Ricky Hatton’s promotional vehicle pulled into Manchester for the first time on Saturday night, bringing a bit of big-time glamour to the small hall surroundings of Altrincham Leisure centre in the process. It was a night of firsts in general, with Joe Murray making his professional debut in front of a passionate crowd.
In many ways Murray is the lost Olympian, he came from China empty-handed after losing to the tournament favourite, Yu Gu, in the first contest of the Games. Murray has been climbing the walls of his Denton gym in recent times, waiting patiently to turn over to the paid ranks.
A relatively late change in opponent saw Sid Razak travel up from Birmingham with hopes of ruining ?Genius’ Joe’s first paid fight. Sid is not your typical journeyman, sure he has lost his share of fights, twenty-five in a row in fact, after winning his first three, but he also brings a bit of fire to the party. In fact Sid had been discussed on Boxrec prior to the fight, with the general consensus being that he is a good test for a fledgling fighter.
Murray, with his ?Genius’ nickname and flamboyant gold ring attire, came out for the six-threes contest looking a little bit ostentatious, yet he soon justified the hype, working well to the body and head in the opening stages.
Joe (9st 2lb) would later tell BBN that he saw Sid (9st 4 ? lb) as a perfect foil for his pro debut. Sid justified this claim by gamely soaking up Murray’s pressure in the early going.
For his part Murray’s trainer Joe Gallagher claimed that, ?The punch selection he (Murray) showed in his debut was out of this world.? Murray’s in-ring approach certainly bore this out, by the second round Murray had hit Razak with every shot in the book, as well as switching his attacks to the body and head.
With a statement well and truly made in the opening sessions Murray’s pace dipped a little as the rounds wore-on. In fact there was an open-mouthed look to Murray in the middle stanzas.
Indeed, both the fighter and his trainer vehemently denied claims by this writer that Murray had looked tired in a couple of the rounds, claiming, instead, that the fighter had burned up a bit of nervous energy in the early going, whilst still maintaining his pace throughout the fight.
By round three Murray was hammering home right uppercuts, switching in the left hook to the body off the shot, and then doubling up on left hooks to the head, there was the odd test, though, as Sid landed a few shots during the duration of the contest, a left uppercut in the third round was the pick of Razak’s work.
Razak built on this minor foothold by coming on stronger towards the end of the fourth session, scoring with a right hook to the body and head. This minor rally was halted in the next round; Murray benefited from a dip in pace by placing his shots with great accuracy, cutting the left eye of Razak in the process.
During the final sessions the jab became a potent weapon for Joe, who powered it in a few times before delivering right hands off the shot, it was bread-and-butter stuff, earning him a deserved 60-54 win on the scorecard of referee Steve Gray.
Despite protestations from the team this writer feels that Joe tired a little in the fight, and it was to his overall benefit. Emmanuel Steward once claimed that his charge Lennox Lewis boxed with ?more clarity’ when tired, every shot would be delivered with care and precision. I felt that this was the case with Murray; his boxing in the final round was smooth.
All in all it was a fine debut, reminiscent of Frankie Gavin’s professional bow, both Murray and Gavin had to come through the odd tricky spot, and they both faced guys who could take what was dished out.
Murray’s next step will come amongst the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, he fights on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton. Gallagher told BBN that this is a big thing, and it is something that will make the other Olympians sit up and take notice, as he explained: ?Those other lads have to sit back and watch Joe box in Las Vegas on a huge bill. John Murray boxed on the undercard of Oscar De La Hoya versus Floyd Mayweather, and that was a huge boost for John at the time.
?Joe has gone from the Olympics to the bright lights of Vegas, he has accomplished every boxers dream in two fights. We thank Ricky Hatton for putting Joe on the undercard of this upcoming show. It is a big highlight for Joe and me.
?I think my biggest highlight overall in boxing is taking these two kids from out of Levenshulme and taking them to these huge Las Vegas bills. All the other Olympians want to be there. Joe is there. Golden Boy’s Robert Diaz was raving over Joe’s performance, and they love John over there so there is a lot going for Joe over there in Vegas.?
Back to Altrincham, and Murray’s debut, Gallagher enthused about it, telling me that: ?Joe was fantastic. It was what I wanted from his professional debut. It is not about building a record?that will only get you stopped in later fights because you are not used to hardships. Knowing what we have ahead of us in Vegas, a tough fight against a US journeyman, who are better than some English title holders, lets get that straight, means the Razak fight was perfect for Joe.
