Thoughts of a Preacher Man (Part II) by Terry Dooley Dec 7th 2007

BBN spent a considerable amount of time with Billy Graham ahead of the Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather fight. Despite the confidence of Graham's talk it is underpinned by a complete understanding of the task his charge faces in fighting Floyd. Graham feels strongly that Floyd's power is a very underrated piece of the slick boxer's makeup: BG: “Floyd has a lot in his armoury. We never leave anything to chance. We will be prepared for however Floyd is going to play it, even if he stands with Ricky. “Both fighters are in their prime, it is quite rare. If anyone is going to be shocked (by the power of the other) it is Floyd because I've told Ricky to expect Floyd to hit hard…harder than people think…Floyd can hit. I'm not sure that Floyd is even going to run that much. I think he'll stand and have a go early and Ricky is prepared for that. We are prepared for him if he runs and if he comes. “Floyd is a real sharp puncher…(he has) fast hands and some meat on his shots when he sits down. He'll never be found wanting under fire. Floyd will be everything he is supposed to be. I'd be stupid to underestimate him…but if they underestimate Ricky then they'd be stupid.” You do not win as many titles as Floyd has by mistake. His skills are a big help but there is also grit in Floyd, this cannot be underestimated, and is not underestimated, by Graham: BG: “Floyd is mentally tough. It is a wicked style match. We know what we've got to do.” Watching the fight tapes of Floyd in action has been Graham's extra curricular activity of choice over the past few years. One fight in particular, the close 1st fight between Mayweather and Castillo, is seen as the blueprint for beating Floyd: BG: “I get a lot of inspiration from that fight. I know Floyd's weaknesses but I don't take them all from that fight, or any one fight. I'd have grave concerns if I were going in against Floyd without a world-class fighter, as Floyd would outclass him easily. He does it constantly with the lower guys but Ricky is not one of those guys. “Forget what they've got in their corner. I know what I've got in my corner. Ricky Hatton is a world-class talent so the things Floyd has shown, against lesser fighters, that have frightened me don't frighten me when I think of Ricky being in there with him. It is all relative to the other fighter but (the) Castillo (fight) shows me a lot. “I've watched countless hours of Floyd fighting. I'll get more DVDs over there (in Vegas) as well and keep on watching him. I've watched him from the start. He is fantastic, but he is beatable. I think Ricky Hatton is destined to beat him.” One thing that stood out when listening to Floyd's interviews were his references to how badly Hatton was hurt by right hands thrown by southpaws Eamon Magee and Luis Collazo; Floyd can fight in the southpaw stance, did in fact at times, with mixed results, against Castillo in the 1st bout: BG: “Floyd can do that (fight southpaw), and do it well, but he cannot do it for any long period of time because he is not a southpaw. It is not natural to him. Collazo and Magee were southpaws and Floyd is taking about a fight, Magee, that was years ago, and, in terms of what Ricky can do now, is light years away.” Another aspect of the fight is the possibility that we might see Hatton using clinches to negate Floyd. Graham bristles at the negative connotations of the word ‘clinch' preferring instead to think that his fighter works on the inside. Graham differs with those who think Hatton is more John Ruiz than Roberto Duran: BG: “Well I wish they would say that (Hatton grapples like Ruiz) to me when I get to the States because I'll tell them they don't know fuck all about boxing and should talk about a different sport. If you can come out with shite like that after watching Ricky Hatton you must be brain dead. “I don't know what they fucking see when they look at Ricky and they always bring Urango into it. We had to make the best of a difficult situation so why not praise that fact? “People say ‘why was Billy giving Ricky this advice', I'll answer that, again…if I hadn't given him that advice he might have fucking lost. “These people can say this and that and call themselves experts but it just shows that they are full of shit if they base their thoughts on Urango. I explained that to you…but I'm sick of explaining it to other people. He has never done it that excessively before or since but if he has too, and it is the right tactic, we'll do that. Ricky can adapt. It is ludicrous to compare Ruiz and Ricky. “Ricky fought one of those really smart fights when he beat Urango. They say Floyd can adapt but Ricky can…just in a different style.” If inside work is