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Hatton and Graham to split?
Ricky Hatton admits he is pondering his future with his trainer after brother Matthew's decision to quit the Phoenix Camp.
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Comments
Simon Halliday says...
Billy Graham is the best trainer for Ricky Hatton he knows him inside out and knows his strenths and weaknesses, the problem people seem to forget is that Billy Graham has done everything right with Hatton and even if Hatton would have changed his trainer after tzyu he still would have got beat by mayweather who as much as people dislike was technically the best fighter on the planet and has a style which would beat Hatton again if they were to fight. in ref to Mathew he is a good fighter but not in the same league as his brother and thats not down to Billy Graham its down to the fighter on the night.
Posted 12:53 15th July 2008
Marc Mason says...
I still think Ricky is looking to fight Mayweather if the split rumours are true. Hes got one eye on that final swansong and knows he needs to sure up his defence and integrate some sort of counter punch at minimum to beat floyd and Graham just cant provide that service. I love them both to bits and they have been very successful together but you need more to out point Mayweather, Ricky knows this.
Posted 12:47 15th July 2008
Wayne Mccann says...
Just because Matthew has left the camp why should Ricky? Matthew only gets the big shows because of who his brother is. Ricky should stick with Billy on the basis of his record. 1 defeat to the best pound 4 pound fighter in the world. Billy must be good at something!!!!!! Billy Graham should be given the credit he deserves from everyone because without Billy there would not be Ricky Hatton. Ricky to knock MAGIC MAN out in 6 rounds. Malignaggi a good boxer but punching power is non existent. Cone on Ricky stick with the Phoenix camp.
Posted 12:38 15th July 2008
Kam De says...
At first glance I was kind of shocked to hear about hatton possibly changing trainers and after all that Billy has done for him. But I do agree with the comment above me, that it is true Ricky gets hit WAY to often always taking to many brutal headshots in recent fights, unfortunately Mayweather's camp was right in the floyd ricky fight that hatton did look one dimensional and a club fighter with such a gem of British Boxing such as Ricky who won't truly be appreciated until a long time after he has retired hatton needs a trainer who can bring the best out of him in the years he has left he is not 23 any more!
Posted 11:39 15th July 2008
Gordon Taylor says...
totally agree ricky you need to split your gettin older your walk forward approach wont work anymore new trainer new ideas floyd beware
Posted 11:37 15th July 2008
Mark Durham says...
Hatton is all washed up and was lucky to get through against Lazcano. He was dead on his feet mid way through the fight but his heart carried him. That's dangerous! Luckily Malignanni's performance that night provided no real fear for this coming contest. Hatton should call it a day before he takes some real punishment and ruins his legacy. After dinner speeches, stand-up routines, the well known binge eating and drinking between bouts: it's all caught up with Ricky and I suspect Billy Graham is spelling this out and he doesn't like it. He needs some solid advise around him. Not just chasing $s and becoming a media stooge. Good luck though - the Tszyu fight will always be remembered.
Posted 11:28 15th July 2008
Richard Allen says...
I think its a bit late in the day to start changing the trainer. I think Hatton should think about calling it a day. I aways doubted the the way Hatton trained a very big target srapped to his trainer "not exactly hard to miss" steam forward and try and bulldoz ever fighter with wide hooks is not going to work all the time its going to get harder and harder the older you get .Thats not to say Grahams not done a great job how many other trainers would have worked with sush an undisaplined fighter geting him down from 13st ever time he fights it must really frustrate Graham at times.How srong would he had been if didnt let this happen to him self? And as for Mattew I never rated he ability no matter how good the trainer I think he would have still lost to Watson.
Posted 11:26 15th July 2008
Michael Kwelele says...
Billy Graham is still the right trainer for Hatton. Getting a new trainer will not add new skills to Hatton boxing skills because Hatton is a one dimensional fighter. Hatton should stick with Billy and not come up with any excuses because Billy brought out the best in him.
Posted 11:03 15th July 2008
Sam Cockerham says...
Graham appears to be growing dramatically older with each fight. Hatton needs to freshen things up, his defence needs to improve and we need to see some more head movement from the Hitman. Graham's tactics of using your face as your first line of defence just isn't working as we saw when Lazcano rocked to his boots twice. Lee Beard i believe would bring a certain freshness back to Ricky's work.
Posted 10:55 15th July 2008
Stuart Bannerman says...
A change of trainer does every Boxer good, it helps them learn new styles, throw different combinations, create different fight tactics, etc... However, I feel Hatton has left this a little too late in his career. Billy Graham has been fantastic for Ricky Hatton, no question about that, but I think his style has become predictable and one dimensional under his current trainer. Hatton's biggest victory was that over Tszyu, and he did it by getting up close and was always in his opponents face. Since this fight though, Hatton hasn't really used his Boxing skills ebough, he has treated every fighter as though they are also Kostya Tsyu. Hatton has the skills, he just needs to start using them again. He has always been an aggressive and busy fighter, but he now seems to open to counters due to his lack of head movement. HE seems to no longer care about getting hit. A new trainer can help sort this problem. Sadly though, I think it will take longer than a 6 week training camp for Hatton to adapt to a new style of fighting. It takes time to fully adjust, and time is something Ricky is running out of now as he said he only has 2 fights left. If he was going to change trainers, it should have been done 2/3 fights ago
Posted 10:50 15th July 2008
Ryan Fardon says...
About time, i think Billy Grahram is a good coach and has taken Ricky as far as he can. Fact is his defensive skills have been poor and it's to easy to predict what is coming from Ricky. No head movement, no defence, stuggles in the later rounds! Get a top trainer in from the states, there's plenty to choose from out there. I would keep the new boy on the team who works on Ricky's speed & different combos! Finish on a high Ricky were still hoping for a re-match with Mayweather, cause he will come out of retirement!
Posted 10:25 15th July 2008
Paul Ross says...
Very strange that they are splitting after all this time together, when there is only 2 more fights to go until Hatton retires, maybe Graham knows no matter what he does in training that Hatton is going to get beat against Malignaggi and whoever he fights from now, unless its another blown up past his best bum........
Posted 09:52 15th July 2008
Barrie Lee says...
I hope Ricky stays with Billy Graham as look what they have achieved together! Also the loss to Mayweather would have happened no matter who was in his corner as he was caught up with the hype! I hope Ricky makes the decision on what he thinks is best and i wish him all the luck as he is a great ambassador for the sport!!
Posted 09:49 15th July 2008
Simon Nicholson says...
Billy Graham has work wonders with Hatton but it is time for a change! Hatton can't just walk forward an throw punches no more! The head movement has all gone an he is becoming easy to hit! He will always keep wot Billy taught him but a new trainer will add something fresh to Rickys boxing skills!
Posted 09:28 15th July 2008
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