IT'S nearly that time of year again, when a nation settles down in front of the TV to be reminded about a year of under- achievement by its sportsmen and women.

I live in hope that the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year show is better than the 2006 offering, which was a particularly dire one in my opinion, so much so that we had to stoop to equestrian royalty to find the overall winner.

We might actually have an awards ceremony to savour this year because we have a vast range of world champions to pick from.

Let's just hope the public can be trusted to select a worthy winner.

If you are undecided please read my carefully constructed evidence as to why to Ricky Hatton is the only person deserving of the accolade.

Thankfully this year sees much better challengers for the prestigious title and, unlike a number of the previous winners, some of the 2007 contenders actually tick the boxes marked personality' and winner'.

Heading my list is a great boxer, not just great in the context of British boxing, but within the world arena.

Boxing is fast becoming an unfashionable sport but I have no hesitation in admitting my love for it - and this year has been a golden one for our pugilists. What makes it even better is that the shining light of British boxing comes across as such a likeable chap.

As good as some of the past sports personality winners have been at their day jobs - Kelly Holmes, Damon Hill and Steve Davis - they just don't possess the all-important charisma of Hatton.

Manchester's Hitman' would undoubtedly be my pick, both for his achievements in the ring and for demonstrating that sporting heroes can also be normal, down-to-earth people.

It's not just Hatton's sensational unbeaten career record that makes him the stand-out contender for me. It is his style and personality on the other side of the ropes.

He comes across as the sort of bloke you would love to have a pint and a laugh with down the boozer. This makes him seem so much more human to spectators and, as much as the lifestyle enjoyed by Premiership footballers makes you feel that they're on a different planet. Hatton's approach to life makes him accessible.

Should he beat motormouth American Floyd Mayweather Jr on December 8 - and let's face it, we are all praying he does - he will leapfrog Pretty Boy' as the world's top pound-for-pound fighter.

I don't think a Briton has ever held this title in my lifetime, so that alone means he should be a shoe-in for the BBC prize this year in my eyes.

Slugging it out for votes with Hatton should be Welsh southpaw Joe Calzaghe, whose own long-running unbeaten CV has cemented his place in the sport's hall of fame.

Unfortunately, in keeping with our nation's politically correct mentality that winning is not everything, it seems the bookies' favourite is not either of these men, but Formula One world championship RUNNER-UP Lewis Hamilton.

Perhaps that's why we tend to come up short in so many sports - there's just something about the plucky nearly-men that we love.

But I urge you to resist the temptation just this once and give the crown to a champion and a winner - and one with a personality - that person is Hatton.