By Terence Dooley
Manchester’s Matthew Hatton looks to consolidate his position in the world welterweight rankings when defending his European title against Yuriy Nuzhnenko at the Bolton Arena on Friday night. ‘Magic’ won the vacant belt by defeating Italy’s experienced warhorse Gianluca Branco in Dagenham back in March. It was Hatton’s second fight under new trainer Bob Shannon. Their first fight together, a fifth round TKO over Mikheil Khutsishvili, saw Shannon step in at late notice when Matthew’s previous trainer, Lee Beard, decided to travel to the USA to work with Juan Guzman.
Shannon is a well-known figure in the local fight community; Hatton saw Bob’s work up-close as the trainer works out of the state of the art Hatton gym in Hyde. “I’d worked with Bob previously,” explained Matthew when explaining how his decision to join Shannon.
“Lee Beard, who was training me at the time, was over in America working with Tim Coleman. I was in the gym and getting back into my training, Bob was training there in the afternoon with his lads so rather than training on my own I did a little bit with Bob. I enjoyed working with Bob so when the split happened it was natural move.
“I’ve worked with other coaches in the area so know what I was looking at, people might think it was a convenience thing because Bob was in our gym but I knew he is a very good trainer and needed someone for the fight in Stoke against Khutsishvili. We only had a few weeks for that fight but I enjoyed it and was learning new things.”
The plan was to then have a full camp with Bob so that fighter and trainer could gel properly only for the Branco opportunity to fall into their lap, leaving the new team with no choice but to forge a bond in the pressure cooker environment of a European title fight.
“That fight was short notice, two-and-a-half weeks, so, again, it was a short training camp but I learned some more new things. I think that this longer training camp will let Bob do a lot more new things with me and you’ll see a big improvement again in this fight,” stressed the 39-4-2 (15) fighter.
“People always spoke to me about Bob’s conditioning, I’m a fit fighter anyway – people have said negative things about me but there have never been complaints over my fitness – but Bob pushed me really hard and has taken it to another level.”
Shannon’s training drills are legendary, as are those epic Sunday morning runs in the Glossop hills; Hatton placed his faith in Shannon’s techniques and is already reaping the dividends.
“I was a bit dubious (about the hill runs), it was new to me, but I’ve done two or three of them and I can feel the extra fitness. We’ve had time for this fight and I’ll have a good long training camp under my belt. It is hard work but I’m feeling the benefit,” beamed Hatton, who feels that his fight for fistic respect was given a huge boost by the win over Branco.
“Oh yeah, definitely”, he said when asked if he had stolen a march on his domestic rivals, “I’m the European champion now and consider myself the best welterweight in Europe, Britain is included in Europe so I see myself as the best in Britain. Branco held the EBU title twelve months ago so I think I’ve passed some of the domestic fighters. I’d like to fight for the domestic belt sometime but Nuzhnenko is the former WBA interim champion, if I can get past him then I’ll be ready for the big boys, this guy has only lost to the undefeated Vyacheslav Senchenko for the proper WBA title.
“People go on about a few of the domestic fighters out there but my opposition of late, Lovemore, a former world champion, and Branco, a former European holder and world title challenger, is better than some of the opposition the other British fighters have been facing. I’m beating a good calibre of opponent and can continue that run in this fight. I believe I’m on the fringes of world class now, a win over Nuzhnenko can push me into world class.”
Indeed, Matthew feels that he has improved immeasurably in recent years, claiming that people base their judgements on the fighter he once was rather than taking into account the hard work and dedication he has shown to become the fighter he is today.
“I think a lot of criticism is down the fact that people can’t get out off their heads the fighter I used to be early in my career. I watch some of my early fights and I really do cringe when watching them,” admitted Hatton.
“I’m a completely different fighter. I know where people are coming from when they base their criticisms on my early fights but you have to look at my recent fights, I’ve beaten Ted Bami, Ben Tackie, Lovemore N’dou and Branco very comfortably - I wouldn’t like to say I won the Branco one easily, but I was very comfortable in that fight.
“I always knew I was capable of this and that is why I used to get very frustrated with my early career – I’d watch the fights back knowing I wasn’t performing like I knew I could. Now I’m getting the coaching and showing my best form, coming into my peak at the right time.”
Matthew always felt that he had a lot of untapped potential, pointing to evenly contested sparring sessions with some top-class fighters, including his brother, Ricky, as proof of this latent talent.
“I’ve been very lucky; I’ve boxed on big bills in Las Vegas and sparred a lot of world class fighters like Steve Forbes, as well as Ricky. That improved my confidence and it is really showing through now,” declared the Hyde-based boxer.
Nuzhnenko is 33 with a 30-1-1 (14) record, he is on a run of two wins since his sole reverse, Hatton feels that a win over the two-time Ukrainian national amateur champion will cement his status as boxing’s most-improved fighter as well as establishing his world title credentials.
“I’ve got a big incentive for this fight; I’ve got a young family to support and a mortgage, like most people. People sometimes forget that this isn’t Ricky Hatton this is Matthew Hatton and I have to pay my bills like everyone else. I am looking for the big fights and big titles,” concluded Hatton.
