I'd be saying: ‘Where do you want me to hit him when he's doing that?' It got to the point where I thought, ‘I'm scared of hitting him in case I get warned'.

“I've honestly had tougher fights. Like any great champion, Floyd found the right punches at the right time. When I fought Vince Phillips and Luis Collazo, I wasn't in the best shape afterwards, I was sore and really tired. Even after being knocked out by Floyd, I don't think it was a physically demanding fight; I'd felt worse after six-rounders.”

But it is the refereeing of the bout that Hatton returns to so frequently that it seems he is in denial of the weight of Mayweather's evidence. This may be no bad thing, though, because it simply fortifies him. “I need to come back stronger and ram it down some people's throats,” he said.

“I don't want my last fight to be that fight, me on my back getting counted out to my first defeat. What sort of a champion would I be if I didn't come back and try and prove myself? Naseem Hamed's situation is a shame; he's one of the best fighters we've ever had, but unfortunately because of the way he bowed out, he's going to be remembered for his defeat rather than all the success that went before. I don't want to go down that same route.

“All the greatest fighters - [Rocky] Marciano being the exception - have lost and you become a good champion by coming back from adversity. If I come back stronger, people will hold me in even higher regard.”

Indeed, as he talks he points to the cover of Boxing News, where Roy Jones Jr, written off after defeats by Antonio Tarver, is pictured celebrating his recent victory over Félix Trinidad. These are the kind of days he envisages for himself.

The media coverage since the bout against Mayweather suggests otherwise and it infuriates him. No, he says, contrary to reports, he is not organising Wayne Rooney's stag do, and neither is he giving counselling to Joey Barton. And as for the reported 57-pint New Year's Eve binge in Tenerife, he said: “Is it really a story if you got drunk on New Year's Eve? What did they expect? That I'd be going round art galleries and museums?”

But 57 pints? “Jesus Christ,” he said. “I just pity the sad f***er who was counting. But it said whisky chasers, too. I never drink whisky.”

And he would far rather be off the front pages and concentrating on what he calls “the final straight of my career. I'm not going to say how many more fights because I don't know. But there are things I still want to do: I'd like to top the bill at Madison Square Gardens, I'd like to fight in the City of Manchester Stadium. And I'd like another go at Floyd.”

Explore More Sport

• Athletics

• Boxing

• Cycling

• Sailing

• US Sport

• Times Sport Power 100