Ricky Hatton has thanked new trainer Floyd Mayweather Senior for restoring his confidence after his morale-sapping defeat to the American's son last December.

Hatton hired Mayweather Sr, who had previously trained both his son and Oscar De La Hoya, following a victory over Juan Lazcano in May that did little to convince the 'Hitman' he was still a force to be reckoned with in the junior welterweight division.

The pair have been working together in a Las Vegas gym for the past six weeks and the fruits of their labour are set to be unveiled at the MGM Grand Garden Arena tomorrow night when Hatton defends his Ring Magazine Championship belt against New York's Paulie Malignaggi.

Hatton said his training camp had been a revelation for both trainer and boxer.

"I think Floyd was more surprised than me," said Hatton. "I think he was led to believe what everyone thinks, certainly what my opponent thinks, that Ricky Hatton is a body puncher, he comes running in, 100 punches a minute, and that's it.

"When someone like Floyd says to me, 'You've picked this type of training up, the pad work, the slipping and rolling, quicker than anyone I've ever worked with,' that fills you with confidence.

"And I've been doing it in sparring and against sparring partners and Floyd said to me, 'You handled him better than Oscar.'

"I needed to hear stuff like that because after the Mayweather fight I was down in the dumps. I needed my confidence rebuilding with the Lazcano fight but I didn't get it because it was rubbish. I wasn't up to it.

"I know there were reasons, I had a chest infection and I hadn't done the majority of my training but let's have it right, it wasn't a good performance.

"I needed this training camp and I needed to hear things like that from someone like Floyd, who's not someone who blows smoke up your backside. He doesn't have to with the people he's worked with."

Hatton believes Mayweather was the obvious choice to replace Billy Graham, who had trained him since he turned professional as an 18-year-old.

He said: "When I decided the time had come for me and Billy to part company for a number of reasons, I thought, 'What do I need to work on, from a technical point of view, from a boxing point of view, to better myself?'

"Floyd Mayweather slows you down a little bit. He stops me from rushing in, making me aware of picking shots off with my hands, moving my head and countering. He's the best man for the job."

As far as Mayweather Snr is concerned, Malignaggi will pose no threat to his man.

Pointing to Malignaggi's tally of five knockout victories on his 25-1 professional record, Mayweather said: "I don't know if they're taking this fight as a cakewalk but Ricky's going be on him and let me tell you, he's in hot water.

"He ain't no threat. He can't hurt. He's like the wind flying across your face, that's all. I can't say anything good about him."