Exclusive Boxing Interview: Kerry Kayes

Kerry Kayes is Ricky Hatton’s strength coach and nutritionist and as such, is deeply involved in the day to day training of “The Hitman”. Kerry was kind enough to take time out from his hectic schedule and speak with SaddoBoxing about Ricky’s upcoming WBA Welterweight title challenge of champion Luis Collazo in Boston on May 13.

Click for larger image © Paul Speak Team Hatton

SB: How do you see this fight with Luis Collazo for Ricky?

KK: “Number one, the big question is the extra weight, going from light welter to welterweight. A lot of people have asked me the question, ‘is it going to be easier for Ricky to make 147 instead of 140?’ And my answer is very simple; no, it’s not going to be easier. It would be easier if we were having a 140lb fighter with an extra 7lbs of body fat on. We don’t want that. My job is to get him in the ring as strong as I possibly can and that is not the way of doing it, we don’t want Ricky carrying and extra seven pounds of body fat.

“As a 140lb fighter going in at 147, what we must do and what we have done is deliver a 140lb fighter with extra muscle. So, he’s gonna get off roughly the same body fat and coming with more muscle tissue for this fight. For this fight, my brief was simple; I had to do what I have to do for every fight and that is make Ricky as strong as I possibly can at the weight he’s going to weigh in at. Not fight at, but weigh in at, because there’s two issues isn’t there?

“The first issue is body weight that he weighs in at and the second issue is what he gets in the ring at. So, he will be getting on the scales, I won’t say with 7 pounds of extra muscle but I’m hoping for at least five pounds of extra muscle. So the plan was always to try and get off roughly the same amount of body fat but also change the composition of his body by putting extra muscle on. The way we’ve done that is, he’s lifting more weights in the weight lifting room now then he was for the Kostya Tszyu fight.

“Because, the extra calories that I’ve been able to give him have come in the form of protein and along with the weight lifting that he does, that means that the muscles have gotten bigger and stronger.

“And the weight he gets into the ring at, he will be at whatever weight Billy and Ricky tells me they want Ricky at. I feel that he should get in the ring at roughly what he always gets in the ring at. Because we’ve got more muscle, so we can fill him up with more Glycogen and less water retention. Ricky fights well at about 11st 2, or about 156 or 157lbs, and he had gotten in the ring against Kostya Tszyu at that weight. He’ll probably get into the ring against Collazo at the same body weight but with more muscle.

“Now, because of the extra weight, I could get him in the ring an extra seven pounds heavier but because it’s unknown territory, we’ll probably keep him around about the same body weight, but that’s up to Billy and Ricky. But common sense says to me, if it aint broke, don’t fix it.

“When athletes are young, their body naturally gets bigger. But boxers go up in weight because their bodies can no longer carry on making that weight. And because they’re not doing the weight management properly, they go up in weight with extra body fat on them. I think Oscar De La Hoya proved that in his last fight, you could actually physically see it.

“Being bigheaded, because I know that we do it properly, we’re not putting a light welterweight in the ring with an extra seven pounds of body weight on him. We’re turning a light welterweight into a true welter.”

SB: In your opinion, will Ricky generally be stronger in the ring than Collazo, a true welterweight?

KK: “Without a doubt! Ricky is a powerful man anyhow. A lot of people give me a pat on the back because he’s strong in the ring. All I’ve done is make a strong man stronger. I get lots of compliments but I’ve been given very good tools to work with in Ricky (laughs). In reality, all I’m doing is making a strong man stronger.”

“I could also make a weak man stronger but because Ricky is so strong, everybody gives me a pat on the back so thats a plus for me but in reality, let’s live in the real world, he’s a strong man anyhow.”

SB: In most fights, being taller has it’s advantages but because Ricky excels at pushing, pulling and using his strength inside, in this case would you say that Collazo’s greater height may turn out to be a disadvantage?

KK: “Well, I believe that Ricky has many, many strengths. He’s a fantastic boxer and he’s underestimated in a few departments. But in reality one of his major advantages is his bullish strength. I think he proved that more in the Kostya Tszyu fight than in any other.

“And I also believe that, depending on the style of the fighters, boxing is 20 to 30% pushing, shoving and grappling. The more that percentage is employed in the fight, the more the advantage goes to the stronger man.

“Through my body building connections in Australia, I found out that Kostya Tszyu had been lifting weights for about ten years. As everyone knows, it’s always been a big no-no that boxers lift weights, which was a stupid thing and I like to think that I’ve proven that wrong. But Kostya Tszyu had that little secret for ten years and everyone knew that one of Kostya Tszyu’s advantages that he always held over his opponents was his strength. I think that Kostya was in shock during the first round of his fight for Ricky as for the first time ever that he ever met someone with an equal or even greater bullish strength. And then Ricky kept it up and it became a battle of hearts and lungs.

“So, my main answer to your question is – no, it is not easier to get Ricky to welterweight. We had the added challenge this time of adding muscle while dropping the same body fat.

“Now, don’t forget the politics of it all; Ricky has gone up to welterweight not because he can’t make the weight anymore but because that was the only available, sellable fight that the TV companies wanted.

“And if Billy Graham, Ray Hatton, Dennis Hobson and Art Pellulo decide for the next fight that the best fight out there for Ricky is at light welter, then we’ll get him ready for light welter again. Because if we can put the muscle on, we can take the muscle off. If a person couldn’t take muscle off then bodybuilders would look the same until they died. Why don’t I look like I used to look? Because I took the muscle off. So, If we need to get him down to light welter because it’s the best fight out there, then he’ll come down to light welter. But that’s not my decision; bigger people than me make that decision.

“A lot of people think that Ricky has gone up to welter because he can’t make 140lbs anymore but he went to welter because that was the fight that the powers that be decided they wanted. And if the powers that be decide that they want him at light welter for the next fight then light welter is what he’ll be and he’ll make it just as easy as he’s always made it.”