Ray Hatton has been busy managing the careers of his sons Ricky and Matthew Hatton as they prepare for their Las Vegas debuts on January 20. Ricky will challenge IBF Light Welter Champion Juan Urango while Matthew contends for the vacant IBF International Welterweight crown against tough spoiler Frank Houghtaling. In part one of this interview SaddoBoxing spoke to Ray about what's going on with Ricky.

"Ricky officially weighed in at ten stone eight and a half pounds (148.5 lb) last week," said father/manager Ray Hatton. "He's well in front of schedule from what he normally is a month away from a fight. Ricky is out to prove a point as a lot of people said that they didn't think he'd make the ten stone (140 lb) limit. He's actually busted his weight schedule wide open."

Another point the Hattons will have to prove is whether or not Ricky can compete in America, in light of a victorious but decidedly rocky showing against Luis Collazo in Boston last May. "We're not ashamed to admit that we cut a few corners during the Collazo fight," remarked Ray. "Ricky wasn't doing the little things that we feel make him a bit special, in terms of footwork and movement.

"Instead of being on his toes and using his boxing abilities, he just stood there and battled it out. I think that after so fights in an unbeaten career, Ricky got a bit stale. But the extra long layoff we've had has been a good thing because he's got his hunger back, you can tell by his
demeanor in the gym."

Hatton has been working in trainer Billy Graham's Phoenix Camp gym, logging many rounds with "The Preacher" wearing an infamous piece of equipment that has long been an integral part of the Hitman's preparations. "Ricky has been doing a lot lately with Billy on the body belt,"
said Ray. "When you're sparring and someone is throwing punches at you, you can't always get the movement together, so working with Billy on the body belt, the movement and footwork is back.

"We're going to start the sparring soon here in Manchester and then carry it on with a few really good sparring partners when we get to Vegas. We know Juan Urango is a very dangerous opponent and we're taking nothing for granted for this fight."

Click to read more boxing articles by Curtis McCormick

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