b'DUST UP IN THE DESERT DUST UP IN THE DESERT MAKING this book was Marcs idea. When he suggested it, I thought it was a good one, though I had absolutely no idea how much work it would take. I hope everyone who A JOURNEY WITH RICKY HATTON sees it believes it to be worthwhile. There wont be many of you, though, because BY OWEN SLOT & MARC ASPLAND this book was not made to be published and sold on the shopoor, it was made for two entirely different reasons. Therst is to show what a great champion Ricky is. The second is to demonstrate that we at The Times can be pretty decent at what we do too. Owen SlotFighting out of Barnes, West London, Owen I know were not supposed to blow our Slot is fast proving to be a leading heavyweightown trumpets, but I happen to believe that writer. Some people might argue that this isthe sports media is generally under-rated merely a re ection of the pisspoor state of theand often unfairly chastised. Hopefully this heavyweight division, but - hey - he can onlybook proves that we can land a knock-outght whats out there. Owen The Brave is likeA JOURNEY WITH RICKY HATTON BY OWEN SLOT & MARC ASPLAND punch or two of our own. And I would hope, the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz, his mottoalso, that if any other professional athlete being, Put em up. I can write you both together.icks though these pages, they might agree I can write you with one paw tied behind myback. I can write you standing on one foot. Ithat doing that rare thing that Ricky did here can write you with my eyes closed! He has won- opening the door and letting us in - is not many courage medals in his illustrious careersuch a bad idea after all.Owenwith his own Dorothy by his side, Juliet, plus diminutive support team: Ivo, Maddie and Oliver.Marc AsplandMarc Aspland has beenghting for The Times for 19 years. Famous for a quick eye with even faster dancing feet, he has won many titles including Sports Photographer of the Year. Slowly moving up through the weight divisions, Aspland initially approached theght game with a gruelling regime of early nights and determined hair loss, but he has since been in uenced by the Hatton approach and owes his longevity in the game to his determined bulking up between bouts. In Vegas, he picked Hatton off with easy snaps and was right there in the dressing room for the knock out picture. Team Aspland has manager Audrey and 3 trainers, James, Phoebe and Brogan who live in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.'