Luke Littler says he has been inspired from watching Ricky Hatton fights

Luke Littler has revealed he has been inspired by late-night viewing of old Ricky Hatton fights.

Boxer Hatton died at the weekend, aged 46, which has seen an outpouring of tributes from across the sporting world.

Littler, 18, was not born when Hatton made his name as a world champion boxer in the mid-2000s, but has since discovered him via watching YouTube videos of his memorable fights with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

“What I do, when I’m bored at night, I just go through old boxing fights and stuff like that, and then my dad was talking about it,” Littler said.

“I watched the fight against Pacquiao and Mayweather where he’s winning it and the ref was splitting it up.

“When we found out, Chris Dobey and Ross Smith both said he was a proper lad.

“I think they said he was at the Matchplay years and years on the run, but I never got the chance to meet him. It is sad.

“I think Instagram, Facebook, everything’s just full of Ricky. It is sad.”

Hatton was known as a showman and Littler is increasingly becoming the same, orchestrating and toying with the crowd on stage.

He sent Dutch fans into a frenzy of boos on Sunday during the World Series final defeat to Michael van Gerwen by deliberately taking time to drink his water before his throw.

Swills water...hits double...silences crowd