MANCHESTER 'HITMAN' PASSES ACID TEST By George J. Elsasser

Over the pond in Manchester town they call Ricky Hatton the "hitman" ... and the unbeaten hometown favorite passed the acid test against tough and durable Ben Tackie with a one-sided albeit fiercely contested 12-round encounter.

The key from this neutral corner for the 25 year old Hatton was a newly acquired improvement in boxing skills ... along with the patented body punches came a snapping jab coupled with good movement - the exclamation point was in the speed department while proving equal with Tackie in toughness as well.

Was Tackie a washed up entity at age 30? ... didn't look that way ... just couldn't deal with this coming year 2004 version of the former one dimensional Manchester "hitman" ... and this for the curious ... the kid showed a chin.

Scoring was unanimous ... 118-110 - 120-109 - 120-109 for Hatton.

Hatton goes to 34-0 with 25 KOs while Tackie drops to 24-5 with 15 KOs.

Semper fi,

GEL