going to be a factor Graham will be grateful that the referee for the fight is going to Joe Cortez, who is ‘fair but firm', and not Jay Nady, who is fairly firm on any fighter visiting US shores: BG: “Fucking hell yes…I worry about the referee spoiling the fight. I worry about everything though. I expect they will be fair and give us a fair shake in the USA, of course they will. That is the way it goes. Let both men fight their fights. You've got the two greatest fighters on the planet. Just let them get on with it. “I think it is (going to be) Joe Cortez, a good referee. We'll have a world-class referee who will allow each guy a fair shake and will allow the in-fighting and won't be scared if he sees blood. The Americans treat us with respect. They treat you well.” So far it has all been what Ricky can do to counter Floyd yet the possibility is that Hatton will be unable to deal with Floyd. Given his weaker skin tissue Hatton could be cut to shreds by the sharp punching of Floyd. What, then, is the plan if this is the case: BG: “It is a case of doing what Ricky always does when he gets cut…fight as if the cut wasn't there. If you get cut in the last round, and you are in front, you stay out of the way of your opponent. Get cut early and you cannot let the cut interfere with your fight…if he gets cut he will fight his fight.” To counterbalance this flaw on the side of Hatton there is, on the other hand, the question mark over Floyd's hands. Graham, whilst not wanting to accuse Floyd of mind games, is sceptical about just how bad Floyd's hands are: BG: “It is strange. You talk about his bad hands. I've spent a lifetime weighing fighters up. I look at their hands and I can tell when they have really damaged hands, you see the ridges and that…I can't see anything like that on Floyd's hands. I'm a bit sceptical about how bad his hands really are. Put it this way I hope his hands are as bad as mine! What a bonus that would be.” There is also the possibility that Hatton could come out wild on the night: BG: “Walking in wild would be a mistake. Sticking his (Ricky's) chin in the air and leaving it open for a shot would be a mistake. He has to be smart. He has to see how Floyd wants to play this. That is what dictates what Ricky will do.” Again, with that said, is there a possibility that Ricky spends a frustrating 12-rounds following Floyd around unsuccessfully a la Carlos Baldomir: BG: “I have heard a lot of reporters saying that Floyd has said he is going to do exactly what he did to Baldomir and Ricky won't win a round. Some reporter wrote that (Hatton not winning a round) would happen. I'd love to meet that reporter personally and ask if he gets paid for this shit. Do they really get paid for writing this bollocks? If he wrote for me I'd sack him. Ricky Hatton and Baldomir are not the same type of fighter.” Baldomir is a big guy and Floyd did the right thing in making him miss, yet Vernon Forrest has subsequently shown, in beating Baldomir, that you can use less movement and lay a bigger beating on Baldomir: BG: “I didn't see that fight but I heard Forrest did a job on him…gave him positive movement. If Floyd boxes that negative type of fight against Ricky Hatton he'll find that Ricky won't allow him to do it. Ricky will bring the best out of Floyd…Floyd will show us something in this fight.” That something, in the opinion of Graham, will be his skill, his talent, his speed and, lest we forget, his toughness: BG: “Absolutely, Floyd is a man…but Ricky will have too much for him. Ricky is intense, the ferocity is there and the variety on his punches is there. “Sugar Ray Leonard had even more advantages than Floyd has but (Roberto) Duran found him and I actually think Leonard is better than Floyd. Floyd is an all-time great but he is not as good as Ray Leonard. “I came to the conclusion yesterday that Floyd has changed as he has gone through the weights. The combinations are gone.” Graham also feels that Floyd's recently preferred method of victory, a points win, is not going to happen in this fight: BG: “I cannot see Floyd out-pointing Ricky. I really don't think he can do it. He has to win inside the distance.” That would indicate that Graham feels that a points win for Hatton is the likely scenario. That was certainly used to be the case but, since starting work on this fight, Graham's opinion has shifted somewhat: BG: “For years I've thought about this fight and could always see Ricky grinding out a points decision win but the closer it gets, and the more I see from Ricky, the more I think that we could stop him. If we find his ribcage with any regularity we will stop him. You cannot cover-up everywhere on your body. He does a good job of covering up and if anyone can block all the shots it would be Floyd