The Phoenix is Rising Again: Interview with Hatton, Graham - Part 1

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

When visiting Billy Graham’s Phoenix Gym I am constantly reminded of the scene in The Godfather when Tom Hagen is asked which law firm he represents and he answers that he works for a family firm with a limited, exclusive clientele. A small clientele, when nurtured, can often create massive business. The Phoenix is now home to three boxers at very different stages in their careers overseen by Graham who has enough time to ensure that all his charges are given the full benefit of his experience. [details]

[Galindezs]

Latest Rick Hatton interview ****.. with Bill Graham

The Preacher talks Hatton, Gatti, Mayweather, Collazo, Castillo, Cotto, Corley, Witter and ****..
A good job is exactly what Billy has been doing for years now with a certain Ricky Hatton, despite the maelstrom of criticism surrounding his last win Hatton has picked up a new title, tested the waters in a new division and made his US/HBO debut. Still, people say Collazo had forced Ricky into a tough fight, which in modern boxing means fans demand an immediate, and pointless, rematch. Added to the mix is the fact that Joe Calzaghe beat the previously heralded Jeff Lacy to throw the limelight, at long last it must be said, on himself.

It still remains a fact though that Ricky beat a top-level fighter whilst Calzaghe beat a top-level prospect, a relative novice to the master of Tszyu. Now it was the crucial time of Ricky's career, people want him to fight Mayweather and are getting impatient for the bout yet boxing is based on the smoke and mirrors of matchmaking.

Recently a proposed ‘build a new bank vault' fight with Arturo Gatti had gone up in smoke as Gatti was beaten by the rock-hewn Argentine Carlos Baldomir, and I asked Billy about his thoughts on that.

“The Gatti fight? Well as I say to everybody it is no secret I prefer Ricky to fight at light-welterweight and that Ricky prefers to fight there but we are in a position where people have moved up to welterweight and the big fights the TV company wants are a welterweight and the companies pay the money. So I've got to sit down and talk to Ricky and tell him to go down but we had an incredible offer made to us (by HBO) two days before Gatti fought Baldomir. It was an offer for Hatton versus Gatti and the money was too much for Ricky to turn down, it was retirement money, plus the Mayweather fight was still beyond it and I felt Ricky could have beat Gatti so we was going to go for that one and then Mayweather.”

Still as mentioned there is one place Billy would like Hatton to be. “Ricky is a junior-welterweight and that is where I want him to be for his size and strength, Gatti is a (natural) junior welterweight himself so that fight would have been OK. So when Gatti lost I was devastated to be honest with you. HBO really wanted the fight and were going to pay massive money, more money than we'd ever seen, but we have to deal with it.”

“I enjoyed the fight itself to be honest (Gatti–Baldomir). I fancied Baldomir, I always fancied Baldomir as you know and I thought Gatti had had so many wars and one day it would catch up with him. But Gatti did well, especially in patches, I didn't think it had that much in it at the end but the way Gatti was fighting was taking bits out of him. Obviously Gatti was really competitive but there was no gas in the tank at the end. Gatti has always had indomitable courage and you have to nail him to the floor but when you've been to the well so many times, as Gatti has, well his spirit was broken. I think he probably could have got up and carried on by claiming the guy when he was on the ropes but how many times can you expect a man to show this amount of courage.”

It was sad to see Gatti crash out of boxing on his back. “I hope, and I believe, that he will retire," mused 'The Preacher'. "Gatti has been fantastic for boxing he has made pots of money and has a great reputation wherever he goes and rightly so. He will be sorely missed and I'll miss him.”

At this point I asked Billy if Gatti could be put back together for a final push: “No. No! And if anyone tries to it will be disgusting, anyone who tried to talk Gatti into fighting again will be really wrong and not caring about his interests. Gatti has got to get out now.”

So what next for Ricky? “I don't know if we are going to fight Urkal or not. I've made myself pretty clear before and after the Collazo fight and I'm not going to change on that but I'm not the one getting in the ring, it is a business this thing and Ricky needs money beyond his retirement.

"The real truthful answer is I don't know just yet. We know on what date and where he is fighting but, I'm being totally honest, at this moment at time I don't know who he'll be fighting. Baldomir? I don't think they'd pay as much for that fight as Gatti. Ricky is not a welterweight, he is giving advantage to other people, why give advantage to other people? Ricky Hatton is so good he can still beat them all at welterweight but it is not his proper weight. All I know is that TV companies think all the big fights are at welter. I'll tell you who I'd personally like and that is Castillo at welter. It depends on the money.”

