By Mark Vester
According to Frank Warren, the former promoter of Ricky Hatton, the rift between trainer Billy Graham and the Hatton camp is nothing new. Warren says the internal problems have been going on for quite some time. Last week it was announced by the Hatton clan that Graham was going to retire and Ricky would seek out a new trainer. Ricky's father, Ray Hatton, said the retirement of Graham was unexpected and left his son upset. Graham would speak out days later and tell the media that he only retired because Ricky fired him.
"Someone's not telling the truth, but then their relationship has always been up and down. When I promoted Hatton, Graham and Ray Hatton were often not speaking to each other, and Billy would frequently ask "What does Ray Hatton know about boxing". Billy used to attend meetings to discuss finances, but in the end both parties had to ask for him to be kept away because it was leading to ridiculous arguments," Warren said.
Warren says that at one point Ray asked him to replace Graham due to the internal bickering.
"Once, things got so bad between Billy and Ray Hatton, that Ray came to me and asked me to find another trainer for Ricky. I was reluctant to do that because it would have meant disrupting Ricky before a fight, and in the end nothing came of it. But that didn't stop Graham confronting me at a press conference, and angrily asking why I wanted to get Ray to have him replaced by Manny Steward," Warren said.
"Apparently Ray Hatton had told him that I was - but when I challenged him to say it to my face, nothing came of it - it was total nonsense. It was no secret that things reached an all-time low in a Las Vegas bar ahead of the Floyd Mayweather fight, when Graham nearly came to blows with Hatton-s agent, ex desk sergeant Paul Speak, in front of the British press."
While Warren doesn't really take sides, he does place some of the blame on Graham for Hatton's well-known drinking issues. He also says that Ray is showing more concern for Graham's health issues than those of his own son.
"And in the end, I think he helped create the drinking culture that Hatton now revels in. Hatton boasts in his book of the aftermath a fight in Germany when the pair were so drunk they could hardly stand up. I remember the trip well, because showing what classy individuals they are, after they had spent all their money on booze , the pair of them ran out of the hotel without paying the bill - and I had to settle their account," Warren said.
"Ray Hatton was quick to claim that Graham is not physically well enough to carry on in the fight game - I just wish he'd show the same concern for his son."
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