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| “Sucra” Ray Oliveira showed his mettle with a brave and courageous performance in a losing effort to Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton last Saturday night at London’s ExCel Centre, in the process suffering the first stoppage in his long fifty-nine fight career. After the post-fight press conference, Ray was generous enough to share his thoughts in an |  Click for larger image |
exclusive interview on the torrid tear-up with Hatton and what he plans to do next in a career that’s far from over.
Saddoboxing: Was this the hardest fight of your career?
Ray Oliveira: “Definitely. Before, I’d say the hardest fight was against Vivian Harris, but this one was something else, I’m telling everybody that. It’s not just because this kid stopped me, but every round he picked up his pace and improved in every round. He just kept to his game plan.”
SB: Previous opponents have said that they were taken aback by the volume and the variety of offense that Hatton threw at them. Did you find that to be the case?
RO: “Yes, definitely. I was trying to figure out what he was doing and then he would hit me with something different. I figured that I could stop it and I’d go to do it but this kid is very, very smart. I could tell that not just from fighting him but also during the press conference when he was talking about other fighters. He knows fighting.”
SB: “You had a fair amount of success, particularly with the right hand and also to the midsection. Were you surprised that Hatton just kept coming?
RO: “No, he’s a world champion and I knew he would keep coming. I believed that the fight was going to go twelve rounds, regardless of who dominated it. I knew that he was going to come strong and I came strong. I take nothing away from him, the best man won inside the ring.
SB: At the end of the last round, you took a knee after getting hit with a right hand. You winked at your trainer and shook your end, ending the fight. Was your ear injured and did it affect your balance?
RO: “Yes, and it was the balance. I could have continued but the way I look at boxing, why take a beating when you can fight another day? Anyone who steps through those ropes is a proud fighter and getting stopped doesn’t bother me at all. I came here and did something a lot of people won’t do, and that is step inside the ring with Ricky Hatton.”
SB: What’s next for you?
RO: “I’d like to come back here to England. As the rounds were going by, I was saying to myself, “this kid has won, I ain’t getting him out of here and I’m going to do my best to try and last through the twelfth round.” Hopefully I did enough that they’ll bring me back because I’ll fight anyone they want at 140. I love the crowd here, I love the people and I love getting out of The States. I hope to be able to keep coming back here.”
SB: Thank you Ray, good luck in the future.
RO: “My pleasure.”
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Curtis McCormick can be reached at thomaspointrd@aol.com
