Malignaggi next for Hatton

Hatton claimed a 120-110, 120-108, 118-110 points win over durable Mexican Juan Lazcano in front of 57,000 at the City of Manchester Stadium, but the scoring did not reflect the extent of his struggle.

Hatton said: "Before the fight I was very nervous. You can't prepare yourself for how you're going to feel when you return to the ring after you've been knocked out."

Seeking to bounce back from his first career loss to Floyd Mayweather in December, Hatton admitted the fear of succumbing to a second defeat in front of his home fans had weighed heavy on his mind.

And there was plenty of evidence of his indecision as Hatton left himself alarmingly open at times and soaked up big shots in both the eighth and 10th rounds that briefly threatened to dump the IBO champion to the canvas.

"I've never been so nervous," continued Hatton. "I was confident and everything, but when 57,000 fans come and support you it's not exactly a way of easing back into action. Talk about putting extra pressure on yourself.

"But that's what I've always thrived on. I was nervous about losing and you've just got to get rid of those demons. The hardest one's out of the way and I expect my performances to go from strength to strength from here."

This was not a night for hyping an ambitious rematch with Mayweather. The name of the 'Pretty Boy' was noticeably absent from the post-fight conjecture as Hatton instead looked towards a showdown with Malignaggi.

Like Hatton, Malignaggi failed to impress on the undercard, overcoming a suspected broken right hand midway through his split-decision victory over South African veteran Lovemore N'Dou.

Malignaggi admitted: "I didn't fight to the best of my ability. I think both myself and Ricky can fight a lot better than we did. But we've got to fight each other to prove who is the best at 140lb. I will say I will beat him. I've seen some weaknesses that I can exploit."