Hatton: 'Time for joking is over'

Hatton and Mayweather engaged in a shoving match during the obligatory head-to-head which ended with the 'Hit Man' dispensing with his usual cheery persona and aiming a throat-slitting gesture at the champion.

After the pair were pulled apart Hatton revealed: "He leaned on me a little bit I just leaned back on him and he spat his dummy out. He isn't pushing me back. There's a time for me to laugh and joke and be my usual sarcastic self but the fight's two days away now and I've done my laughing and joking."

He added: "When I leaned back on him he said, 'don't touch me, don't touch me'. I gave him a little bit of the 'you're dead' gesture then I smiled at him. If he's annoyed at that wait till the bell rings."

Hatton is convinced he has managed to get under the skin of a fighter who clearly revels in his enormous self-confidence and seemed visibly perturbed by his rival's antics.

He added: "I think Floyd preys on that confidence and that's why he did it. I think it'll hurt him more than me. I'll go away and forget about it now but I think he might be seething."

Mayweather spent most of the press conference with his every move being cheered by a handful of acolytes who help massage the fighter's confidence each day.

Earlier he had revealed how he believed his tumultuous formative years would help give him an edge over Hatton, who experienced a relatively serene upbringing in Hattersley.

Mayweather said: "I don't think Ricky Hatton's ever seen his father shot. I don't think Ricky Hatton's been on drugs, I don't think his dad's been to prison. I come from a neighbourhood where people dying is normal. To come from that life and fight my way to the top, I think that's one hell of an accomplishment.

"I truly believed in myself when nobody believed in me. I don't think it's cocky, it's just super-confident. When everybody was doubting me, I never complained, I never cried. I just kept proving them wrong."