Ricky Hatton named legend as his favorite wrestler after KOing the former champion in minutes and winning the only WWE match

Boxing legend Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton had a great night of fun with WWE in 2009, even winning his one and only wrestling match as part of the event.

The now 45-year-old is a new inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and is revered as one of the greatest boxing exports of his generation.

But outside of his fights against the likes of Floyd Mayweather and José Luis Castillo, Hatton clearly retained a love for the crazy world of professional wrestling.

He followed in the footsteps of Mike Tyson, Mayweather and Lennox Lewis by dipping his toe in the WWE waters and hosting an episode of the company’s Monday Night Raw when it came to his native Great Britain.

His appearance was part of Raw’s Guest Host era, where more mainstream celebrities would play the role of an on-screen authority figure that night.

Hatton wasted no time in settling into the familiar surroundings of the Sheffield Arena, having previously recorded the 40th win of his professional career against Carlos Maussa.

Opening the show, he was quickly interrupted by then-villainous duo The Big Show and Chris Jericho, both heavily associated with the boxing world. Big Show was famously KO’d by Mayweather at last year’s WrestleMania, while Jericho would be knocked down by Tyson months later.

On this night, they poked fun at Hatton, prompting Shawn Michaels and Triple H – who then returned as D-Generation X – to stir up tension between the pair and the host.

After Big Show pulled out of a fight, Hatton went about his business, indulging in signature DX poses in the middle of the ring, even though his night was still a long way off.

Later teased by Guerrero backstage, the former world champion set up an impromptu match against the veteran and cousin of the late great Eddie Guerrero.

A big name in WCW, Chavo was an established performer in his own right, a former ECW Champion in WWE’s reincarnation of the classic promotion, a two-time WWE tag team champion and a four-time holder of WWE’s Cruiserweight Championship.

He was of course no match for Hatton in Sheffield, even though he managed to briefly take the Hitman down to the mat and grab him.

The brief head-to-head was ended in just two minutes and 14 seconds when Hatton, blocking a suplex attempt, swept a stiff right hand that sent Guerrero reeling.

For added theatre, he dramatically failed to answer the referee’s ‘ten count’ to hand Hatton a win that was cheered by a crowd of his compatriots.

Reflecting on the evening program shortly afterwards, he said: “It really helped me a lot because I have a great fanbase in Britain, but slowly but surely I’m getting a fanbase in the States too.

“I’ve always been a fan of WWE, I’ve been watching it since I was a real kid.

“I’m an admirer of them all; the big boys, the way they pull their weight is incredible, they are absolutely incredible.

When naming his favorite star, he added, “I would probably say John Cena. He’s just like me, I’d like to think I’m one of the good guys in boxing, and he’s definitely one of the good guys in wrestling.

“The entertainment value of wrestling is absolutely unparalleled.”

Hatton’s WWE appearance came three years before the final fight of his boxing career, the ninth-round KO loss to Vyacheslav Senchenko in Manchester in 2012.

The Hitman’s stellar career saw him win 45 of his 48 professional fights, including 32 by KO.