By Terence Dooley
Venerable UK trainer Billy Graham, who took Ricky Hatton to the linear light-welterweight title, watched with sadness as Jamie Moore lost his European title and, more importantly, a chance to fight for the WBC world title during Friday night’s seventh-round loss to Ryan Rhodes. The veteran trainer felt a mixture of sorrow, at Jamie’s setback, and joy, at Ryan’s comeback, when watching the fight and he believes that both men have set a standard that other British boxers should try to follow.
“I picked Jamie to win,” said Graham when discussing the contest. “He is a great friend of mine and I’ve known him since I was a kid, in fact I’ve also known Ryan from when he was younger as we both worked on the same Frank Warren cards in the past, but Jamie is from Salford, you know? I really like him, I admire him and he’s really worked hard to get where he is. It is a shame to see him get beaten, but what a fight, what a fight.
“Both men went at it from the opening bell and you have to give Ryan credit for turning his career around. He went through a bad patch and everyone, including me, thought he was finished. Ryan’s rebuilt himself, come back and won a big fight, basically winning it by beating Jamie at his own game!”
Graham was also raised in Salford; he had hoped to watch his fellow Salfordian go all the way to the top of the light-middleweight tree; failing that, Graham would like to see Moore move up in weight in order to pursue world titles at 160lb.
“I do know that Jamie was badly troubled with the weight. He should have moved up quite a while ago but Ryan must struggle to make that weight as well. Ryan’s been at light-middleweight since he was a kid and hats off to him for sticking it out and winning the fight,” he said.
“Jamie’s been in a few of fights like this one. I hope he doesn’t have too many more fights like this, though. It is great for the crowd, and us, but not for Jamie and his general wear-and-tear.”
“Ryan’s tactics didn’t surprise me,” he continued. “The commentary said he had his tactics wrong as he is usually a mover – he’s got great balance and boxing ability – but it would have been a mistake to fight Jamie that way. Jamie loves people who fight him like that.
“Jamie would have walked him down if Ryan had fought a boxing fight - without a shadow of a doubt. I think that he had the perfect tactics given to him by Dave Coldwell, perfect. Ryan conserved his energy, staying close and not giving too much movement, and he stopped Jamie from walking him down and making better use of his body punches. Jamie is in his prime still but Ryan had it bang on. I hope Jamie comes back strong from this.”
Graham had some words of consolation for the 30-year-old southpaw; he believes that Moore’s loss could be a blessing in disguise, as Jamie had squeezed himself down to the 154lb limit one time too many.
“Jamie will be devastated, then again he might be a little bit relieved as he can now move up in weight,” suggested Graham. “There were opportunities that he’d made for himself at light-middleweight and they kept him at the weight for them but he’ll be more comfortable at middleweight.
“Jamie’s had some tough fights, for sure, but he’s not had too many at this point. Let’s face it; he fought a tough man on the night. Jamie is mentally strong, he can come back from this and campaign at middleweight. There is a fantastic fight for him up there with Matthew Macklin. Well, it is fantastic for us fans but not the lads themselves, as it could be another grueller!
“I don’t want to bother Jamie at this time by phoning him but I wish him all the best and I wish Ryan Rhodes all the best as well, to turn his career around like that is really commendable, it is not an easy thing to do. I hope that Jamie comes back a better fighter and gets the world title that his ability deserves.”
Graham also had some words of advice for Amir Khan. Amir has been attracting some headlines lately after claiming that snipes from other British fighters, Carl Froch and John Murray chief amongst them, could force him to relocate to the USA. Graham is a fan of Khan; he picked the Silver medallist to prevail over WBA light-welterweight title-holder Andreas Kotelnik. Graham also believes that Amir is making rapid progress under the watchful gaze of Freddie Roach.
“Amir did the job in his last fight,” enthused Billy. “He is still a work in progress and still a young kid but he beat a seasoned campaigner and beat him well, so what more can you ask of him? The tactics were followed, they were right and, while there may be room for improvement, you have to remember that he’s come back from a bad KO loss to win a world title less than a year later. All the best to Amir and good luck to him, and he will get better.
“Freddie Roach is a great coach, a friend of mine who spent time in my gym with Steve Collins years ago. If anyone is going to bring the best out of Amir it will be Freddie. Amir’s got great sparring over there as well, you can’t beat that.”
So, Graham’s final message is a ‘stay at home’ plea to Amir, and the retired trainer hopes that the rest of the UK will get behind the WBA titleist. “I’m not an Amir Khan knocker,” declared Graham. “He’s a young kid getting to the top and a kid who wants to be at the highest level, and I’ve seen how hard it is to do that – so I don’t agree when people knock him. I am behind Amir all the way.”
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