?It is not about knocking out guys in a round or two. You can get guys over who will go over early but we wanted someone who is proven when it comes to taking people the distance. Steven Smith and Scott Quigg had stopped Sid, but Scott did it through an eye injury. So it was what Joe needed in terms of getting rounds under his belt.?
One thing that impressed me was Murray’s ability to pull back from a shot then reply with a quick counter, it set him apart from some of the other fighters on the bill, for Gallagher this is just the beginning, and it bodes well, as he explained: ?Joe hit him to the head and body, he showed speed and head movement. Sid took some punishment and later told us that Joe is the best kid he has fought, and the hardest puncher he has faced. Sid wants Joe to go onto a world title shot down the line, and believes Joe will win a world title, allowing Sid to say he took a world champion in the making the full distance. That is a huge compliment.
?We know that Sid can come on in the first two rounds so we went out there to put a mark on him, and put some manners on him! We wanted to let people know that Joe is not some wide-eyed kid from the Olympics.
?I think there was nervous energy but Joe said that he thought it was a slow pace! Joe tried to raise the pace as the rounds went on. I’ve not done the punch stats from the tape yet but I think he did put punches out on a regular basis.
?If you hit a tortoise on its head it won’t come out of its shell, so we told Joe to step off and let Sid come to him. So when you say Joe backed off a bit open-mouthed, that may have been when I was getting Joe to box to orders. Go for a walk and then go bang, bang!
?Joe had not fought in Manchester for three or four years, there was all kinds of pressure on him. All the other Olympians went out before him. John, Jaffa (Tony Jeffries) and (Matthew) Macklin went out before him this year. Joe had to wait for his moment to come. It was six entertaining rounds of boxing and great shot variety. Joe showed maturity to do that on his pro debut, he did something different each round and upped his workrate, finding keys to the lock. You saw it yourself, so what did you think??
See above, the duration of the contest was slightly puzzling, most debutants fight over the six-twos or four-threes distance, Gallagher had wanted his man to prove that he was already ahead of his peers, as he told BBN: ?I am confident in Joe over the six-threes distance, there were no worries there. In four round fights you are on the edge as you can lose a round and then have to take the other three to grab the win. Joe got relaxed?he got a bit cocky and got caught with a few shots?ticking one box we had before the fight. Joe got hit and handled it well.
?Joe is going to Vegas a six-round fighter so I won’t have any worries over there. He will have nervous energy in Vegas for sure. It will be a big occasion. I know that Joe can handle all that, and a tough fight if need be.
?I would give him a high mark for the Razak fight, he did nothing wrong, so what if we didn’t knock him out, we didn’t go in for that, when the titles are on the line my guys knock people out. I would have to say that I would give him an A for last night’s work.
?There is a Ricky Hatton look about Joe. He can box well and go to the body. Ricky gave him advice after the fight and you cannot ask for better than that. Joe was touching Sid with shots and then wham! Ricky did that. Michael Brodie did that. Joe showed gears last night..?
Speaking on the phone the next day there was a sense that Joe Murray himself was satisfied with his night’s work, as he told me: ?I just felt that I had to put it on Sid early and show him who was boss. We were not looking for the stoppage. I will take them when they come but I won’t go out trying to force them. I put it on Sid and just took over from the start.
?It would be nice to get the stoppage but I’m not mithered as I got six good rounds at a fast pace. I got hit and that is good because it shows me what it is like to get hit with the smaller gloves. I handled it well?to tell the truth I didn’t even notice the shots he caught me with.
?I think I hurt him a few times. I got through the rounds and never really felt tired in there. I was just figuring out what to do next and I wanted to walk him down more at times, opening the gaps for my shots.
?I liked putting in the lighter shots and then turning in the harder shots. I tapped him a few times then turned other shots in. A lot of people expected me to box like an amateur but I fought in range and showed people how strong and fit I am. I like the freedom of the pro ranks.
?I am my own person, and I will judge myself by my own standards, not on what the other Olympic lads are up to. We were a team in China but I am now a professional fighter now, with my own career to look to. They do what they have to do and I will do what I have to do, learning my trade in my own way.
?I was over-the-moon with the standing ovation, and the advice Ricky Hatton gave to me. Not many people get that. I just want to get on with things, get back in the gym and make an impression over in Vegas.?
