Exclusive Boxing Interview: Billy Graham

Click for larger image © Jane Warburton Saddo Boxing

SaddoBoxing.com got the chance to conduct an exclusive interview with P4P contender, IBO and Ring Magazine Undisputed Light Welterweight Champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton’s trainer, Billy Graham. An ex-fighter turned trainer, Graham has been with Ricky from the start and has now taken the ride to the very top. We catch up with Billy a few short weeks after Hatton’s explosive and brutal

fourth round stoppage of Jose Luis Castillo that clearly evidenced “The Hitman” at the peak of his career and looking ahead to super fights and big pay days.

SaddoBoxing: There was a great deal of hype going into the Castillo fight with a lot of public workout videos and a great deal of press attention during the build up. Ricky seemed to show a lot of ferocity in those workouts whilst on the other hand, Castillo was very private when it came to training during the build up to the fight.

Although your workouts with Ricky are well known to be vicious and exhausting, one thing in particular I remember seeing this time was some painful looking body conditioning sessions. Was this something particularly new that you emphasised during the training of this fight because of the reputation Castillo has as a good body puncher and warrior? Were there other things that you emphasised during camp, and if so, what?

Billy Graham: “I wouldn’t say that there was a great deal changed in training for the fight, Ricky’s conditioning is all down to Kerry [Kayes], who is the conditioning coach. He deals with conditioning and I stick with the boxing, but Kerry is the best in the world at what he does. Ricky was definitely prepared though and we thought we would have to be, being that Castillo is a murderous body puncher and although we didn’t get it, we were prepared for a full length war.

SB: Also, aside from that, another thing that was emphasised in the press was that Ricky had really worked on being a bit more healthy and keeping his weight down in the meantime in between fights; did this have a big impact on his shape coming into the fight and will this become a common occurrence in the future?

BG: “Well, yes and no, really, Ricky did take care of himself in the build up to this fight but you know Ricky, he likes a drink and to go have fun and to eat crap but I think it wasn’t so much that he was more disciplined or anything like that, but it made a difference with the timing of the fight.

“He had a lot less time off between this last fight and the time in which he had to wait for the Urango fight because there were just simply no TV dates, so he had to wait for January. With this fight, he only took seven weeks off before getting back into training and the thing is when Ricky blows up like he does, people just don’t know how the weight comes right off, its right off strait away and the rest is conditioning.

But Ricky trained great for this fight and it showed. He was just extremely excited for this fight and he wanted it because he was fighting a big named pound for pounder.”

SB: Had you expected a long twelve round war from Castillo and was it as big a shock to you, as it was to a lot of the viewers of the fight, that it took just the one shot to make Jose Luis want no more?

BG: “We trained extremely hard for the fight, like never before. Ricky was so excited for the fight and it was just so huge, it was going to be war and we want to entertain the fans because they are so great to us both. We expected war and it didn’t quite happen.”

SB: Had Rick’s training for Castillo differed and focused more on power than before when Ricky had stepped up to welterweight without a large camp and having come back down to 140 against a big guy like Urango? And do you feel that the fight being such a big occasion and it being his second fight back at junior welter, that Ricky had somewhat settled back down to the weight and he can get back to packing a real punch?

BG: “He was just in a lot better shape for this fight and it was a mixture of things that came together. The occasion was huge, Ricky was excited and motivated, and the timing of the fight was fine and it all came together. Ricky genuinely shows his true colours in the biggest fights, he rises to the occasion and just gets better and stronger with each fight and that’s why he is where he is.”

SB: From what I remember, you weren’t too happy about Ricky fighting at welterweight when he fought Luis Collazo; do you still feel that way about him moving back up in weight and if not, do you think that given the right time to prepare that Ricky can fill out into the weight and still do the business he does at junior welterweight?

BG: “I never wanted the Collazo fight in the first place; I let it be known publicly before and after the fight that he shouldn’t have taken it. It was just that he had the television date to fill and his supposed opponent, Juan Lazcano, pulled out with an injury several weeks from the fight leaving us with no fight for the date, so they offered Ricky the Collazo fight.

“I knew about Collazo and I knew how tough he was and I suspected it would be tough but he had to get through it. Ricky is a natural junior welterweight and he’s a short bloke, you know, it’s terrible how they wants fighters to move up in weight like they do.”

SB: Right now after a pleasing performance, there is a lot of talk about super fights for Ricky such as a bout with Mayweather or even Oscar De La Hoya, both currently residing at light middleweight. It would seem that Ricky would meet both fighters at welterweight, especially Floyd, as you would assume that Floyd could make the weight again quite easily.

BG: “The only fights that we will take at welterweight are Mayweather and De la Hoya, both fights are just so huge that you could not turn them down. Primarily, we want Mayweather. Its been in the works for a long time and it is THE fight that we want, but if a fight with Oscar De La Hoya should come along before or after that fight, its really the sort of fight you just couldn’t turn down.

“Aside from that, with the dates that are being given and us being in talks for these fights early, we can be prepared for a move to welterweight and train properly for a fight there. It seemed Ricky was in great shape for the Collazo fight when training in Boston, but he had gotten his weight up the wrong way and was full of crap and eating the wrong things and didn’t have the same time to get in the same shape, if these fights are signed, it will be different, we will have time to do it right and Ricky will be in top shape.”

SB: Of the following fights, could you tell us which you would prefer, and which you know or think Ricky would prefer to take either next or in his next few fights: Floyd Mayweather at 147 pounds, Oscar De La Hoya at 147 pounds, Paulie Malignaggi at 140 pounds or Miguel Cotto at 147 pounds?

BG: “Like I said, the only fights at welterweight are Mayweather, who is top priority, and Oscar de la Hoya, two huge money fights and especially Oscar de la Hoya, if he were to meet us at 147. The money is not only huge but I think it would damage him [De La Hoya] to fight Ricky down at 147.”

SB: Are you able to tell us about Ricky’s situation as far as promotion goes as Ricky’s contract with Dennis Hobson runs out soon and I have read that Ricky had been approached by a few promoters including Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Don King Promotions?

BG: “That’s true, in fact as of right now, I can confirm that Ricky Hatton is a free agent. Everybody wants Ricky, aside from Oscar De La Hoya, he is the most sought after fighter out there. They all want Ricky, and he has been approached by all the big promoters.”

SB: In closing, is there anything that you would like to say to your fans at SaddoBoxing.com?

BG: “We want Mayweather, that’s the fight we want and that we will make the move to welterweight for. It is in the works and it’s the big entertaining fights we and the fans want. We love to entertain the fans because they are so good to both me and Ricky and that’s really all.”