After a prolonged absence from the boxing ring Ricky Hatton prepares to make history this weekend by continuing his impressive run at mayor titles when he challenges Juan Urango for Hatton?s old IBF crown. Perhaps Ricky is overcompensating for his WBU days yet in going for his fifth and sixth titles in fourth fights (the vacant IBO title is also on the line) Hatton is set to set aside a little piece of boxing history for himself and the UK.
BOXINGSCENE visited The Phoenix camp on New Years Day to watch Ricky train and speak to his always garrulous trainer Billy Graham.
Readers of a thin-skinned nature should be warned that BOXINGSCENE caught Billy at a time when the criticism of Ricky had ? in the eyes of the veteran trainer ? reached the ridiculous point with the conclusion being that some rather fierce words were spoken.
Firstly the question of Hatton?s opponent came up. Juan Urango was deemed lucky to win Ricky?s old IBF title belt by virtue of his points win over Ben Rabah and consequently he has been labelled a bit of a walk in the park for Hatton, Billy disagreed with this assessment.
?He is no walk in the park this is a real fight. The fact of the matter is because of the level that Ricky Hatton is at now ?he is the real Champion at light-welterweight remember – all fights are going to be dangerous and meaningful because Ricky wants to fight the best guys available. Urango was available plus he wants to beat Ricky.
This is a way for Ricky to get his old title back and Urango is what is put in front of us so we have to deal with him. I?m sure it will be a good fight.?
Aside from his divisive win over Rabah Urango has proven himself to be a good come forward fighter who should make Ricky look even more exciting than he already is, a prime reason, one suspects, for HBO giving this fight the green light.
?I would say so yes. You know what Vegas is like; if anyone takes a backwards step ? even if strategically it is the right thing to do ? the crowd tend to boo. They even booed Floyd Mayweather (versus Baldomir). Ok the fight wasn?t great but Floyd did what he had to do against a much bigger man, Floyd looked like a dwarf on the night and they still booed him.
Ricky Hatton is always exciting and this fight will be exciting because you?ve got two short, powerful come forward fighters producing fireworks.?
Another factor is the presence of Jose Luis Castillo on the bill; Castillo is taking a fight to build himself into the division (although he has boxed at light-welter before, in fact the term ?lightweight? is a misnomer when applied to Jose) ahead of his fight with Hatton.
Quibbles aside if the prospect of Hatton-Urango does not get you excited then this bill will be an ideal opportunity to speculate on what will happen when Castillo and Hatton collide.
?Well yes of course, it is no secret that we are paired up with Castillo if they both come through their fights on the night but we have to take care of Urango first. Ricky is delighted to be fighting in Vegas and is really up for it and I don?t think anyone will be walking out of the arena early.?
It was an almighty surprise that Hatton ? fighting for the first time at welterweight against a man who is big at the weight plus was the WBA welterweight title-holder to boot ? struggled in his last fight against Luis Collazo in Boston. This time out Hatton is back down at 140lbs, I asked Billy if that is a welcome relief for the training team.
?Well light-welterweight is his natural weight; the only welterweight I?m interested in is Mayweather. Other than that Ricky is a light-welterweight full stop.
Tszyu was an all-time great and he never moved up in weight. There is a lot to be said for dominating your weight and being the best you can be in one weight class, as far as I?m concerned Ricky Hatton is still the undisputed light-welterweight Champion of the world. He has not lost a fight in the ring.?
As mentioned Urango picked up his title courtesy of a dubious points victory over Ben Rabah, for Team Hatton the contention is a moot issue, they are concerned with pursuing the IBF/IBO titles. BOXINGSCENE asked if Billy secretly felt they were fighting a man who was lucky to win his last fight.
?No, Urango is the man you have to beat at 140 to get the title back. I didn?t watch it (Urango-Rabah) to score it I just watched it to study Urango and I don?t think the decision was as controversial as everyone said it was.
Rabah was just shifting around all the time and there wasn?t that many clean punches landed in the fight. It wasn?t wildly controversial.
I?m expecting Urango to fight the fight of his life because if he beats Ricky Hatton he becomes number one at light-welterweight.?
For both Hatton and Graham the fight with Urango is extra-special due to its location, Billy in particular seemed enthused about his charge fighting in a place where so many of Graham?s hero?s have fought.
?Off course I?m happy, Vegas is the boxing capital and I have seen some great fighters and great fights take place there over time so we?re looking forward to showing Ricky off really. This is where he has got to perform and where he will perform.?
So far the conversation had been quite sedate with Billy happy to talk up the Urango fight and the whole Vegas experience. BOXINGSCENE took advantage of the positive tone of the conversation to ask Graham if Ricky Hatton was a) on Billy?s list of disappointing fighters of 2006 b) going to make-up in 2007 for a 2006 that some considered poor. His answer was vociferously ubiquitous (cheers Jimmy Mac) to say the least.
?It is going to be a huge year for Ricky and I take no notice of what they say (about him) to be honest with you. He needed a rest anyway to be honest but he didn?t want to be out this long.
People keep saying this to me (Hatton had a poor 2006) and I think it is bollocks, pure bollocks. The kid fought Kostya Tszyu and beat an all-time great then went straight into a unification with Maussa who is an awkward fighter. Ricky got cut and then knocked him out in spectacular fashion with a move we?d been working on in training. Then he fought a really good kid in Collazo last year and beat him as well!
People keep saying stuff about Ricky and it is kind of pissing me off. A lot of fighters in the world wish they could have a year as poor as Ricky Hatton had last year. So it is load of bollocks!?
With that said it was time to point out to Billy that 2007 could also be seen as let-down with Ricky fighting the unheralded Urango then fighting Castillo, who some have labelled a blown-up lightweight.