Shannon is enjoying a wonderful 2010, the veteran trainer has already notched up two champions in Matthew Hatton, the European welterweight boss, and Denton Vassell, the Commonwealth kingpin at 147lb. Bob is eager to successfully guide Matthew through his maiden EBU title defence and the respected coach feels that Hatton is really coming into his own.
“I think Matt is doing well,” said Shannon when speaking about the 29-year-old’s pre-fight prep. “I’ve got over eight weeks with him for this fight so we’ve been doing intense strength work and flexibility work. Matt has always had fast hands but his footwork didn’t always go with his hands – I’ve been working on that. Matt is a really worthy European champion.”
He continued: “His mobility and movement came together in the last fight, he made [Gianluca] Branco miss and frustrated him. It was a great performance and a sign of Matthew’s commitment. Matt has got the confidence now; he had bad luck in the Lovemore [N’dou] fight but has turned the corner. This is a really tough fight, this kid is a tough opponent who is one of the best in the world, this will be a defining fight for Matt, he can go for a world title after this.”
Indeed, Shannon feels that ‘Magic’ is one of Britain’s most-improved fighters and that the boxer is flourishing under the promotional guidance of older brother Ricky. “Fans have overlooked Matt and he was in the shadow or his brother, Richard, but now Richard is not boxing, Matt has had a chance to strike out on his own and is really proving himself,” declared Shannon.
“A lot of British fighters have swerved Matthew, they know the ability he has got and lately you are seeing glimpses of Ricky in him with those movements and turns. Ricky had natural ability and movement and that is coming into Matthew’s game – it will take him to the next level.”
Boxing is cyclical; success comes in waves and can often be followed by a fallow period. Shannon had his first cycle of success when guiding Wayne Rigby to the WBF light-welterweight title in 2001 and, later, had great times with Andy Morris, Bob guided ‘The Wythenshawe Warrior’ to the British 126lb title, Ali Nuumbembe, a Commonwealth welterweight titleist, Kevin Anderson, who defended the British welterweight title under Bob, and David Barnes, who grabbed the British light-welterweight title win a points win over Barry Morrison before losing his belt due to inactivity. As the titles, and fighters, came and went, Bob persevered, working on the next crop of champions, a crop that recently returned its first fruits after Vassell’s Commonwealth title win over Lee Purdy in April.
Denton, however, had a slight hiccup in seventh round in the form of a solid right hand from Purdy at the end of the round, the Colchester man exploiting Vassell’s decision to switch to southpaw during the final stages of the stanza. Vassell was given a dressing down in the corner; he then boxed his way through the rest of the fight.
“It was his first twelve rounder so he wanted to mix things in the seventh and learned from experience that, unless told, you don’t go southpaw,” blasted Shannon. “That showed us that he has a great chin and heart as Purdy must have been thinking it was a formality after landing that shot. Denton came through a really gruelling fight.
“I knew he was Ok, though. It looked worse than it was. I looked into his eyes; he nodded and said he was Ok so I told him not to do that (turn southpaw) again. I asked him if he was Ok again and he kissed me on the nose and said the fight was his. I knew straightway that he had recovered. My heart and soul is in the safety of my fighters so I would have pulled him out if he was really hurt, everyone knows that.”
Vassell’s win built on the promise of Matthew’s EBU victory; Shannon is now amongst the titles again, proof that patience is rewarded in the sport of boxing.
“This is a hard game, you have ups and downs, it is like a yoyo, but I knew I had champions like Denton on my hands. You have to be patient and I have loads of patience. Things have turned around again. I want to stay at the top-level because I think it is where I belong,” admitted Shannon, who feels that he is benefiting from Ricky Hatton’s support.
“Working with Team Hatton is great. I had an opportunity to go to their gym and that opened doors for me. Ricky got to see my qualities and quietly said that if he fought again I’d be his trainer, which is a great compliment for me, what a recommendation. Matthew has shown great faith in me as well.
“I have put my head in the sand a lot in the past, what I mean by that is that I’ve been here at my own gym for all these years. I don’t go to a lot of shows, I don’t go on websites and I am quite a private person who spends a lot of time and effort in the gym with his lads. Maybe I didn’t market myself and put myself about enough. Ricky called me the ‘secret of boxing’ as he’d heard about me but other people hadn’t seen how good I was. Ricky has opened doors for me and I’m really pleased with it all.”
“I work a full day as a decorator in the daytime, working alone from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon, and then come to the gym and put a lot into it here. I am getting a bit of recognition now and it feels good to see my name up there after all this time,” revealed Shannon.
Hatton, the former undisputed light-welterweight champion of the world, recently revealed that Shannon would be his head trainer should he decide to fight on, which is looking increasingly unlikely as time ticks by. Still, Ricky’s endorsement is a huge display of faith in Bob’s abilities as a trainer.
“I look at it as a great compliment as the greatest trainers in the world contact Ricky. I would love to train Ricky. I say to him, ‘If you can handle my training then you can handle a fight’. If he cannot handle the training then that would be that. Ricky knows this and knows more about his own body and boxing than almost anyone else in the sport,” he said.
“If he can get through the runs and the endurance pad sessions then he can come back and get back into the wins. It is going to take a lot of strength from him to come back but I would be there for him throughout the training. Everyone wants to see him get a win again because he deserves it for all he’s done for British boxing.”
Sky Sports 1 and HD1 televise Hatton-Nuzhnenko from 10pm Friday.
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