One thing is for sure and that is Team Hatton must fear the Mayweather fight disappearing if Floyd goes up any further in weight in order to fight De La Hoya. “The fight with Mayweather will not disappear; it is the biggest fight in the world. There is no way on this ****ing planet that Oscar will fight Floyd, I don't even know what the **** people are talking about it for. That is just not going to happen.

"Floyd Mayweather isn't a light-middle and he certainly won't fight Winky Wright. The Hatton fight is the one everyone wants to see. We want it and HBO want it. I'd have that fight next if it was up to me. I'd fight Mayweather in December. We want Mayweather, it is just that Gatti and the undisputed title would have been nice in the meantime. The only way the Floyd fight can lose its taste is if either one of them gets beat and we have to make sure that doesn't happen, they have to fight undefeated.

"HBO want that fight, it is the main fight they want now Gatti has gone. I'm sure it will be sorted out; personally I think it could be the time after this fight. That is what I hope and think. If it doesn't happen after this fight it is not because we don't want it to happen.”

Another problem at light-welterweight is the way Cotto seems to be leaving part of himself on the scales with each successive fight. “Cotto won't fight at that weight again. When he is on the scales he looks ill. I think the TV companies and his management are insisting he stays there for the fights they can make. It would be dangerous for Cotto to fight at light-welterweight. If he fought Castillo at welterweight, and Castillo has said he may miss a weight out altogether, I'd go for Cotto. Cotto beats Castillo at welter; if Cotto sticks at light-welterweight for longer any of the lads there could beat him.

"I'm surprised Cotto has gotten away with boiling down in weight; they've got to get him up now for safety reasons because the man is huge and can't do that weight any longer. He'd be a big welterweight to be honest with you. That is the thing, all these guys have moved out of the division because they had to, we didn't have to. We moved up for the title but Ricky can make that weight.”

With Junior Witter soon to fight for the WBC title, plus a long-simmering feud with the Bradford fighter on the backburner, I asked Billy if he expects a lot of noise out of Bradford if Witter wins the title.

“Only from Junior himself because his camp is based in Sheffield and he can't even sell a ticket there! No one is interested in Junior Witter except Junior Witter. Ricky would like to fight Witter just for personal reasons, to give the guy a beating because he hates the guy and the way he has performed over the years (at this point I should note that Team Hatton were not impressed by the dismissive way in which Witter belittled the Hatton win over Tszyu by saying he could have done it quicker. There is still good feeling between the Tszyu and Hatton camps plus a sense of feeling that those comments went too far).

"On the other hand Ricky is loathed to give Junior Witter a payday so if, if, that fight does happen and Junior thinks he is going to get a big payday he is pissing in the ****ing wind. Witter will get what he brings to the table, what did he sell personally for his last fight in Sheffield? Eight ****ing tickets, we'll give him eight tickets worth of wages yeah, that is what I feel about Junior Witter and if they do fight Hatton kills him anyway!”

At this point we discussed the fact Witter looked lethargic in his last two fights, a source close to Witter told me Junior was suffering from the grind of waiting for his title shot yet he had not pressed his claims as hard as he had done in previous bouts.

“Junior Witter is a four-round fighter, dangerous for the first few rounds. Put Junior Witter in a fight and the danger lessens and lessens after every round. He can't fight at a pace; he has never fought a heated fight in his life. The only time he had something resembling a hard, competitive fight was against Lovemore N'dou and he was stressed out in the corner, he was panicking, oh good god!

If he thinks that is a fight wait until he fights Hatton, if he thinks that was hard. He has never been in a hard fight and he will never be able to train, he can't change now, he is dangerous early doors but that is it. I'd seen everything I needed to know when I saw him fight Lovemore N'dou, I've got every fight Witter ever had and that still showed me everything. I know Junior Witter. He is not in our plans at all; we have much bigger fish to fry.”

As for the upcoming title bout Billy sees a win for Witter against the made to measure Corley: “I think he will beat Corley. He doesn't set a pace, it will be a pot-shotting kind of fight, I don't see Corley as a big threat, and I've always said Junior is a good fighter, for a few rounds. I won't underestimate him though. I know what he is, you know what I mean, and I know Witter inside out.”

[Galindezs]

During all of this Ricky had been working out in the background to get himself back into the swing of things. On my first visit to the gym back in May, Ricky had been preparing for the venture into welterweight and the gym had been packed everyday. This time the atmosphere was little more sedate, I spoke to Ricky briefly as he towelled down, we spoke about the inconvenience of mobile phones, he joked about how Billy's Iguana kept alighting on the CD player before commenting that it was hard training in the intense heat of this particular Summers day. We took the conversation onto the fire escape where I asked Ricky about the Collazo fight.

