Will Castillo leave Hatton in a broken dream? (Including interviews with Matthew Hatton and Steve Forbes) by Terry Dooley Jun 23rd 2007

During the course of the gym build-up for Hatton-Castillo BBN spoke to two of Hatton's sparring partners about the Las Vegas bill. Our first sparring partner has more than a vested interest in the fight as well as the night overall. Matthew Hatton has followed his brothers' career from the start yet it is not until recently that Matt began to emerge as a fighter due his own consideration. Last time out, against Frank Houghtaling, Matt looked much improved. BBN asked him if this was the best form of his career so far. Matthew Hatton: ‘I think so yes considering the opponent and the class he has boxed in.' ‘It is especially good when knowledgeable people say it was a good performance and a few people have said to me that they really enjoyed the fight so when you get people saying that sort of thing it spurs you on and makes you want to improve on the performance.' BBN: We have spoken previously about you finding your own style, are the straighter shots your forte these days? MH: ‘Yes. I think my right hand has always been my best punch really. I'm finding my own style now. I turned pro quite early (with little amateur experience) and it has taken me a bit of time to come into my own and find my speed and boxing skills.' BBN: Do you want people to recognise this upturn in your form a bit more? MH: ‘Quite a few of my recent fights haven't been televised and in my eyes I would probably say I'm the most improved fighter in the country over the last eighteen months. I'm just glad I got the chance to showcase the improvement in front of the Sky TV audience (last time).' ‘I've just scratched the surface of what I can do and you will see me performing better and see what I can really do. It has taken a bit of time but it is all coming out now.' BBN: What do you put this change down to? MH: ‘I'm relaxed in my style and more experienced now.' ‘As a pro it has taken time (but) I've found my own style of boxing now and am getting more confident and more experienced.' Matthew takes on Ruben Galvan who fought – and I use the word loosely – a one-round NC with Zab Judah after ‘Super' Zab opened a cut on the forehead of Galvan that was deemed to have been caused by a clash of heads. Due to the fight having gone fewer than four rounds the NC was given, although Zab could find that the decision is reviewed and flipped to a TKO 1. It was a fairly quiet night for Zab that night. Matt feels that the opponent is irrelevant as long as he continues to showcase his improvement. Certainly Matt looked impressive against Frank Houghtaling last time out. A seventh round win saw Matt score with some showy shots as well as keeping a tight defence. BBN had journeyed with Matthew to his prior fight – a win in Sheffield over Vladimir Borovski late last year – to gauge the gamut of emotions a fighter goes through prior to a bout. On this day Matt had seemed loose and relaxed pre-fight before showing a slight difference in boxing style during the fight itself. Hatton had said that day that he was feeling very comfortable in the ring recently and, as he later jived down his path to the tune of ‘Islands in the Stream', BBN had been struck by how relaxed he seems both inside and outside the ring. Next up for BBN was America's Steve Forbes who was a losing contestant in the reality TV show ‘The Contender' - as well as a former IBF super-featherweight title-holder - who then went on to narrowly lose to Demetrius Hopkins. For most of the fight it seemed that Forbes-Hopkins was nip-and-tuck. Floyd Mayweather Senior – long suspected to be a tactical genius – told his charge before the final round not even to bother fighting the stanza as the decision was going to be stolen from them anyway. Hopkins eked out one of those close but clear wins that often pop-up and are unfailingly greeted with howls of derision. Steve is in the UK training with Hatton for the Castillo fight and as he explained to BBN he is here to help, he is not your average sparring partner. Steve Forbes: ‘They contacted me about doing some boxing with Ricky and Ricky is a good guy – I kind of watch who I work with – so it was no problem for me to come over here and spar with him.' BBN: Had you seen much of Hatton prior to this? SF: ‘Oh yes I watch all these guys and I watched a lot of his fights.' BBN: How was the whole contender experience? SF: ‘It was great (on The Contender) but I was fighting bigger guys! It was good. The excitement and the experience was great.' ‘It was tough with those bigger guys but my speed was good so I did Ok.' BBN: How hard is it to navigate those five-round bouts? SF: ‘It is weird. Coming from ten and twelve round fights to five is very weird but it was very well-done, they set it all up well.' BBN: What will you bring to the table to aid Ricky? SF: ‘I think a little bit of my style will help him deal with some of the things that will happen in a fight. It also gives me a chance to work with a guy who can really bang.' BBN: What are your first impressions? SF: ‘Ricky is very strong and he is a lot faster than people may think…especially on his feet.' BBN: How are things going for you back home? SF: ‘It is going good. I don't have anything scheduled because my wife is having a baby but once we have a fight set we'll get to work. It is good to be working with Floyd (Mayweather Senior).' ‘(A) Baby is on the way though so my wife wants me close-by!' BBN: A lot of people felt you won the fight with Hopkins and they voiced their disapproval. SF: ‘I was really glad about that (support). I was upset about the decision but public opinion counts and everybody had me winning so I felt I won the fight and it puts me in a good position as the judges stole the fight from me.' BBN: Who wins Hatton or Castillo? SF: ‘I think Ricky inside of nine rounds. He will wear Castillo down and Castillo cannot defend against body punches so a body shot could stop it.' Since that win over Kostya Tszyu Ricky has been waiting in vain for the big fight that