RICKY Hatton will give the new Belle Vue speedway season a flying start at Kirkmanshulme Lane on March 6.
The IBF and WBA light welterweight boxing champion from Hyde has accepted an invitation to be the guest of honour when the Fonestyle UK Aces open the new campaign with the Peter Craven Memorial Trophy.
Hatton's presence is another major boost for the new management, who have battled hard and successfuly to raise the profile of the club since taking over a year ago.
Trophies
Promoter Ian Thomas said: "Ricky has agreed to meet the riders before the racing and present the trophies afterwards.
"We are absolutely thrilled that he will be with us because he is a major world sporting star. His presence will continue to spread the message that we are an ambitious promotion who mean to go places.
"It is a feather in our cap that a current star of Manchester's sporting life will be present when we honour the memory of a speedway superstar who bought two World championships to the city."
Brenda Leat, who was married to Craven when he died following a crash at Edinburgh in 1963, will also be a guest at the meeting.
Jason Crump, Belle Vue's World No 2 who won the Craven Trophy with a 15-point maximum last year, will defend the title.
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I am not too sure this "sportsman" is a good choice as guest of honour at the PCMT.Boxing is simply licensed thuggery,no more,no less.
What planet does Stephen live on, if having RickyHatton there increases Belle Vue's media exposure, which it will. What an excellent choice, he lives near me also !!!
Indeed. Stephen seems way off track with his comments.
Ricky Hatton is a World Champion and a major local celebrity. A great choice which will bring media interest to Belle Vue to launch our new season. And he strikes me as the kind of down to earth guy who will probably enjoy the racing.
Very disappointed though that Mr Belle Vue, Jason Lyons has not been invited to ride in the meeting.
Yes Ricky Hatton will bring publicity to Belle Vue's opening night and i am not denying he will.The point i was trying to make is that boxing is devoid of any skill factor,and as such would not be a good choice as opposed to a skilled sport such as speedway.