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May 2001
Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!
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NOW THE BIG STAGE Hitman Ricky Hatton will be unleashed on the world scene over the next year and, cuts permitting, he could go all the way. NIALL HICKMAN reports |
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LEVEL-HEADED: Hatton is refreshingly enthusiastic and professional in his approach to the sport
- Get Big Pic Twenty-three opponents have so far tried and failed to make
Ricky Hatton wince with pain, but just two words can have the unbeaten
light-welterweight doubling-up in agony. “Please
don’t mention Manchester City. It’s too painful,” said Hatton, who had
schoolboy trials with the relegation-threatened soccer club his father and
grandfather also turned out for. I thought
they would be all right this season but it’s not worked out that way.” Light-welterweight
Hatton is a much more successful ambassador for the city than the underachievers
at Maine Road, moving promoter Frank Warren to declare him “the most talented
fighter to emerge out of Britain since Naseem Hamed. Period.” The Sports
Network millionaire may have vested interest, but there’s plenty of evidence
to back him up. Hatton is
already a formidable force in British boxing and he’s sending out signals that
the rest of the world should sit up and take notice. The latest testimony was
provided by his totally convincing four-round demolition at the back of March of
Tony Pep at Wembley Conference Centre (reported on page 50 of this issue). Forget the
WBU title that was once held by the derailed “Shamrock Express”, Shea Neary,
a cursory inspection of Pep’s ribs was enough to show that here is a fighter
who is going places. One was broken and the Canadian former world-title
challenger could barely stand up at the post-fight press conference. “That boy
can dig,” said Pep. “He is a devastating body puncher and he hurts. I’ve
not faced anything like that before and, believe me, I’ve been in with some
decent pros.” Indeed he
has. Only Tony “The Tiger” Lopez had stopped Pep in his long career, which
includes points losses against Justin Juuko and the formidable World Boxing
Council super featherweight champion, Floyd Mayweather. But Hatton, who was
named Young Boxer of the Year by the British Boxing Writers’ Association in
1999, brushed him aside for his 17th quick win out of those 23 victories. Sceptics may
point to the fact the Pep is 36, spent a long time fighting as a super
featherweight, and came in against Hatton with only a few days’ notice against
an opponent who had honed his skills over six weeks in the gym. Hatton
refutes this, saying he was at a similar disadvantage to his rival. “It’s
nonsense really,” he said. “I was all geared up to fight Jason Rowland and
had watched his tapes and thought of a strategy to beat Jason. Then, all of a
sudden, I am told I am fighting a fella I have never seen before and who stands
at 6ft tall. “Also, for
some days before the match-up was made, I didn’t know if I was fighting at
all. I was in limboland. OK, so his preparation wasn’t going to be perfect
either, but it was the same for both of us. “I was just
delighted because I did the job and I looked good doing it. I love fighting and
I was dying to get back into the ring after the longest period out since I
became a fighter. When I went in there I felt great and I just wanted to blast
him out, but also to show the public that I have improved my boxing skills. “I have
watched a tape of the fight and one of my weaknesses has always been my defence.
I thought in this fight I showed I have learnt a few things and I didn’t get
nailed once. You have to remember that he has been in with some serious fighters
and none did to him what I did.” Something
that strikes you in conversation with the basin-haired 22-year-old is his
absolute focus. He knows he is already a very good fighter, but the burning
desire to get better oozes out of every pore. It seems unlikely that the riches
and inevitable out-of-ring distractions that are there for the taking will ever
turn his head. “I’m
actually a pretty level-headed bloke and I don’t think that will ever
change,” he said. “I know how good I can be and I want that. I want it
desperately. I want to be the undisputed best in the world at my weight. I think
the Pep fight was the best I have ever looked, which suggests I am continuing to
improve. “I want the
money and the trappings that go with boxing, but I am not doing it for that.
I’m doing it because I love the sport and I love training. Can’t get enough
of it. “It suits
me living at home with my mum and dad because I get on well with my folks —
and I get all my washing done.” That
contentment is not confined to just his domestic situation. He speaks of his
relationship with trainer Billy Graham in glowing terms. But, then, he did his
homework before making the decision to go with him. “I looked
around a lot of gyms when I decided to go into boxing seriously and Billy
Graham’s was the one I chose. Our relationship is fantastic and I am improving
as a fighter. I know boxers leave their trainers all over the place, but that
couldn’t be further from my mind. Billy has been brilliant for me. Look at my
performances. All credit for that to Billy and all the other blokes who look
after me. I do the boxing, but they do a lot as well and that is what is making
me a better boxer.” The only
cloud on the horizon could be Hatton’s propensity to cut. The subject was
placed in the spotlight once again against Pep. Despite a rollicking
performance, Hatton suffered a nick near the right eye caused by a clash of
heads. He cut within 15 seconds in his previous fight — a 12-round boxing
lesson to Jon Thaxton. Yet, if
Hatton is worried about this, he is hiding it very well. “Doesn’t
bother me at all,” he said. “I’d be more worried if there was something
glaringly wrong with my technique or my stamina. I suppose I have to accept the
fact that I have got a bony head and it is susceptible to cuts. I had an
operation to clean out a cut near my left eye after the Thaxton fight and that
stood up to the test perfectly. “Against
Pep, I just got caught by his head and it opened up. But who cares? Certainly
not me. If I cut in the future, so be it, but it won’t stop me winning.” Since his pro
debut, in September 1997 against Colin McAuley, “the Hitman” has lived up
to, perhaps even exceeded, the great promise he showed as an amateur, where he
won an Amateur Boxing Association title in his only year as a senior. Decent
domestic opponents such as Bernard Paul, Mark Winters and Thaxton have all been
ceremoniously dismantled and, on the wider front, Pep, Guiseppe Lauri and Pedro
Teran have also all felt the force of Hatton’s vicious body-punching. Britain
hasn’t exactly been blessed with body-punching specialists over the years, but
Hatton is aiming to climb into the shoes of arguably the most famous
bodysnatcher of them all — Panamanian legend Roberto Duran. Hatton
revealed: “He’s my hero and I suppose one look at my style and you can see
why. I don’t really know where I picked it up, but it is a style that suits me
and Billy has never tried to change it. Why mess around with something that
works? So far, it has worked well.” The immediate
future for Hatton will involve that long-awaited match-up with Jason Rowland —
forced through flu to pull out of the Wembley Conference Centre bill at the last
minute. Hatton is adamant he knows how the fight will go. “I never,
ever slag off other boxers and I am not going to start now,” he said. “I
respect Jason, he’s a decent fighter, but he has never come up against
anything like me. “I am
always confident going into the ring because I am confident in my skills and the
power I have got. It should be a great fight and another step along the learning
curve.” At York Hall
last year, Jon Thaxton was forced to stop with a horrible cut when on the verge
of victory against Rowland, which suggests the Hitman has every right to be
considered an odds-on favourite to notch up a 24th straight win in their
proposed June encounter. For the
moment, then, Hatton has Rowland in his sights. But bigger names await the
likeable Mancunian. Naz may have faltered in Las Vegas, but it surely won’t be
long before Frank Warren secures Hatton a unification battle with one of the
other light-welterweight champions. The talent is
there for all to see as Hatton enters the next stage of his flourishing career.
It should be one hell of a ride. |
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