WHEN does a young prospect become a fully-fledged contender?

Ricky Hatton, the Stockport-born boxer, has been biding his time for five years now, and at the age of 23 , in his own words is "ready to mix it on the world stage".

He currently holds the WBU light welterweight belt, not one of the most sought after world titles, and despite being well respected in this country that's all he has to show for his record of winning all 28 of his fights, a mighty 23 by knockouts.

For a fighter identified early as a major talent and voted Boxing Writers' Young Boxer of the Year in 1999, his progress has been somewhat laboured.

In 11 days time he faces his biggest challenge so far when he takes on Belfast's Eamonn Magee at the MEN Arena. For the first time, maybe since his first couple of bouts, he will not enter the ring as favourite.

It will be a fabulous encounter. Hatton's promoter Frank Warren has compared it to the classic Benn-Eubank fights of the early 1990s.

Magee has tried to further the hype by blasting Hatton's record, and continually jibing him when the two men came face to face in the press conference to announce their fight. The Commonwealth champ believes that Hatton has yet to face a true opponent, something Hatton does not necassarily disagree with.

He said: "Yeah, Magee has had plenty to say about my record. The fact is that you can only beat what is in front of you, and I've taken people to bits in my time.

"Magee will be the same for me. He thinks that I will come to him, and I will. But I'll be too quick for him to do anything about it, I won't give him the chance to just wait for me.

"Magee talks a good game, but I offered him a double or quits bet whereby only one of us walks away from the fight with any money.

"He obviously isn't as confident as he has publicly made out, because he wouldn't take me up on that bet."

Another weakness identified by many has been Hatton's propensity to bleed around the eyes. He was almost forced to quit his fight against Gilbert Quiros two years ago because of the streams of blood coming down his face.

He eventually battled back to win, but could do without that extra problem next week.

"I have had treatment by a top surgeon in London," he reveals. "It's a matter of toughening the skin, and making it less likely to cut through friction from the gloves.

"It has been a problem for me, just as it has been for other boxers. But I'd rather concentrate on my strengths."

His strengths are numerous, but the one to watch out for is his fantastic body shots. In his last bout, in February against Mikhail Kripolapov, Hatton blasted his durable opponent's rib-cage to bits.

"My style is based on Roberto Duran," he says. "He was the greatest body puncher ever, and I want to take on his mantle."

The ultimate goal for both Hatton and Magee after Saturday week, is a fight against the undisputed light welterweight champion of the world, Australian Kostya Tszyu.

Warren, who also promotes Magee, has suggested that a date with Tsyzu is not necessarily the prize for winning this bout, but it would certainly go some way to achieving that end.

And Manchester City mad Hatton is not just thinking about the opponent with the belts, but also the date and place of the fight itself.

He said:"I would take on Tsyzu today, I feel I've been good enough to face him for a long time now. But my management team see it differently.

"I have felt a little stifled because as a young boxer you want to achieve things, you have all the energy to want to get things done.

"Now I am thinking about the fight taking place at Maine Road next summer, when it closes down.

"That's my dream, in fact it's more than a dream, because we've had discussions with City's Chairman David Bernstein about it.

"I have always loved fighting in Manchester whenever possible.

"The crowd really get behind me and I think I do better with them willing me on.

"But to grab the world title at Maine Road, I can't describe how it would feel."

Hatton is a man with a mission, and if he can claim a win in his home town over Jubilee weekend, it will surely be just a matter of time before he is crowned king.