BBN Exclusive - The Truth behind the Macklin-Graham Split by Terry Dooley Jan 13th 2008

Billy Graham spoke to BBN exclusively about his split with middleweight charge Matthew Macklin. Graham told us, with regret, that his own numerous hand injuries have restricted the amount of work he can do with Matthew and, with this in mind, trainer and fighter parted company on good terms as Matthew looks to pursue his career elsewhere, with the USA a preferred destination. Graham's long-standing and well documented hand problems mean he is only able to work for short intensive periods and, with this in mind, the trainer feels that he could not give Matthew the attention Macklin's talent deserves. With current fighters Matthew and Ricky Hatton often fighting on the same bills Graham feels that he can continue training these two fighters, whilst resting his hands between bouts in order to get them prepared for the intensive training periods. Graham had often spoken to BBN about his affection for Macklin as well has his belief that Matthew is destined to become a top-level fighter. With this said, Graham felt that it would have been wrong for him to hold Matthew back in any way in this the most crucial period of Matthew's career. As we talked about the amicable split Graham was noticeably disappointed that he can no longer work with Macklin yet maintains that the two will remain friends, even going as far to say that any time Matthew is scheduled to fight he will be only a phone call away if the fighter wants any extra advice or someone to speak to. Over the past year fighter and trainer worked well together to confound those who felt that the fighter might have reason to leave the trainer, especially after his loss to Jamie Moore for the British light-middleweight title. Outside agitates aside Macklin felt that he was partly responsible for the loss and had been philosophical in a recent BBN interview. At a new weight and with new lessons learned Macklin can go onto become a force in the division and utilise his talents to the best of his ability. As is the case with Graham's relationship with Ricky Hatton since the Mayweather fight there were no questions that Macklin trusted his trainer and accepted that losses are part and parcel of boxing at a decent level. Both men had an honest discussion before deciding this was the best courser to take for the good of both. After his first loss, against Andrew Facey, Macklin went onto become better as a fighter and this has been the case since he lost to Moore. After both his sole losses to date Macklin worked well with Graham to find out what went wrong, and why, and put things right. Now, though, the two have parted company, with best wishes voiced on both sides, so it remains to be seen where they both go from here. For his part Graham intends to rest before plotting Hatton's next move with the fighter and his management team.

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