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“Ricky then took some stick in one of the rounds (the ninth), his head was clear and he had seen it through but Cortez came over and said he wasn't going to let him take any more punches like that. Cortez was outrageous anyway. It was diabolical.
“Then Ricky went down (in the tenth), and you've got to understand that I'm close to all my fighters but I'm really close to Ricky. I've worked with him since he was a kid so it hurt to see him hit like that.
“That left hook, the sound of it was terrible. I know that when someone gets hit that hard it is difficult to come back. It was his courage that got him up and I turned to Kerry (Kayes) and said, “I might have to stop this”.
“Then Ricky goes over to engage again and all I could make out is Ricky's feet. They looked to be tottering but I couldn't see properly until I ran up the stairs with the towel. I couldn't see the referee until I was up (the stairs) because I'm looking at the stairs to get up them. I then threw the towel in. I know they can just throw the towel out over there I was going to step into the ring so the fight would definitely be stopped (on a DQ). As I'm doing this I see Cortez stopping it but the towel was going in anyway so they made it out that the referee stopped the fight and then I threw the towel in…in reality I couldn't see what was going on.
“Why the **** would I throw a towel into a fight that was already stopped. It happened simultaneously and was brought about by the confusion surrounding the fight.”
After the fight itself the feeling between the camps mellowed, the promotion had been sold off its own back and in many senses the pre-fight hyped seemed only to hype Hatton up to a degree that made him more eager than he needed to be. Despite the dominant nature of Floyd's performance that night Graham insists that he did not set out to mislead people pre-fight, he genuinely thought Hatton would win, in fact he still thinks that Hatton would win a rematch between the two.
BG: “I'm not a sore loser. I always say that fighters win fights and trainers help them win them. We are a team and I will take it as well. I hate losing but I'm not a sore loser.
“I was never in any worry about Ricky being able to hunt Floyd down and I still think he did that well. No one can stop Ricky but Floyd is so good at nullifying. Ricky is the best in the business at hunting people down and it started off a dream.
“Ricky kept it simple…I wanted him to work Floyd and make him use his legs. Ricky was slipping into range, putting the jab in, using the screw-shots and he could have done that until Floyd got tired…when Ricky got inside Cortez let Floyd get away with murder. Then Cortez comes into the corner and tells him he is thinking of pulling him out...so Ricky just had to go for it and that is what took him out.
“I honestly think that if they fought again Ricky would beat him. Floyd will give him a rematch. I still think Ricky would beat him and would jump at the chance if they fought again.
“Ricky just lost his way after a few really good rounds and people might say we should have kept it together but I'll tell you what, most fighters would have fallen apart long before Ricky Hatton did, mentally I mean...because of the way he was treated by the referee. Joe Cortez treated him disgustingly and so did the judges. That scoring was diabolical. Cortez should have ignored the ****ing booing (of the US anthem pre-fight). He is a professional. He let Bernard Hopkins hold all night (versus Calzaghe). He was terrible. I'll never shake the man's hand.
“Listening to Emmanuel Steward (on HBO) was bad as well. I thought he was my friend but wow, ****ing hell. I could have had a few things to say about some of his performances over the years but I didn't feel the need to shoot my mouth about his business. ****ing hell he could not get Jermain Taylor to convincingly beat fighters that Jermain should be taking apart. He brought in Vivian Harris against Maussa and Harris was blowing out of his arse after a round. The only reason I mention him is because he tried to crucify me, so **** it, why not?
“The referee? ****ing hell. I was really humble when I spoke to him pre-fight and just wanted a fair shake from him. I thought if anything he may favour us and let us work inside but he wouldn't do **** all apart from take a point away for a punch that didn't hit Floyd. I think he thought, “**** all of you” and carried on regardless. I thought he would give us a fair shake but it turned out that he was ****ing ****. Ricky is only human and it gets frustrating (if the ref frustrates you) in a fight and it leaves you open for a counter. Taking nothing away from Floyd but the referee's performance was a shambles.
“Ricky did everything I asked him to do early only for the referee to be on his case. We soon realised that Floyd was a little bit different and dangerous on the outside but we had prepared for that. Floyd is a great fighter, not as good as Ray Leonard or Thomas Hearns but who is.”
