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Hatton v Warren
By Ben Dirs
If you earn a living hitting people hard and getting hit hard back, you want to make sure you get paid as much money as possible.
Loyalty can come into it, but it generally counts for nothing when one person can offer you more than another for risking your life in the ring.
That is why it is easy to understand why Ricky Hatton might want to leave Frank Warren to join a top American promoter.
First and foremost, a promoter's job is to make his fighter maximum cash for minimum pain and, if the fighter is good enough, the promoter's next job is to deliver title shots.
Warren has done both for Hatton and presumably been handsomely paid for his efforts.
But just as it is the promoter's prerogative to end the relationship if a fighter is not making him money, it is the fighter's prerogative to walk if more readies are on offer elsewhere.
"I told Frank that we would love to finish Ricky's career with him if there was a level playing field," Hatton's father and adviser Ray told BBC Sport.
"But I was also open with him and told him we were considering our options. I asked him if he could get close to the figures that others had offered."
And the answer, apparently, was "no".
That's boxing, baby. A hard-nosed and unromantic business - despite what countless movies and books on the sport would have you believe.
Just ask Welsh fighter Jamie Arthur, a former Commonwealth Games champion who was laid off by Warren recently following two defeats in quick succession.
That said, it is easy to feel sympathy for Warren.
"I've done a magnificent job for Ricky outside the ring and delivered him everything I said I'd do," Warren told BBC Sport.
"He fought Kostya Tszyu in his home town [Manchester] when it was very difficult to get the fight on over here.
"I took a risk. But he took a far bigger risk getting in the ring and winning the title."
And there's the rub. Hatton does not kick or hit a ball around - he puts his life on the line in the name of sport and to call him greedy would be a little naive.
The tragedy for British boxing is that Hatton was on the verge of becoming a household name.
He was one of the principle reasons ITV decided to take another punt on the sport. But its exclusive deal with Warren's Sports Network organisation means Hatton is likely to be lost to the masses once more.
But Hatton has long spoken of wanting to make a name for himself in America, specifically at New York's Madison Square Garden.
And there is also the question of whether the big names Hatton is chasing would fancy fighting in Manchester after seeing what happened to Tszyu.
Floyd Mayweather, the WBC champion, even suggested he would want $20m to fight in Hatton's backyard - which is as good as saying he doesn't want the fight in Britain at all.
As for Hatton's fans, 22,000 of whom squeezed into the MEN Arena to see their hero vanquish Tszyu, they will have their loyalty tested if he decides to go on the road.
But as Mickey Duff, Warren's predecessor as Britain's pre-eminent boxing promoter, once said: "If you want loyalty, get a dog."
By Ben Dirs
If you earn a living hitting people hard and getting hit hard back, you want to make sure you get paid as much money as possible.
Loyalty can come into it, but it generally counts for nothing when one person can offer you more than another for risking your life in the ring.
That is why it is easy to understand why Ricky Hatton might want to leave Frank Warren to join a top American promoter.
First and foremost, a promoter's job is to make his fighter maximum cash for minimum pain and, if the fighter is good enough, the promoter's next job is to deliver title shots.
Warren has done both for Hatton and presumably been handsomely paid for his efforts.
But just as it is the promoter's prerogative to end the relationship if a fighter is not making him money, it is the fighter's prerogative to walk if more readies are on offer elsewhere.
"I told Frank that we would love to finish Ricky's career with him if there was a level playing field," Hatton's father and adviser Ray told BBC Sport.
"But I was also open with him and told him we were considering our options. I asked him if he could get close to the figures that others had offered."
And the answer, apparently, was "no".
That's boxing, baby. A hard-nosed and unromantic business - despite what countless movies and books on the sport would have you believe.
Just ask Welsh fighter Jamie Arthur, a former Commonwealth Games champion who was laid off by Warren recently following two defeats in quick succession.
That said, it is easy to feel sympathy for Warren.
"I've done a magnificent job for Ricky outside the ring and delivered him everything I said I'd do," Warren told BBC Sport.
"He fought Kostya Tszyu in his home town [Manchester] when it was very difficult to get the fight on over here.
"I took a risk. But he took a far bigger risk getting in the ring and winning the title."
And there's the rub. Hatton does not kick or hit a ball around - he puts his life on the line in the name of sport and to call him greedy would be a little naive.
The tragedy for British boxing is that Hatton was on the verge of becoming a household name.
He was one of the principle reasons ITV decided to take another punt on the sport. But its exclusive deal with Warren's Sports Network organisation means Hatton is likely to be lost to the masses once more.
But Hatton has long spoken of wanting to make a name for himself in America, specifically at New York's Madison Square Garden.
And there is also the question of whether the big names Hatton is chasing would fancy fighting in Manchester after seeing what happened to Tszyu.
Floyd Mayweather, the WBC champion, even suggested he would want $20m to fight in Hatton's backyard - which is as good as saying he doesn't want the fight in Britain at all.
As for Hatton's fans, 22,000 of whom squeezed into the MEN Arena to see their hero vanquish Tszyu, they will have their loyalty tested if he decides to go on the road.
But as Mickey Duff, Warren's predecessor as Britain's pre-eminent boxing promoter, once said: "If you want loyalty, get a dog."
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