Exclusive Billy Graham Interview - Part One by Terry Dooley May 23rd 2008

Although the bulk of the fallout from Ricky Hatton's stoppage loss to Floyd Mayweather in December was quite predictable the one thing that could have been predicted most easily of all was the rumour, and subsequent denial, that the defeat had forced Hatton to part company with his long-time trainer Billy Graham. The ‘news' of the split hit boxing forums, gyms, and even made its way into the national press, perhaps serving notice that in the modern day press those who are paid to write stories sometimes have to make-up ‘stories' in order to get paid. The furore was given greater fire due to the fact that Graham himself, usually happy to confront critics, absconded himself away in Las Vegas immediately after the fight. During the storm Graham got word to me that he was secure in his position and that in the fullness of time we would meet to discuss the fallout from the Mayweather bout. When that chance arrived, early in 2008, Graham was initially subdued, understandable given the whirlwind that had surrounded him after the fight. Instead of doing a traditional interview blasting the rumours Graham offered BBN the opportunity to not only address the rumours but to also spend time documenting his thoughts on the sport in general and the Mayweather fight in particular. In offering BBN exclusive access to his time and thoughts Graham, who understands the growing importance of the Internet in modern boxing, hopes that he can speak directly to the fans via BBN. Moving from Mayweather, then onto Graham's work in the past, and finally his hopes for the future, BBN was able to document Graham all the way and these interviews are a chance for the trainer himself to directly address the fans he professes to love, as well as directly addressing the odd Internet sniper along the way. With a minimum of explication on my part, plus with some parts cut out for obvious reasons, Graham will tell his side of the story, in his own words, so that the fans can see what he is about. Yes, you are about to hear some bad words as well so those of a sensitive disposition may want to brace themselves for the unbridled thoughts of one of boxing's long-standing characters. Firstly there was the question of the Mayweather fight, a contest that Hatton, and Graham, were absolutely sure they would win, a win that would have provide them with their finest hour, but instead brought about their darkest time together. During the course of these conversations we talked about the nature of boxing, it is fuelled by gossip to a large extent; one of the peculiarities of the sports is that you can start a rumour by simply stating “I have heard a rumour about X”, then you allow boxing's ‘insiders' to spin the rest of the yarn. One such rumour focussed on ‘tension' in the camp from the start of their Vegas stay, tension that spilled over before the fight as Hatton and Graham appeared to exchange angry words prior to the first bell: Bill Graham: “It looked on the TV like me and Ricky Hatton was arguing (prior to the first bell) but we weren't and it is as simple as that. What was seen on TV was nothing like what happened. “When I went out for the first fight (Matthew's Hatton's bout) I couldn't get near to the ring. All I could see was the ring post. There were officials all around and I don't mind that but I want to see the ring. At first they wanted me to sit a distance away and I just went “fuck off…this better be sorted out in time for the main fight”. “When we got to the ring (the second time) I saw this big fat official who looked like Perry Mason stood right where I needed to work and he had not one but two monitors (in front of him). I don't know what his job was because the guy didn't say a word but I told him he'd have to shift up so I could see. It was even worse than before. “The guy was totally passive and dismissive so I said “mate you have to shift this monitor” and it was not getting through to this big lump so I got in the ring and said “someone shift this monitor”, by this point I was getting mad because the guy was just staring right through me. Ricky just told me to get them to move the fucking monitors. People made out that me and Ricky were arguing in the corner but I was just doing my job...which is to watch the fight. “Then one of the guys took one monitor off and left the other one behind but this fat fucker was still dead impassive. I just wanted someone to do something so I could do the job I was there for. Obviously I was pretty aerated and the guy just wouldn't fuck off.” It is fair to say that this was not the start to the night the trainer had hoped for. Officials at boxing shows can argue, in their defence, that they have a lot to deal with during the course of a night but it is essential to the role of a trainer that he can actually see the ring