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December 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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PREACHING PUNCHING As the trainer behind Ricky Hatton, Billy Graham's star is on the ascendancy. RUTH MASON caught up with the mad for it Mancunian whose training touch has turned to gold |
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'He's like a breath of fresh air. He's been promoted very well and there was a lot of hype. But i don't think he was ready for it. He's got a man's heart and a boy's body. He'll change so much over the next 12 months. There's so much more to come from him'. GRAHAM ON ANTHONY FARNELL (ABOVE)
- Get Big Pic Manchester trainer Billy Graham is in a not-too-bad position
on the moment. Not only can he claim responsibility for the development of Ricky
Hatton, still the biggest hope in British boxing, but 'The Preacher' can now
claim control over Anthony Farnell, another Mancunian fighter with huge
ticket-selling capabilites, even as he rebuilds from the first defeat of his
career. BM caught up with the colourful former pro at the helm of some of the
most exciting fighters in Britain - and who loves every minute of it. BM: We'll start with Anthony Farnell. His decision to leave
Brian Hughes's gym in the wake of his first-round defeat to Takaloo to cross
Manchester and join your Phoenix Camp grabbed the headlines. BG: I'm sick of it. I did nothing wrong. I've never approached
a fighter in my life. Any boxer I've ever trained has come to me. I've no gripe
against Brian Hughes. I was approached by Anthony and his father and asked to
train him. I said: "I'll only train him if I think I can improve him."
I didn't take him on just because he earns a few quid. I'm excited about training him. He's like a breath of fresh
air. He's been promoted very well and there was a lot of hype. But I don't think
he was ready for it. He's got a man's heart and a boy's body. He'll change so
much over the next 12 months. There's so much more to come from him. I want to
keep him at the same level before he moves up. He's a lovely, genuine kid. He's portrayed a very wrong impression of himself. All my lads
give 100%, but Anthony is fanatical. I just hope I live up to his expectations
of me. I'm past caring what people think. I just close the gym doors
and get on with it. BM: Ricky Hatton - a fight against Commonwealth champ Eamonn
Magee is being mooted for next summer and former IBF title challenger Junior
Witter is no slouch at gauntlet-throwing. Is either showdown likely to come off? BG: I respect Eamonn Magee, he's a smart boxer. But I don't
see him being a problem to Ricky. The only reason we've not fought already is
it's bad business. Let's face it, it's a backward step for Rick. Eamonn Magee's
got nothing Ricky wants. Ricky's the one getting all the attention and the
higher rating. If it becomes a massive money fight, then of course [it'll
happen]. Junior's trying to get himself a big pay day. All those
British fighters who are popping off [issuing challenges], what goes through
their minds is, because of the vulnerability around his [Hatton's] eyes, they
think they're in with a chance. They're counting on that. They wouldn't be
popping off, otherwise. Junior thinks he's doing the right thing, but all he's
doing is making people dislike him. Junior's claim to fame is Zab Judah. If you're half-decent and
can look after yourself, and don't try to win, chances are you're gonna see it
through to the final bell. So that result means absolutely nothing to me. I don't underestimate his punching power or awkwardness. But,
if Junior thinks he's gonna be able to outbox Ricky, he's in for a rude
awakening. There's nobody on this planet Ricky would rather hurt than Junior
Witter. Ricky's very polite and wouldn't bad-mouth anybody in public.
But I know what his private thoughts are. Junior Witter and Eamonn Magee are
both in for a very painful night, if and when they fight Ricky Hatton. BM: Leaving domestic matters aside, the fans want to see the
"Hitman" face the big guns. Many commentators believe his career will
be a short one due to cuts, so he should be matched against a Kostya Tszyu
sooner rather than later. BG: Ricky's going to be ready for anybody very shortly. I
think Ricky's been in with some good-quality opponents. Kostya Tszyu is a very
strong bloke. He has a lot of other attributes as well. He's a lot older than
Ricky. I won't shy away from Ricky fighting the best people in the world. Why
rush? He's learning all the time. If I thought he was now the finished product,
I'd be screaming out for Kostya Tszyu. But we're in a good position. Nobody's
going to have that much longer to wait. In this country, the more talented you
are, they like to build you up and pull you down. I don't know how he can have
people knocking him. He does everything asked of him, in style. You cannot help
but like him. I'd have thought everybody should get behind him, not try to rush
him into things or belittle anything he's done. BM: He comes across as being the boy-next-door. BG: That's all he is. He's comical. It's not an act. But he's
got a different side to him, he's ruthless in the ring. He loves boxing and he
so much wants to be the best. What people get wrong, when they talk about
natural ability, is how hard he actually works. He practises everything more
than anybody I've ever known. If you've got a lot of talent, you've got to work
harder than other people. We work on shots and invent moves of our own. He doesn't get frustrated or impatient. Sometimes you try to
teach a fighter something and he doesn't quite get it. He might start moaning or
get the hump. Ricky's not like that. He'll do whatever it takes. The more talent
you've got, the more you can absorb. BM: Let's talk about you. You've come a long way since the
late Phil Martin of Champs Camp suggested you'd make a good trainer. BG: It was all by accident. I've taken a bit of stick in
Boxing News for telling the truth. They asked me who was my greatest influence
to become a trainer. I could have made something up and said Phil Martin, or
anybody I wanted to say. I just said that there was nobody who influenced me to
become a trainer, because I didn't want to be a trainer. I got back into boxing
- foolishly Ñ and wanted to have a fight again at 35. They wouldn't allow me,
so I very reluctantly ended up being a trainer. I didn't think I'd buzz off it. Phil asked me to be a trainer, he passed me the pads and body
belt. That was it. Nobody taught me how to do it. I did it my own way. BM: Is doing it your way, being your own man, very important
to you? BG: Extremely. That's why I've always been in trouble. I like
being in the gym and I like being in the ring. I get close to my fighters and I
don't want anybody else calling the shots. BM: You've guided fighters to British, European, Commonwealth
and world title honours. What do you put that success down to? BG: One of the main things that makes me good is I enjoy what
I do. Nowadays, it's got to be fun for me, fighters I enjoy working with. If I
had a choice of a way to make a living it would be training fighters. The vast
majority of people spend most of their lives doing something they don't like. I
get paid for doing something that is my fascination. I'm a very lucky man.
