IT seems that Ricky Hatton's weight and life-style are the most talked about boxing issues of the week, ahead of his fight tomorrow against Juan Lazcano at Manchester City's Eastlands Stadium.

I for one find the comments about his life-style and weight outside of the ring to be fairly unimportant - people just seem to like having a pop at Ricky.

Calling him fat is just the same as when people say I slap rather than punch, it's just finding an easy way to have a go at a champion.

Ricky Hatton clearly enjoys life outside of boxing and doesn't mind admitting he enjoys a pint and a fry up. I think that is why he has received these negative headlines and the Ricky Fatton' nickname.

But I don't think he is unique to any other fighter in terms of the difference between his fight weight and his walking around weight.

I am not sure people fully understand the difference, certainly in my case it's massive.

Someone like Enzo Maccarinelli gets down to his fighting weight very easily, but for me it's a real challenge. I walk around well over a stone over the super middleweight or light heavyweight limit between fights.

I enjoy a pint of Guinness and eating out with friends and family, but when the time starts to train intensely and work hard I am ready and make the necessary sacrifices in terms of diet and alcohol intake.

I guarantee you Ricky Hatton is exactly the same, he lives and breathes boxing and has worked incredibly hard to get where he is.

And a crowd of 55,000 to watch you fight against a guy no one over here has heard of? Wow! Absolutely fantastic, best of luck to Ricky, he sells a phenomenal amount of tickets, he's utterly unique, maybe the biggest boxing draw in the world today.

I don't think he'll have any trouble beating Lazcano, as long as he's fully recovered from the beating Floyd Mayweather gave him.

But people should remember Mayweather is a very special fighter, for me Ricky is still one of the best in the world.

Things are a little slow for me at the moment, ticking over in the gym and giving my left hand a decent rest as I damaged it yet again when I beat Bernard Hopkins.

It isn't too bad - so don't panic! - Nowhere near the problems I have had in the past, but it pays to be cautious so I am really focusing on fitness stuff.

As I said last week, I am off the radar in the gym in terms of pecking order anyway, the focus is rightly on the guys fighting over the summer (which is pretty much all of them, so watch this space)!

Last Friday we played at a charity football game in Trinant, Team Calzaghe winning 3-1. I must say I was pretty rusty, I am not going to say I played great, but at least we won.

Afterwards we had a party in Oakdale at Harley's Lodge, a long overdue chance to celebrate with everyone in the gym my win over Bernard Hopkins. We had a great night, with a guest performer on the karaoke, James Dean Bradfield from the Manic Street Preachers!

During these more quiet times of the year I do often think about what I am going to do after boxing, because I am not the sort of person who can just do nothing, I would go absolutely crazy.

I enjoy doing TV work now much more than I used to, so that is an option, I find myself increasingly comfortable with cameras and microphones shoved into my face!

But I am also interested in remaining in boxing; it has been part of my life for nearly 30 years!

Perhaps I could do some training and who knows, maybe I will even try to get a promoter license one day.

I will end by talking about the two big football matches, the FA Cup and Champions League finals.

First off, unlucky Cardiff City. Close, but no cigar. I thought they played pretty well, especially in the first half, but of course they paid the price for one silly bit of goalkeeping.

It must've been pretty frustrating for them, to come so close and lose in that manner.

The Champions League final I thought was absolutely excellent, a good advert for our football over here.

I don't want to sound too much like Motty, but it was a game of two halves wasn't it? Man United looked like they would run away with it, but then Chelsea really improved and could've won it before the game went to penalties.

As a complete neutral I just feel bad for the players that missed, especially John Terry.

On the other hand, I am delighted for Ryan Giggs.

I guess you can make comparisons between the two of us, we are similar in age, nationality and attitude I think.

He seems to have always been focused on winning trophies, rather than making headlines and he has now won 20, which is absolutely staggering.

He's a real credit to his club, his country and his sport; I was thrilled for him he scored the winning penalty on the same night he became Man United's most capped player.