MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA is excited by the prospect of a legend versus legend clash with Ricky Hatton – but he feels 'weird' about facing his old pal.

SunSport revealed earlier this month that preliminary talks over an exhibition bout between the former world champions had taken place.

But Mexican mauler Barrera, 48, will find it strange sharing the ring with the Manchester Hitman after years of friendship.

He told SunSport: "Ricky Hatton was one of the best from the UK fighters there ever was, our friendship was so close that even I went to all of his fights and he came to all of my fights.

"Ricky Hatton’s style is very similar to the Mexican style, just going forward throwing punches there’s no running, not a lot of waste of movement in throwing punches.

"Yes, Ricky Hatton and I are great friends, we haven’t seen each other in years, so going on and getting in the ring will be weird, but we’ll kind of sit down and talk a little bit."

Should the fight come to fruition, Barrera plans to break out the training regime he used when he was at the peak of his powers.

He revealed: "I would do a very similar style of training when I was preparing for my fights."

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But the former three-weight world champ isn't expecting an easy return to full training after 11 years of retirement.

He said: "Ricky is a very good fighter.

"He’s a fighter who goes forward, so it would be a tough camp.

"Ricky’s 43, I’m 48, he’s five years younger than me but he is very good. Since I’ve retired I’ve been running every single day and keep fit.

"Mental preparation is way more important than physical preparation.

"As a matter of fact, as an example, when I was fighting Eric Morales I was telling myself no one can beat me, any boxer in this world can’t beat me, and he won’t beat me.

"Same thing with Naseem Hamed – I signed to beat him, I signed to win and that’s exactly what I did.

"You have to prepare yourself mentally when you step into the ring and you’ve go to do exactly what you put into the training."

He added: "For me to fight Ricky Hatton, I will need to get into good shape and be in physical form so people can see I’m in good form.

"Also in exhibition fights, there’s no winner. It’s to entertain the people and it will be a very good fight for the people."

As much as El Barreta is looking forward to sharing the ring with his old buddy, he wouldn't mind having a catch-up with him before they try to take each other's heads off.

He said: "My regards to Ricky I’ve not seen him for a long time and second, call me!

"It’s an honour to know that he talked about me and considered me for his comeback fight so we’re excited to make this happen."

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