“Then Ricky went down (in the tenth), and you've got to understand that I'm close to all my fighters but I'm really close to Ricky. I've worked with him since he was a kid so it hurt to see him hit like that.
“That left hook, the sound of it was terrible. I know that when someone gets hit that hard it is difficult to come back. It was his courage that got him up and I turned to Kerry (Kayes) and said, “I might have to stop this”.
“Then Ricky goes over to engage again and all I could make out is Ricky's feet. They looked to be tottering but I couldn't see properly until I ran up the stairs with the towel. I couldn't see the referee until I was up (the stairs) because I'm looking at the stairs to get up them. I then threw the towel in. I know they can just throw the towel out over there I was going to step into the ring so the fight would definitely be stopped (on a DQ). As I'm doing this I see Cortez stopping it but the towel was going in anyway so they made it out that the referee stopped the fight and then I threw the towel in…in reality I couldn't see what was going on.
“Why the **** would I throw a towel into a fight that was already stopped. It happened simultaneously and was brought about by the confusion surrounding the fight.”
After the fight itself the feeling between the camps mellowed, the promotion had been sold off its own back and in many senses the pre-fight hyped seemed only to hype Hatton up to a degree that made him more eager than he needed to be. Despite the dominant nature of Floyd's performance that night Graham insists that he did not set out to mislead people pre-fight, he genuinely thought Hatton would win, in fact he still thinks that Hatton would win a rematch between the two.
BG: “I'm not a sore loser. I always say that fighters win fights and trainers help them win them. We are a team and I will take it as well. I hate losing but I'm not a sore loser.
“I was never in any worry about Ricky being able to hunt Floyd down and I still think he did that well. No one can stop Ricky but Floyd is so good at nullifying. Ricky is the best in the business at hunting people down and it started off a dream.
“Ricky kept it simple…I wanted him to work Floyd and make him use his legs. Ricky was slipping into range, putting the jab in, using the screw-shots and he could have done that until Floyd got tired…when Ricky got inside Cortez let Floyd get away with murder. Then Cortez comes into the corner and tells him he is thinking of pulling him out...so Ricky just had to go for it and that is what took him out.
“I honestly think that if they fought again Ricky would beat him. Floyd will give him a rematch. I still think Ricky would beat him and would jump at the chance if they fought again.
“Ricky just lost his way after a few really good rounds and people might say we should have kept it together but I'll tell you what, most fighters would have fallen apart long before Ricky Hatton did, mentally I mean...because of the way he was treated by the referee. Joe Cortez treated him disgustingly and so did the judges. That scoring was diabolical. Cortez should have ignored the ****ing booing (of the US anthem pre-fight). He is a professional. He let Bernard Hopkins hold all night (versus Calzaghe). He was terrible. I'll never shake the man's hand.
“Listening to Emmanuel Steward (on HBO) was bad as well. I thought he was my friend but wow, ****ing hell. I could have had a few things to say about some of his performances over the years but I didn't feel the need to shoot my mouth about his business. ****ing hell he could not get Jermain Taylor to convincingly beat fighters that Jermain should be taking apart. He brought in Vivian Harris against Maussa and Harris was blowing out of his arse after a round. The only reason I mention him is because he tried to crucify me, so **** it, why not?
“The referee? ****ing hell. I was really humble when I spoke to him pre-fight and just wanted a fair shake from him. I thought if anything he may favour us and let us work inside but he wouldn't do **** all apart from take a point away for a punch that didn't hit Floyd. I think he thought, “**** all of you” and carried on regardless. I thought he would give us a fair shake but it turned out that he was ****ing ****. Ricky is only human and it gets frustrating (if the ref frustrates you) in a fight and it leaves you open for a counter. Taking nothing away from Floyd but the referee's performance was a shambles.
“Ricky did everything I asked him to do early only for the referee to be on his case. We soon realised that Floyd was a little bit different and dangerous on the outside but we had prepared for that. Floyd is a great fighter, not as good as Ray Leonard or Thomas Hearns but who is.”
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