“It was one of the greatest nights of my boxing life really. I topped the bill in the United States, it is a big achievement to top the bill anywhere but in the United States it was brilliant as I ended up doing something all my heroes had done. Also I won a world title at a different weight which I never thought in my wildest dreams was possible, I never imagined being a world champion in my wildest dreams and to win four (titles) at two different weights is probably the best achievement, or one of them, of my boxing career.”

How about the fight itself: “It was a very, very tough fight but I wouldn't change anything for the world really. Those types of fights are such a good type of fight and if you want to go down a storm in America then it certainly helped. I don't need too many more of them (types of fights) but apparently the feedback is that they can't wait for me to go back.”

It was a tough fight that featured a fast start, Hatton put Collazo down early only to find that a big welterweight is made of pretty stern stuff.

“I turned him and I stepped to the side and I don't think he could see where I was coming from and those are the shots that either knock you down or surprise you because you don't see them coming. He put his head down and I skipped to the side and caught him with it (the shot).

I think he came out and stood his ground as if to say ‘I'm the bigger man' and I think he was surprised, with me being the smaller man, how strong I actually was but I did notice the difference in the weight divisions. I don't think he was as strong as me but where I can normally overpower people in the light-welterweight division I don't think I could do that as much at welterweight and I think that showed in the fight. It showed in how tough it was. I don't think I clearly won but I always had my nose in front, I won by a couple of rounds in my view and I think the knock-down made the difference.”

Talk was made, as it always is when a fight goes to the cards these days, about a rematch but I personally saw no cause for it, the fight was close but like Marco Antonio Barrera versus Rocky Juarez there had a been a close, clear winner. “I mean Collazo is a good fighter," Hatton pointed out. "A lot better than people give him credit for and I think over the next few years that you will hear a lot about him, he is a good fighter. You don't go looking for fast, tricky southpaws especially for your first fight at a new weight division. You need three or four fights to build into a weight division and your first fight isn't necessarily against a world champion. Talk about going in at the deep end, but I've done it now and it was tough but I'll see what fight is offered to me next.”

Many of the rematch calls had been supported by the fact that Collazo hurt Ricky in the final round, people wondered what would have happened if that had come sooner or the fight was longer (those famous thirteen round fights that exist in boxing since the denunciation of fifteen rounders): “It wasn't just the last round. He hurt me in several of the rounds. Every punch he actually hit me with he hurt me with because it was a new weight division and because of the extra weight he carried. The extra seven pounds slowed me down that little bit more which consequently had me taking a few more shots. Believe it or not that extra seven pounds makes a difference to your mobility and I feel he was able to catch me with punches I wouldn't normally get caught with. Maybe I'm doing him an injustice though because he is a lot better fight than people give him credit for there are a lot of things that I can say but it would be unfair to say it. He was a good fighter; you are doing him an injustice to say ‘this was wrong, that was wrong'. The top and bottom of it is that he is a very good fighter also.”

Hatton had spent time with Gatti in the past and, of course, that route, a Hatton-Gatti fight, is now closed so I asked Ricky what he thought his future held now Gatti was no longer in the frame. “I want to move down to light-welterweight now but if Gatti would have won it was a big fight and too much to turn down so I would probably have stayed at welterweight for that fight. Now I just have to sit down with my promotional team and see what fight is offered.”

Hopefully Mayweather will be offered sometime down the line but for now Baldomir is the man at welterweight. “Floyd Mayweather is the best fighter in boxing but you have to say Baldomir is the number one at welterweight because he beat the man that beat the man that beat the man. He beat Judah and Gatti so you have got to say Baldomir deserves to be ranked number one at the welterweights right now.”

It is a rich, especially in terms of doing business in England, irony that Junior Witter may yet offer another option at light-welterweight, I again asked if they expected a confrontation to be called for if Witter wins the WBC title.

“Yes, but I'm not too bothered by what Witter says. He said I was avoiding him for years at light-welterweight and that I didn't want to fight this guy and didn't want to fight that guy but what I've done over the last couple of years, well I think he has ended up with egg on his face to be honest over the last couple of years. I did what I said I believed I could do all along and he is the one that said I couldn't but now I have (won titles) he has made himself look a little bit ******.”

“Yes part of me wants to fight him (Witter), especially if he wins that world title because he has shown me such disrespect over the years but part of me thinks 'Why should I fight him and give him the best payday of his career when he has shown me the amount of disrespect he has done?'