but it is not possible. “Ricky can do really bad damage with the single body shots. He doesn't need to be whacking away at your body all the time. He does that anyway…but it is the single (shots) that cripple you.” For this fight, as was the case with the Tszyu bout in particular, Graham is also aware that he is taking on a trainer, Roger Mayweather, who has had great success. I asked him for his thoughts on Roger: BG: “I don't know. I'm not going to say anything derogatory about Roger Mayweather. We both know that he was a really good fighter and he is a successful trainer. You cannot knock success. All I can say is that I've got belief and confidence in myself and I love it when there is a top trainer in the other corner. I prefer that. “As the weeks go by I found out more about Roger and have seen him in the gym before but I'm not about to rubbish other trainers. They did not get where they are by being puddings. “Roger and Floyd Senior were both good fighters so they know what they are looking at. Then again so many people have underestimated Ricky. People I thought were good judges; I don't know how they missed it. I'm not sure how you can miss it but a lot of people do. They did the same when we fought Tszyu. It did not mater then and won't matter now because Ricky is a better fighter now. “I'm confident in myself and I like the fact that we are going against world class trainers. It is more than a challenge. They might try disrespecting me but that is water off a duck's back. I believe in myself and in Ricky.” This belief was keenly felt by the team prior to Ricky's biggest win to date, the breakout win over Tszyu. That was their first taste of a big fight. Is there a chance that, beyond the pre-fight talk, this new occasion might stifle Hatton: BG: “Absolutely not! No chance. It will get to us, but in a positive way. We might even get into a drastic situation and have to take drastic measure but we're not going to be complacent. We are going to be alert and the adrenaline is going to be pumping. We are used to being on the big stage and having big fights in the States. This one is the icing on the cake and we're not going to let this occasion fuck us up. We'll thrive on this. “We've wanted this all our lives. You don't wish for something only for your arse to fall out when it happens. I'm enjoying this fight. My heart will be pounding on the night but there is nowhere I'd rather be on the 8th. “It feels like a super fight in the way Tszyu did. It is funny you know…when everyone picks against you the pressure goes off you. I only realised the other day that the Americans are all writing Ricky off. To be honest that makes me feel better. Only one (American) guy has gone for Hatton? I hope he changes his mind before we get there and they are all against us.” As we finished our final interview Graham was noticeably excited, itching to get too Vegas and soak up the occasion: BG: “I love training in Manchester but I am looking forward to getting too Vegas. It is real then. I want to be around it (the fight) now, it becomes real then. I just want it to happen. I'm going to wallow in it and so will Ricky. “As far as we're concerned this is it, this is history. This is what we will talk about in years to come; this is what people will write about in years to come.” For Hatton's fans Las Vegas has been a recent stomping ground as they flocked abroad to watch their hero fight. To that end Graham was dismayed when they ticket allocation fell short on the side of the Hatton camp. It is a situation he regrets, as well as recognising that, when negotiating a fight against Floyd, you have to cede some ground: BG: “It is disappointing. It is embarrassing. It is a terrible situation for al the fans who followed us in the past but if we demanded 30,000 tickets we'd have been putting extra pressure on signing the fight. “I wasn't sat in on the negotiations. I just wanted the fight. I'm disgusted and embarrassed and apologise to the fans. It was totally out of my control. We are not Big Time Charlie's. We are just normal people who are good at what we do. I come from Salford and I'm proud of that. I'm nothing special whatsoever. This is what I do. I'm fortunate being in this position.” With all that said I asked Graham if he had any lurking fears about the fight that he had not yet addressed: BG: “Nothing. Well, apart from the travelling…carrying big bags around, packing your case going (there), packing it (when) coming back (here). People give you stuff over there and you have to put it in your fucking case and then the case is too big to pack. I just leave half my stuff at the hotel when I leave. I hate that shit. That is stressing me out…never mind the fight.”

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