?Oh good god! He is a light welter ? possibly a welter ? who killed himself to make lightweight. People like to twist things every single way. It is obvious that Castillo will fight better at 140 because he fucking cannot do lightweight so how can they say he is a blown-up lightweight? This is ludicrous.
Castillo will be a far better fighter at junior welterweight than lightweight, it is obvious, you don?t need a brain surgeon to work that one out. They always talk about blown-up this and blown-up that and I?m getting sick of it myself.
If I hear a journalist make a remark about Castillo being a blown-up lightweight I?ll stick my fucking fingers up his fucking nose!?
Another recent criticism has centred on the fact that, especially since the Tszyu fight, Ricky had had a tendency towards being a roughhouse fighter; once again Billy was philosophically phlegmatic about this accusation.
?(Laughs) Well go and watch amateur boxing then!?
It does seem odd that these accusations were brought to the fore by the American audience; Floyd Mayweather claimed Ricky was rough in the fight with Kostya, and this claim has been frequently backed-up by US based fans. This seems fair enough when you consider the gentle way American greats such as Rocky Marciano and Sandy Saddler went about their business.
?Absolutely. I remember years ago when they said our fighters were not ruthless enough to beat the Americans so what do they want??
BOXINGSCENE asked if, in retrospect, whether Hatton should have stood off Tszyu with a stiffly straight back whilst carrying a low left hand so that Tszyu could take his head clean off. If he did we might be sitting around questioning Hatton?s naivety instead of his title reign.
?Absolutely. If you stand at range with Kostya he knocks you out. You do what you have to do to win and we jumped all over him.
This fight will be where Ricky shows his skills and everyone will see them. Then they can fuck that criticism right off.?
When the Urango fight was made Graham felt the familiar twinge of nerves yet he seemed at ease on New Years day. Perhaps Billy gets nervous at the start because of the fear of the unknown, as the fight approaches he can watch tapes and prepare a plan, in the process removing those nerves as he puts his arm around the problems that may arise in the fight.
The weight issue had also faded in direct proportion to the amount of weight Ricky was slaking from his frame in training. BOXINGSCENE watched Ricky training and he looked svelte and strong at the weight with no apparent problems in getting his weight down.
?Ricky has gone really low for this one because he is at his natural weight; he is not like Cotto who was killing himself to make light-welterweight.?
So what is the message to the people who procrastinate over Ricky?s weight?
?If those people had come to my gym weeks ago they?d have seen he wasn?t carrying the weight anymore, he doesn?t just leave it until before the fight. He has been in shape for a long time and I?ve had to hold him back. They keep going on about him being fat but as long as he comes in in shape they will have to change the record.?
Rumours have circulated over the ?net that the big story in this fight may be that Hatton takes more than one attempt to make the weight. If this is the case the web of words spun by his camp concerning his weight will be brushed aside to reveal cavernous criticism. Could the weight issue still turn out to be the big story?
?The weight, that is going to be the big story, is it? If that is the big story some people won?t be very fucking happy when he weighs in. He?ll make the scales on the first attempt, I assure you.
These people say this, that and the other and I get told about it but these people don?t even come into my gym, they don?t see him train. Some of these people must have nothing to write about.?
Surely Graham was not suggesting that there is the odd lazy bad-apple spoiling the fine reputation of internet boxing journalists?
?It was the same last time (people looking for stories and not concentrating on the fight itself). I had boxing journalists in Boston asking me ?what?s this Collazo guy like?? and I said ?why haven?t you seen him fight? and they said ?no?. I had to tell them what Collazo is like, what the fuck is all that about??
The final statement could also be applied to the bravely bold, or suicidal move, Floyd Mayweather is taking in taking on Oscar De La Hoya for his next fight, at light-middleweight of all places.
Billy mixed a sense of admiration with frustration at the move taken by Floyd, a move that could see him heavily defeated by the bigger and stronger Oscar, who is also no slouch in the skills stakes.
?I?m devastated to be honest with you. I watched the Baldomir fight in America and I said no way will Floyd fight De La Hoya, and then I come home and find out it is made. I wasn?t too worried because I thought he?d drag De La Hoya to welterweight where Oscar would be dead at the weight but at junior middle Oscar beats him.
I think De La Hoya will stop Floyd Mayweather and take the gloss off him. So I?m very disappointed with the fight being made from our perspective because it takes the gloss off Hatton-Mayweather.?
It is a very brave move by Floyd and one which he should be applauded for, he is looking to cement his pound for pound slot in a very tough fight. Floyd could win it and raise his reputation yet Oscar could also entirely depreciate Floyd?s stock. Billy sees the fight as being there for Oscar to win.
?It is all about tactics, De La Hoya might beat himself but if he fights the right tactics he will KO Floyd. Light-middle is where Oscar is best lately, he was devastating against Mayorga and he carries a lot of speed himself, he is a bit more rigid than Floyd. Mayweather is more graceful but Oscar is an intelligent fighter with fast hands to the body and head, a great jab and all the tools needed to beat Floyd ? as clever as Floyd is.?
?Floyd ? Ricky will still be a great fight but I wish they could fight undefeated.?
That great fight could wither on the vine also if Floyd carries through his recent retirement threats.
?Floyd just said that because he was pissed off with the crowd booing him, Floyd is a proper boxer and won?t retire. He will not quit. Floyd can stand a loss because of how good he is and fights with Ricky and Cotto would still be huge even after he loses to De La Hoya.?
For now Floyd Mayweather is not on the agenda Juan Urango is, if Ricky fights with as much aggression as his trainer showed in defence of his fighter Saturday night should be a showcase of boxing and aggression reminiscent of the Ben Tackie fight in which Ricky was given the opportunity to mix up banging and boxing to take a decisive decision.
