Thread: Hatton needs to get rid of Graham

Having just watched the fight, I noticed two clear problems with Hatton.

Firstly, his general conditioning and ability to take a punch. He used to walk through punches, but seems to struggle alot. This to me is due in many ways to his lifestyle. His team should be making sure that between fights, and I mean for the next two years, he is in pretty much in a training camp lifestyle with his diet and general conditioning. He should not be abouve 150lbs between fights and should be having virtually no alcohol. This may give his body a chance to do what he wants it to do.

Secondly, his trainers need to take some accountability. Yet again they do not give him a strong plan. I mean what the hell are they saying to him? "your reach is not long enough so we want you to lead with your face"
I mean where the hell is the jab It is not a complicated punch, he used to use it frequently and in his last four fights he has just completely ignored it and lead with his head.

Billy Graham needs dumped imo because he has allowed this to develope. Hatton needs somebody who will tear him to pieces if he steps out of line, both between fights and in training, Graham seems like he wants to be mates and that is just not working.

Well, another frustrating Hatton fight. He will become another Gatti if he isn't careful. Two years of dicipline and he can call it a day on a high, otherwise he will get sparked again. It's a shame, as a person and an entertainer he is great, but as an athlete he is poor, his friends from the United team at ringside, Rio especially, could give him a lesson in the lifestyle required to be physically at your peak at 29 years of age.

Some nice points.
I was making a similar point in a previous post ,about why Ricky clinches alot of late , and i think its as you say his battle with the LBS is taking its toll on his body.
Which in turn is effecting his punch resistance , he was good last night , but wide open to punches .
Like all fighters who are come forward types ( Jeff Fenech etc ) , the wheels generally fall off fast , and Ricky is looking a bit worn now.
I like Hatton alot and I'm sure he will entertain us few more times yet , but it is inevitable that not to far down the road the Hatton bandwagon will come to a grinding holt.

think is hatton has to want to stay fit between fights you cant blame that on billy

i do agree tho i think he should stay fit between fights i think it would help him alot

You can get away with the indiscipline earlier in life but as his body gets older he is not going to be able to keep putting this sort of pressure on himself. He has got a couple of years left in him so why not just make the sacrifice and keep the weight off, and save all the partying until after he has retired. He doesn't have to live like a monk just be sensible about it.

Ricky needs a few more skills he seems to have drifted away from his boxing ability and looks to be just jumping into his shots rather than working his way in like he used to. I am not sure changing trainers at this time of life/career will be a great move, just him and Billy need to sit down and talk about making a few changes in their preparation. Adding some new drills his body is getting too used to doing the same thing over and over, and it is not having the same effect as it used too.

In regard to keeping himself in shape between fights that is down to one person alone and that is Ricky Hatton. Billy is not his babysitter, he is a professional athlete.

Originally Posted by hackey

Having just watched the fight, I noticed two clear problems with Hatton.

Firstly, his general conditioning and ability to take a punch. He used to walk through punches, but seems to struggle alot. This to me is due in many ways to his lifestyle. His team should be making sure that between fights, and I mean for the next two years, he is in pretty much in a training camp lifestyle with his diet and general conditioning. He should not be abouve 150lbs between fights and should be having virtually no alcohol. This may give his body a chance to do what he wants it to do.

Secondly, his trainers need to take some accountability. Yet again they do not give him a strong plan. I mean what the hell are they saying to him? "your reach is not long enough so we want you to lead with your face"
I mean where the hell is the jab It is not a complicated punch, he used to use it frequently and in his last four fights he has just completely ignored it and lead with his head.

Billy Graham needs dumped imo because he has allowed this to develope. Hatton needs somebody who will tear him to pieces if he steps out of line, both between fights and in training, Graham seems like he wants to be mates and that is just not working.

Well, another frustrating Hatton fight. He will become another Gatti if he isn't careful. Two years of dicipline and he can call it a day on a high, otherwise he will get sparked again. It's a shame, as a person and an entertainer he is great, but as an athlete he is poor, his friends from the United team at ringside, Rio especially, could give him a lesson in the lifestyle required to be physically at your peak at 29 years of age.

Thats a good post,and completly agree!

Hatton's problem is not his trainer.

He's a limited fighter who's approaching 30 years old and has been in multiple wars and has killed himself to make weight many times. A new trainer isn't going to fix that. Hatton is what he is.

a change of trainer would have no affect on Hatton at this stage of his career.

Originally Posted by SweetPea

Hatton's problem is not his trainer.

He's a limited fighter who's approaching 30 years old and has been in multiple wars and has killed himself to make weight many times. A new trainer isn't going to fix that. Hatton is what he is.

Originally Posted by ds91

a change of trainer would have no affect on Hatton at this stage of his career.

I'm with PEA and DS91. Hatton won't significantly improve fighting for someone else.

Hes had 45 professional fights and 44 wins with Billy. At this point in his career change is not a good thing because even if he makes some mistakes in the ring, hes obviously has a lot of sucess doing what hes doing. He would have lost to PBF no matter who his trainers is and that being his only loss, id say hes done very well with Graham.

Originally Posted by hackey

Billy Graham needs dumped imo because he has allowed this to develope. Hatton needs somebody who will tear him to pieces if he steps out of line, both between fights and in training, Graham seems like he wants to be mates and that is just not working.

So Hatton's won all of his fights except for one against the best pound for pound boxer on the planet. He's top in his weight class. He's one of Britains most successful boxers. He's won the title above his weight class, gone over to the States and kicked arse most of the time and it's not working!!!!!!



There's no pleasing some folk eh!!!!!

I don't know Ricky but I'd suspect that a trainer who "tears him to peices" if he has a drink or a take away will be shown the middle finger.

Hatton should stick with Graham imo. He's freshened it up with another trainer and that's a good thing.

You can't argue with the record, and each to their own opinions, but criticising the trainer with that sort of success is crazy imo.

Forgot to add - Hatton sells more tickets than any other boxer Worldwide.

55,000 tickets sold in a few hours...........................



sack the trainer - it's not working!!!!!!!

Too late to change trainer now. I agree with the hammer that his style changed for the Kostya fight and he never got back, but it's possible he stuck with the hug and hold since he can't maintaIn the same stamina as in his youth. It's impossible to say for sure from the snippets of traing we see but it does seem that Hatton is the boss during the sessions nowadays, perhaps not following Graham's lead, but it could all be just clowning around when the cameras are on.