Jane Couch MBE has returned to her hometown of Fleetwood, UK, to put it back on the boxing map. It was there where 17-year-old Jack Hatton, the nephew of Ricky and son of Matthew, would pay tribute to his uncle in the best possible way: winning a fight and a title inside a boxing ring as Couch, Ricky’s great friend, and Billy Graham, Ricky’s great trainer, watched on.
Fleetwood is a seaside town, beholden to the sea – the smell of fish, the coastal rain seemingly constant. Yet like many British towns, it encourages boxing as a means and a way to do something, to be different.
On October 26, Couch hosted the NABGC North West (National Association of Boys and Girls Clubs North West finals) at the newly refurbished Fleetwood Gym Amateur Boxing Club. It is an old Victorian building that has been restored in recent years. The poetics of space, however, ensure that it takes you from the new yet traditional entrance to the large, modern-day boxing space inside. The weather that day was seafront style: stormy, unpredictable and as swift and changeable as the personalities you meet in boxing – one day sunny, the next day stormy. Yet you ride the course.
Couch withstood it all to guide us to the venue. The MBE (as she likes to refer to herself in her signature, even to close friends) was asked to host the finals at the gym. She accepted the challenge, but behind the tough exterior is someone who went through a lot to earn her spurs. Couch pioneered women’s boxing in the UK when the British Boxing Board of Control ruled in 1997 that women could not box due to being “too fragile” and the complexities of the menstrual cycle. Couch defeated the ruling and, in the process, legitimized women’s boxing for the generations to come.
Years later came the almost inevitable post-boxing comedown, however. “I didn’t know what to do – I was depressed as fuck,” Couch told BoxingScene when sharing the quintessential British meal of locally sourced fish, chips, peas, gravy and curry sauce. “Boxing has destroyed me and so many other people. Boxing nearly killed me. I had to fight the Board just to fight, but I still want to give something back for the proper people involved in boxing.
“I moved back home because, in Fleetwood, I’m not Jane Couch. I’m just Jane, and I wanted to get Fleetwood boxing going again. We’ve had great support. The place is buzzing, and this event was really important for me.”
One of the first fights of her night was Jack Hatton’s. He earned a win, beating Lucas Aiken in the Class C Final by boxing at range from his southpaw stance. Jack does not fight in what we in Manchester and Salford have called “The Hatton style,” but it was an impressive display nonetheless.
“Jack is best at long range,” said his father, Matthew Hatton. "He boxed well. He's got very long arms but does like to fight. He has won national titles, and we are dead pleased with him. He had a break after Ricky’s death because they were close, so just good to see him back in the ring.”
Couch had moved every muscle to get everyone she knows associated with boxing to witness the show and remember Ricky. “It’s been hard work,” she said. “I didn’t sleep last night because I wanted this to be a showcase for the gym, and for Ricky with Jack boxing. We have had the best come here from everywhere, from Manchester to Liverpool, and everywhere else, and they were impressed with how good we’ve got the gym set-up. It has been a great show, and having Jack Hatton win was a proper tribute to Ricky.”
Couch’s hard work paid off. Billy Graham made a road trip with the beloved fight figure “Big Al” to attend the show. Graham reunited with former friends, met members of the Hatton family and had a chance to talk to Matthew. “It was very emotional,” said Graham, before reflecting on his relationship with Ricky, the former junior welterweight and welterweight world champion.
“Listen, everyone I spoke to at the time said Ricky had no chance against Kostya Tszyu,” Graham went on. “I had one-hundred percent faith in Ricky. I wasn’t some trainer who went from job to job. I could only work with fighters who I loved and respected.”
Jack Hatton’s win was well-deserved, and fighters from the northwest through to the local area will have learned a lot from the event. One female amateur not in the show, Honey Jo, from Bury, was there to support Couch. Jo has been forced to deal with health issues since she was a young child, but boxing helped her to find a new path. She is just one of many who owe a debt of gratitude to Couch.
Her show had been a tremendous success, but Couch wasn’t prepared to take the weight off her feet just yet. Upon the offer of a lift she said, “Don’t be daft, I’ll run home.” And off she ran, with the weather wild and wuthering. And of those conditions, the one and only Billy Graham said it best:
“What did you expect? We’re right next to the fucking sea.”
