By Ronnie Nathanielsz

BRITAIN?S Ricky Hatton is very pleased the fight against Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is on and will sign the contract any moment now.

That?s the word from Hatton?s father Ray Hatton in a telephone conversation with www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports early Tuesday morning.

?Ricky wants to fight Manny and Manny wants to fight Ricky,? said the elder Hatton after the two sides kept going back and forth over the issue of a guaranteed purse and a revenue-sharing deal.

Hatton said the contract arrived on Monday, that lawyer Gareth Williams was on his way back to Manchester from London and will look at it.

?Then, Ricky will sign it probably on Tuesday or Wednesday when he?s back in town,? said Hatton of his son, who is in Plymouth.

He said a formal announcement that the fight is on will probably be made on Thursday or Friday this week.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told Standard Today that everything is in place now, even as he disclosed that the planned promotional tour in London and Manchester, the hometown of Hatton, will take place at the end of February, before Pacquiao goes into training camp set for March 1 at Freddie Roach?s Wild Card gym in Los Angeles.

Arum said he was coming to Manila for a press conference regarding the blockbuster championship double-header he is staging at the Araneta Coliseum on March 15, in cooperation with Solar Sports, but wasn?t sure of the exact date.

Hatton earlier said there?s hardly any time to fit the planned promotional tour kickoff as originally planned for Jan. 27 and 28 in London because of the delay in having the contract finalized.