"He has got to win the title first, he should beat DeMarcus who is a good top ten fighter but who has never got to that top level. Mayweather beat him comfortably and Cotto beat him comfortably so Junior should beast him but he'll have to improve on his last two performances because he has not been too great in his last two fights. I hope Witter does win because I would like to fight him sooner or later I just don't want to give him that big payday. Even if he wins the title he'll still be fighting in front of two thousand people in Sheffield or whatever so he's not going to be earning a considerable amount of money. The only way he'll earn big money is if he fights me and why should I do that. I just want to fight him though.”

I suppose it is a case of what is referred to as ‘needle' when a fight, and beating a certain fighter, means something to you personally. “Yes. Because I beat Kostya Tszyu and Junior wouldn't beat Kostya Tszyu. Then I beat Carlos Maussa and won a title in a new division plus topped the bill in America. He was saying I won't fight anyone but in the last two years the difference in class is worlds apart. That is why it has all gone a little bit quiet; the mouthiness has stopped a little bit now. He can't say what he was saying without making himself look a little bit silly but if he wins that title I expect it to start again.

"I'll be cheering him on when he fights for that title because it is an option to choose, I'd love to fight him, love to fight him. I'll sit down with Billy and my team. You know, Billy has the same opinion as me, he says ‘**** him!' and my promoters might say well ‘We don't need him'. HBO pays the most money and if I fight Witter I just think he'll run away from me all night making it a bad fight and also he is not really known to the American people. That is one of the reasons why I had to vacate my light-welterweight titles because the main contenders were a Frenchman and an Australian that no one had heard of and HBO and the US public didn't want the fight. The same thing might go for Junior Witter.”

[DiegoFuego]

Wow, that interview makes Hatton look pretty weak. I'm a Hatton fan and all, but by the sound of it, he has no reason not to face Witter if Witter wins that vacant belt him and Corley are fighting for. He has no reason not to fight Mayweather next, and I thought it was real bad how they kept talking about how they wanted Gatti. Witter, Mayweather, Baldomir, Castillo, or Cotto, but don't go calling out Gatti. Now that Gatti lost, Hatton simply has to fight one of those guys and not Urkal. Ricky is wasting precious time and really has no reason for it.

[BigSlick]

Hatton doesnt want it with any of those guys, he wants to get that easy payday with Gatti.

[Smashing]

yeah i agree Hatton is flaffing about...he is one of my favourite fighters..but whenever i read an interview i get a sense of no definate plans...its all bollocks..

[monkeyboy]

I don't know what interview you guys are reading but when I read this it's an interview with a brutally honest man. There's no 'Yeah, I'd kill him... better than Leonard' bull****. As to future plans, I read on the main page (cause I don't really follow Hatton that much) that there is talk of Castillo and him matching on HBO.
If Mayweather took on Gatti for an easy payday (and noone but a white supremicist or an Italian American would argue that it was even going to be close) then why is it a bad thing for Hatton?
I agree that it's an easier fight than some but when the huge HBO $$$ is there and it's on a plate (ie you're not chasing it and turning down other fights just for a chance at it) then you take it with a smile.

Diegofuego, the Hatton camp seem to be saying that they are sad but that the Gatti fight is out. That's not calling Gatti out.
From this interview alone it sounds like he is discussing Cotto, Castillo and Mayweather as possibilities. He doesn't seem too enthused about Otkay Urkal.

Disclaimer: Not a Hatton nuthugger. Enjoys him as an oldskool throwback fighter. Just fed up with the derogatory statements thrown at Hatton, Mayweather and others without justification.

[iron mike tyson]

theres no point int ricky outlawing hes own ambititions because with ray hatton as hes manager there changing all the time and i dont think he wants to disapoint hes fans by saying yah i want the mayweather fight now and then a few days later ray hatton gos on record saying the wants a few more fights which has happend b4

[moochi]

theres no point int ricky outlawing hes own ambititions because with ray hatton as hes manager there changing all the time and i dont think he wants to disapoint hes fans by saying yah i want the mayweather fight now and then a few days later ray hatton gos on record saying the wants a few more fights which has happend b4

well the thing i am amazed about is that he says he isn't going to fight at welterweight....so why in the fk are they still talking about oktay urkal??...

[Kball15]

idk what u guys were reading, but he said multiple times that he wants to fight witter sooner or later, and that he really needs that fight. He just doesnt want to give the prick a big payday. sensible, but he says he'll still fight him.

Castillo is the biggest fight that comes to mind for hatton. that would be PPV, so would hatton get a bigger payday with castillo then with gatti??






One last question:
Did they already place a suspension against castillo? cause if that doesnt happen wouldnt the castillo fight have a good chance of happening in december???? Billy said that he isnt sure that they are gonna fight urkal yet. are their other plans on their minds???