No wonder Matthew Hatton is so pale, for years the likeable fighter has been told that he is ?living in Ricky Hatton’s shadow’, and, depending on your perception, this has been a help ? in that it presents Matt with opportunities that other fighters dream about ? but it has also been a hindrance ? because Matt’s career got lost in the mix. The likeable younger Hatton has taken a lot in his stride over the years. To that end it was good to see Matthew take on a credible foe in former EBU titleholder Ted Bami.
The Hatton-Bami contest was the chief support on the night, but in many ways its credibility as contest was torpedoed by its unusual billing. Billed as a ?world title eliminator’ it was claimed that the winner of the fight would be mandated for an IBO welterweight title fight. This is strange on a number of fronts.
Firstly, the IBO proudly declares that it does not enforce mandatories.
Secondly, prior to the fight Matthew was 59 in the rankings, slipping down to 61 a week before the contest took place. Bami was sitting pretty at 53, then fell to 55. Neither man was inside the top fifty, so you would have to go some to call this a ?world title eliminator’ whilst keeping a straight face, the IBO managed it, though, and one would imagine that the winner of the contest will be boosted by at least fifty places.
With all this to fight for many expected Ted Bami to come raging out of the blocks. The Brixton barber was last seen meandering his way to a points loss against Michael Lomax – on the Prizefighter welterweights bill in October. However, Ted defeated Giusseppe Lauri, twice, in European title fights in 2007, nor should we forget that Ted never lost that title in the ring.
Things have not looked good for the Londoner in recent years, though, and many people cannot forget the way he casually allowed David Barnes to outbox him for the British title in 2008.
Despite all of this many people thought that this would be Mathew’s toughest test to date, which is strange when you consider that Hatton, in his last contest, defeated former world title challenger Ben Tackie on points, a faded Tackie for sure, but do any of our other welterweights have a win of this calibre in their locker? No.
On the night itself pre-fight claims that this would be a test were made a mockery of as Hatton negated Bami for five uneventful rounds, before then taking his man out with a clinical left hook to the body in round six. It was a classic Hatton finish, delivered by a boxer whose family connections have brought him unmerited grief from some boxing fans.
For his part Bami (10st 7lb) made a mockery of his ?Dangerous’ nickname by boxing well within himself. Sure, Bami lobbed over the odd dangerous right hand, and managed to cut Hatton, but Ted was never in the fight, as Hatton carried out to the letter the instructions given to him by trainer Lee Beard.
Hatton (also 10st 7lb) used his one-two to good effect in the early going, holding when in-close, before cranking things up in the fifth round, hooking to the body with the left and right hands in this session.
By round six Bami was disorganised. Hatton saw his chance and stepped in behind a perfectly delivered left hook to the body. Bami paused for breath, could not get any air into his lungs and sank down to his knee. Upon rising Ted was asked by referee Terry O’Connor if he wanted to continue, it was clear that he did not want to, and the fight was waved off at 2:03 of the round.
Despite his protests, Bami can have no quarrel over the stoppage, or the result, he was out-boxed, out-muscled and then taken out, slipping to a 26-5 (13 early) record. Hatton rises to 36-4-1 (14 KOs) and later joked that he felt completely at ease in the fight, and that the cut had not bothered him, telling the crowd, ?I have cut myself worse than that shaving.?
Matthew then went onto claim that this fight will bring him a world title shot, it probably will, but there is no way on Earth the fight itself was a world title eliminator, it was merely billed as such, you could bill me as ?The voluptuous, lovely Theresa Donnelly’, but the reality is somewhat different than the billing.
I did try to email the IBO, twice, to ask them a few questions, namely: How can this be billed as a title eliminator when both men are ranked outside the top fifty? How can you mandate a fight for one of your titles despite your claim that you do not enforce mandatories? Finally, know that we have a winner, Matthew Hatton, when will he fight your current welterweight champion, and who is your current welterweight champion, because he is not listed on your website?
With all that said the win itself was a fine one, better than the Tackie win in many respects, the BBBoC should give Hatton a chance to fight for the British title, he has just destroyed a former EBU title holder, and a man who had recently fought for the Lonsdale belt. If the cut heals Matthew will take up a spot alongside Joe Murray on the undercard of Ricky Hatton’s megafight with Pacquiao.
Full undercard report to follow.