properly. However as the fight unfolded Graham was probably made to feel that not seeing what was going on in the ring was a blessing rather than a curse. BG: “So I'm having trouble watching the fight. It didn't affect the outcome but it affected the ending with the towel and all that. I'm trying to see over this fat cunt and having to look at the monitor from time to time. To see one part of the ring I had to go right around and take a look. “Ricky then took some stick in one of the rounds (the ninth), his head was clear and he had seen it through but Cortez came over and said he wasn't going to let him take any more punches like that. Cortez was outrageous anyway. It was diabolical. “Then Ricky went down (in the tenth), and you've got to understand that I'm close to all my fighters but I'm really close to Ricky. I've worked with him since he was a kid so it hurt to see him hit like that. “That left hook, the sound of it was terrible. I know that when someone gets hit that hard it is difficult to come back. It was his courage that got him up and I turned to Kerry (Kayes) and said, “I might have to stop this”. “Then Ricky goes over to engage again and all I could make out is Ricky's feet. They looked to be tottering but I couldn't see properly until I ran up the stairs with the towel. I couldn't see the referee until I was up (the stairs) because I'm looking at the stairs to get up them. I then threw the towel in. I know they can just throw the towel out over there I was going to step into the ring so the fight would definitely be stopped (on a DQ). As I'm doing this I see Cortez stopping it but the towel was going in anyway so they made it out that the referee stopped the fight and then I threw the towel in…in reality I couldn't see what was going on. “Why the fuck would I throw a towel into a fight that was already stopped. It happened simultaneously and was brought about by the confusion surrounding the fight.” After the fight itself the feeling between the camps mellowed, the promotion had been sold off its own back and in many senses the pre-fight hyped seemed only to hype Hatton up to a degree that made him more eager than he needed to be. Despite the dominant nature of Floyd's performance that night Graham insists that he did not set out to mislead people pre-fight, he genuinely thought Hatton would win, in fact he still thinks that Hatton would win a rematch between the two. BG: “I'm not a sore loser. I always say that fighters win fights and trainers help them win them. We are a team and I will take it as well. I hate losing but I'm not a sore loser. “I was never in any worry about Ricky being able to hunt Floyd down and I still think he did that well. No one can stop Ricky but Floyd is so good at nullifying. Ricky is the best in the business at hunting people down and it started off a dream. “Ricky kept it simple…I wanted him to work Floyd and make him use his legs. Ricky was slipping into range, putting the jab in, using the screw-shots and he could have done that until Floyd got tired…when Ricky got inside Cortez let Floyd get away with murder. Then Cortez comes into the corner and tells him he is thinking of pulling him out...so Ricky just had to go for it and that is what took him out. “I honestly think that if they fought again Ricky would beat him. Floyd will give him a rematch. I still think Ricky would beat him and would jump at the chance if they fought again. “Ricky just lost his way after a few really good rounds and people might say we should have kept it together but I'll tell you what, most fighters would have fallen apart long before Ricky Hatton did, mentally I mean...because of the way he was treated by the referee. Joe Cortez treated him disgustingly and so did the judges. That scoring was diabolical. Cortez should have ignored the fucking booing (of the US anthem pre-fight). He is a professional. He let Bernard Hopkins hold all night (versus Calzaghe). He was terrible. I'll never shake the man's hand. “Listening to Emmanuel Steward (on HBO) was bad as well. I thought he was my friend but wow, fucking hell. I could have had a few things to say about some of his performances over the years but I didn't feel the need to shoot my mouth about his business. Fucking hell he could not get Jermain Taylor to convincingly beat fighters that Jermain should be taking apart. He brought in Vivian Harris against Maussa and Harris was blowing out of his arse after a round. The only reason I mention him is because he tried to crucify me, so fuck it, why not? “The referee? Fucking hell. I was really humble when I spoke to him pre-fight and just wanted a fair shake from him. I thought if anything he may favour us and let us work inside but he wouldn't do fuck all apart from take a point away for a punch that didn't hit Floyd. I think he thought, “Fuck all of you” and carried on regardless. I thought