will build on the victory. No disrespect to the fighters themselves but in comparison to the big game of Tszyu and Castillo Carlos Maussa, Luis Collazo and Juan Urango are three little birds. Speaking of feasting, between two those fights – Collazo and Urango – Hatton was given ten months to gorge his appetites, the result was a somewhat un-sportsmanlike figure when he came back into training, more so than usually is the case. Has this lack of discipline between fights finally caught-up with Hatton? The answer could be found in his recent displays as well as by going back to his reaction to that battle with Tszyu. Straight after the Tszyu fight Ricky said he did not fancy many more nights like that. Did the Tszyu fight take more out of him than we suspected? People can, justifiably, worry that Hatton's iron lungs have become a two-thirds full aqualung that will ensure, this time, he is in Vegas on a cheap day return. Looking at the pattern in his recent fights the scales would seem to be tipped towards a decline, a fighter hitting the wall. Late fades in the previous two bouts would be foolish to ignore, if the wearing and tearing of Hatton's daily life outside boxing has taken effect Castillo will be on hand to reap the rewards when Hatton's levee breaks. Against Castillo – unless you are the mercurial Floyd Mayweather – fortune would seem to favour the crazy brave. Trying to outbox Castillo at range is often the road to bad and ruin. Plenty have tried, Joel Casamayor – no small boxing talent he – tried it only to find that taking Castillo on head-on, in the final stanza, produced his biggest moments. Diego Corrales (who posed for photos with Ricky at the Las Vegas press conference) took this direct approach a step further when he engaged Castillo in homicidal trench warfare; a pitched battle that left chunks of Corrales' boxing prime lying in the ring for evermore. However, despite its debilitating effects, Corrales won this first battle in a high quality inside war reminiscent of James Toney versus Prince Charles Williams. If Hatton opts to employ a darting in-and-out style Castillo will be able to catch Ricky as he winds-up his left hook as well as scoring with his slashing shots inside. Castillo – if you give him room to move into – has enough accumulative power to send Ricky's senses to the dark side of the moon over the course of this bout. Hatton can move in and out whilst bringing forth machine gun blasts yet Castillo has that chilling Mexican stoicism which can see him, unblinkingly, getting off his own bombs as Hatton darts in. Castillo is also a murderous body puncher. Hatton looked susceptible downstairs against Urango. Castillo throws a decent right hand to the body and this punch has seemed to worry Hatton a few times before, notably when Jason Rowland seemed to stun Hatton with the shot before being taken out himself in round four by a pair of left hooks to the body. Supposing Hatton does box at range the saving grace could be his right hand. His left hook will leave him lopsided. Hatton's straight right, when popped-out, can be as effective as a jab in knocking a guy off-kilter, leaving Hatton free to bring his left hook in. Hatton could elect to box at range, he could also win doing this but late in the fight, when the action is taking its toll and it becomes hard to breathe in the air, this strategy could leave Hatton with a raging bull coming at him. If Hatton elects to go straight into Castillo and take his steam away at the source it could be a rough and rocky few early rounds. There will be little wonder, then, if the clinches become rough. Hatton insists, for his part, that despite the changes – new promoter, new venues and a new career path –he is in the fights he wants to be in as well as being in the shape, plus form, of his life. We will have to judge him on both in this fight as the boy from the original suffragette city once again tries to make himself a hero in the casinos of dreams, a place that can leave you in a broken dream if you go out too far. Hatton is under pressure to deliver so you are inclined to lean towards the fact that when under duress he succeeds. No one expected him to beat Tszyu and he did it. Anytime he has been asked to produce he has done so and given his form in the gym for this fight it is little wonder he feels these are going to be his golden years. If the early-rounds assault from Hatton puts Castillo on the back-foot Hatton can ensure that when the final rounds come Castillo will not be the fighter gathering pace. Given Hatton's recent late-round problems a bull-like Castillo coming at a fading Hatton, from constant movement if Ricky elects to move, will throw things skewiff on the cards to ensure that Hatton looks back in anger on this fight. If Hatton's gym form has not been a mirage, if he is truly entering his peak time, this could be the fight that re-ignites his flame as he fights then boxes his way to a big win. With the his defence being knocked into so much debris by an early-round assault Castillo could find himself being soundly beaten on-route to a points loss. This – a points loss – for Castillo seems the likeliest outcome; the favoured one, for Hatton and HBO would be a barnburner in which Hatton emerges unscathed to set-up bigger fights for the network. An early round assault would serve that purpose also. The Final Cut: What if each man – notorious in the past for cutting, Castillo has lost on cuts before – cuts in this fight? It is an intriguing possibility. If Hatton cuts early he may become a boxer on the run as he seeks to repair the damage done. Hatton has this plan B to protect his eyes. Castillo does not. Castillo, when cut, bleeds violence so if Jose gets a bad cut he will blaze forcing Hatton to make the most of first blood by meeting fire with fire. Hopefully if cuts happen they will be an integral part of the drama – as in Hagler versus Hearns or Toney versus Littles – and not the reason for a premature end to a fight that is just catching fire. Photos By Alan Stevenson

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