Should Ricky Hatton become a big promoter when his fighting days are over, he could turn out to be a compassionate one. The first signing to Hatton Promotions, the boxer’s new company, is a former world champion down on his luck, but it could turn out to be a canny acquisition.

Sirimongkol Singwancha, 31, makes his first appearance for the company on tonight’s undercard at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Singwancha, from Thailand, held the WBC super-featherweight title from 2002 to 2003 but, despite having lost only two of 61 bouts, he finds himself living in poverty.

“He’s living in real poor surroundings,” Hatton said. “It’s terrible for someone who has done as much for the sport as him. Stories like that excite me. For everything he has done, to be treated like he has been is awful. He was a world champion; he’s got a great record. We will give him the opportunity and when it comes along, he has to take it.”

Things got so bad for Singwancha that, to raise cash, he posed for pictures in a gay pornographic magazine, which led to him being given a six-month suspended jail sentence on indecency charges. Hatton was alerted to his plight by Charles Atkinson, the British boxing coach who has taught a string of Thai champions and sent tapes of Singwancha in action.

“I’ve seen tapes of him, but the first time I saw him in the gym, he had just come off a 26-hour flight,” Hatton said. “He looks good. I do feel sorry for him. He’s got a 59-2 record and hasn’t got two ha’pennies to rub together. It’s a great shame. We call him ‘Ho’ – we can’t even begin to pronounce his name.

“After all the years of him being ripped off and messed about, if we can get him to a title shot and get him some decent fights, maybe we can get him a nice house paid for and a few quid in the bank. He’s a world-class operator who has been treated badly.”

Hatton’s younger brother, Matthew, 27, faces the toughest challenge of his career tonight when he faces Ben Tackie, of Ghana. Tackie lost on points to Ricky Hatton in 2003 and had previously gone the distance with Kostya Tszyu for the world light-welterweight title. “It’s fantastic to be part of a massive card again,” Matthew Hatton said. “I’ve seen Ben fight some of the world’s best light-welterweights, including Kostya Tszyu and my brother. It’s a big step up, but I’m very confident I will win.”