That's what keeps me going, because I love it. I've always had talented kids. I've got loads of
self-confidence, nothing fazes me. I like the big occasion. When I get nervous
before big fights, I make that work for me. I'm not a bad loser, but I like the
feeling of winning. I've never put a fighter in when he's ill-prepared. I don't
take short-notice jobs. The only time is when the fighter's pulled rank on me
and he's desperately needed the money. I always put my fighters first. What makes me a good trainer is I made a lot of mistakes and I
learned from the mistakes. When I make a mistake, I try never to do it a second
time around. My shortcomings as a person, when I was a boxer, have made me
better now. You can warn kids of the pitfalls. BM: What do you expect from your fighters ? BG: As long as they play their part and are dedicated, that's
enough for me. And to tell me the truth, because I'll always tell them the
truth. I have loyalty to my fighters, that's a big important thing to me. I
don't care if you're Sugar Ray Robinson, if you're not straight with me I'm not
interested. I say to my fighters: "I won't just tell you something
and expect you to do it. Anything I ask you to do, I can explain." I talk
to the fighters a lot. I refuse to train a fighter who won't train on the weights, or
one who smokes - even though I smoke myself! To be any good, you have to have a burning desire to be a
fighter. BM: In order to be a great trainer, do you think you need to
have tasted your own blood ? BG: I'm not as strict about that as other people are. There's
good trainers worldwide who haven't boxed. Personally, I think it's a great help
to me that I was a boxer. If you've never been a boxer, it must be extremely
hard to imagine what your fighter's going through, when it's a bit rough. Unless
you've been hit yourself, you can only imagine what it feels like. If you've been a fighter, you know what it feels like. It's a
great help. BM: Carl Thompson and Michael Brodie left Phoenix Camp
acrimoniously. Your relationship with promoter Frank Warren has, at times, been
stressful. However, in 2001, you have been arguably Britain's premier trainer
and Ricky Hatton's the best talent to come out of Britain since Naz. Are you
living your finest hour? BG: I'm really enjoying myself now. There's been good times
and bad times. Not many bad times in the ring. I've fantastic memories of all
the fighters I've been associated with. They've all done me proud in the ring.
There's been times when I've got depressed about fall-outs. I'll never go into
details in print about what happened. There's too much of that in this business,
slagging each other off. I stay out of all that. When bad things happen, at the
time you feel gutted, and all the work's been for nothing. Everything happens for a reason. And all the things that
happened probably needed to happen. I'm not bitter about things any more.
Because we had so many great times in the ring together, it overshadows the bad
things. I try to get better from it, instead of feeling sorry for myself.
There's not a fighter I regret training. A lot of things piss me off in boxing. But I'm not
complaining. I've got a lot more peace of mind now. My relationship with Frank
Warren is an awful lot better. And that's a load off my mind. The constant
arguing is in the past. The arguments were about my boxers not about me. I was
always sticking my neck out for other people. Now we're getting on fine. We both
want the same things. Believe you me, working together is an awful lot better
than working against each other. These days I don't care if anybody has a pop at me. I've
mellowed a bit as I've got older, I'm more philosophical. I've got to be honest,
I've always been a bit mischievous. I've never shied away from an argument, but,
in reality, I prefer to get on with everybody. I just let everybody get on with
what they're doing. All I'm concerned about is my kids. I'm looking forward to the future. The best times are to come.
I've a small, great camp: Ricky and Matthew Hatton, Anthony Farnell, Patrick J
Maxwell and Steve Foster Jr. I used to train more fighters than any other
trainer in the country. And I used to do it all on my own. It wasn't a gym full
of mediocre fighters. It was a gym full of champions and good prospects. It was
unbelievably hard work. When I think back about how hard I used to work at
Champs Camp and Phoenix at Salford, I don't know how I coped. I'm riddled with
injuries. I wouldn't have missed it for the world, but I couldn't go through it
all again. |
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