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Hatton Promotions are delighted to announce the signing of 2012 London Olympian Damien Hooper.
The 22-year-old Australian light-heavyweight, who is from a proud aboriginal heritage, defeated Marcus Browne of the United States last summer prior to being edged out by Russia's eventual gold medallist Egor Mekhontcev.
Before that Hooper had won a gold medal at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore and a silver at the Youth World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan that same year.
A number of promotional outfits were interested in obtaining the Aussie puncher's signature, but he feels Ricky Hatton is the right man to lead him to success in the professional side of the sport.
"I feel privileged to be signed with Hatton Promotions, the team is fantastic and Ricky is a legend," Damien said.
"I'm going to make some big statements quickly in the pro ranks and I couldn't think of a better promoter than Hatton Promotions to showcase my skill to the world.
"It's the next chapter in my life and I've been looking forward to this for quite some time. I have done my apprenticeship in amateurs and learnt as much possible. Now with my trainer Gareth Williams it's time to put in the hard work and repay the faith everybody has shown in me.
"I want to thank my management Brendan Bourke, Matt Clark and Philippe Fondu and of course Hatton Promotions".
Matt Clark said: "I'm absolutely delighted that Damien has signed with Hatton Promotions. I truly believe that along with Cameron Hammond, Hatton Promotions have signed two of Australia's most talented young boxers and the cream of the 2012 Olympic squad.
"Hatton Promotions now have three Australian's on their books, with Lucas 'Big Daddy' Browne blazing a trail for Damien and Cameron to follow and I know they're keen to develop promising young boxers in this part of the world.
"They're easily the most professional and efficient promoters I've dealt with and signing such a talented prospect in Damien to their company was for me, a no brainer."
Ricky Hatton said: "I'm very excited to have Damien Hooper on board with Hatton Promotions. He's a very talented individual that has the potential to follow in the footsteps of Australian greats such as Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu."
Details of Damien's professional debut will be announced shortly.