he would give us a fair shake but it turned out that he was fucking shit. Ricky is only human and it gets frustrating (if the ref frustrates you) in a fight and it leaves you open for a counter. Taking nothing away from Floyd but the referee's performance was a shambles. “Ricky did everything I asked him to do early only for the referee to be on his case. We soon realised that Floyd was a little bit different and dangerous on the outside but we had prepared for that. Floyd is a great fighter, not as good as Ray Leonard or Thomas Hearns but who is.” After the fight came the reprisals. Hardly a shrinking violet Graham was acutely aware that he was now in the frame for intense criticism. The vogue move in boxing is to fire the trainer after a big defeat; this seemed, to some, to be on the cards immediately after the fight. For his part Graham felt he knew Hatton well enough to trust the fighter not to make a knee jerk reaction, still smarting over the fight Graham did what most people would do, he turned off his phone, a move that poured fresh fuel onto the gathering ‘split' storm. Gossip is started with a statement yet it is made strong by silence on the part of the person who is the victim of the gossip, speak out and every utterance is analysed, stay silent and the silence speaks volumes, most of them erroneous. BG: “I was emotional after the fight but the relationship I had with Ricky was enough for me to know that I could ignore the stuff in the press. The easiest thing to do in boxing is to start a rumour. You just say “I've just heard a rumour”…that is how half of rumours come about. I was devastated and was away licking my wounds. I didn't want to talk to the media. “I had been living in a fishbowl for months before this fight. I was even doing interviews that I didn't have to do, people just getting hold of me in the hotel room. In one day I did four for the Australia media. One day I nearly keeled over from the heat and having not had anything to eat and they were still sticking radio mikes in my face. “I told the Golden Boy people that I was doing interviews all night long from my hotel room and they told me I didn't have to do anything in my own time. Turns out they (the Golden Boy staff) had all changed their names for the hotel bookings and I was the only one booked under my own name. I was getting mobbed in that last week before the fight. “I went out for a cigarette and they counted that I had 89 photos done in the time it took me to smoke it. Everyone else fucked off because they couldn't cope with it but I won't turn my back on a fan request. It was constant and had lasted for weeks. “After the fight I switched my phone off and my girl turned her phone off as well but we still had the police turning up looking for us…the hotels in Vegas have this welfare service where people can phone and say you might have killed yourself after gambling and the security have to come up to check on your welfare! That happened to me twice. I just switched off. I was tired. I was wounded…that brought even more speculation about me. I always face the press win or lose but this time it was too much for me. I just sat in Vegas chilling. I chilled out for a while and didn't talk to anyone at all for a few days. “Then I missed my fucking plane so my girlfriend took some time off work and we stayed longer in Vegas, having a good time. I couldn't even watch the fight at first. It was too much. I wanted to distance myself from it all. I've been doing this forever. People have had longer careers but mine has been hectic. “I needed a break and I came back home with the same enthusiasm for the career of Ricky and Matthew Hatton. I started working out again and I started feeling refreshed. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.” After coming through all the speculation there was a lull period, Graham's traditional post-fight comedown had not been averted during his ‘lost weekend', it was merely delayed and the trainer felt it upon arriving back home to England. BG: “I get a massive comedown after every fight. I don't know the reason for it and have to ask myself what is up with myself. After a few days I'm Ok but it is massive highs and massive lows and I've always been like that but when being like that the only person I'm harming is myself.” As the comedown had faded our conversations moved into different areas. The next part of the interview sees Graham going over, in greater detail, the early part of his training career, as well as revealing the harrowing reason for his strong personal ambition.

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billy graham May 22nd 2008, 18:48:19 by nat i just love the 'tell it how it is' of billy graham. it's nice to see an article that not trying to fill your head with bs! looking forward to part 2. billy is a stand up guy and i wish him all the best for his future.