Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton’s 48 fight career came to a close in 2012. A ferocious body puncher with an all action style, made the two weight world champion a popular attraction on both sides of the Atlantic. Having closed the book on his in ring career, Hatton began a new chapter and settled into duel roles of promoter and trainer. If Hatton approaches his new position with the same relentless intent he did his in ring career, surely success will lay ahead. Recently I caught up with ‘The Hitman,’ here is what he had to say in part 1 of my interview
Frank: You were in Dublin recently for a workshop and the Gary Hyde show in Dublin. Two of your fighters on the card were Ryan Burnett and Sonny Upton. How did your trip to Dublin go overall?
Ricky: Yeah it went really, really well. Sonny won on points, won every round for me, looked really well. He’s only a baby, only a young lad starting out. He’s showing improvement in every training session. He is showing improvement in every fight, and the main thing is you know what he’s doing in the gym, trying to put it into practice in the ring and he’s done that in his last fights.
All he needs is time to grow, mature and get more experience under his belt. I believe he is an unbelievably talented kid, talent in abundance to be honest with you. All he needs given time, is to mature and get that man strength. I’m sure in time he will have championship belts around his waist, no doubt.
Frank: I will start off where you left off in the ring. It is almost a year and a half since you returned to face Vyacheslav Senchenko in November of 2012. Do you still feel satisfied with the closure you got that night?
Ricky: Yeah, absolutely to be honest. I think when you’re a sportsman, not just a boxer, whether you’re a footballer or a boxer, you always think, “I got one more game or fight.” And that’s what I did, and found out that I haven’t got it. I could go into retirement more content with everything now.
At least I know now I haven’t got it no more. Sure I would have loved to have won and gone on to win another world title. But ultimately what I wanted to do was come back and make people proud again. Ultimately to find out whether I have or haven’t got it and I found out I haven’t got it no more, and can retire with no regrets.
Frank: Obviously you didn’t leave the sport behind, as you moved on to start a promotional company and became a trainer. Was it a hard transition to make from fighter to trainer? Or was that a natural progression for you?
Ricky: No I think that was a natural progression to make to be honest with you. Obviously just because you have been a good fighter doesn’t mean you’re gonna be a good trainer. But I have boxed for and won eight amateur national titles, boxed for England in the world junior championships. I boxed for England from the schoolboys to seniors. So that’s experience.
I’ve been around some great trainers like Billy Graham and Floyd Mayweather Sr, and I also worked with Bob Shannon. So I dealt with a lot of trainers. I trained for amateur fights, four rounders up to championship fights and world title fights. So I have done a lot of good things I can pass on in my life.
Also what will make me a good trainer is I done a lot of wrong things in my career, which I think will make me a better trainer as well. A fighter’s job is not just what the lad does in the four walls of the gym. It’s what he does when he leaves the gym. You gotta be an athlete 24/7, when you’re in the gym and an athlete when you’re out of the gym. That’s what I wasn’t, so that’s what I want to pass on to my lads.
Frank: Would you have changed that in your own career? Changed your approach to nutrition? The lifestyle as you said.
Ricky: I don’t think I would, to be honest with you. As a trainer I don’t that for my lads, but it weren’t for me. I now know I would have been a better fighter if I had a better lifestyle, and I’m sure I wouldn’t have retired at 31 if I had a better lifestyle. But because I was this little rat bag, jack the lad who watches football, and has a pint, and plays darts and that, I think that is part of the reason fans were attracted to come watch me.
Now as a trainer, I wouldn’t advise any of my lads to do the same. I wouldn’t change it for the world, but I was one of the few that got away with it. And it doesn’t mean that they’re going to be that fortunate.
There is a reason why Floyd Mayweather is the best in the world. He’s an athlete not just at a 12 week training camp, he is an athlete 24/7, and that’s why he is the best you know. I mean obviously he had a wonderful gift given to him, a wonderful ability, but I mean you got to live the life every second of your life to be honest with you. Although I wouldn’t change anything I did with my career, I don’t want my lads doing what I did.
Frank: Being in the gym daily with your lads and working the corner at events, does it give you the itch at all to return?
Ricky: No, not a chance. The best thing I want now is to bring someone through. Give them some of the great things boxing has given me and my family, some of the things I have been given and my family have gotten from boxing, I never dreamt of. If I can give some sort of happiness back to someone else, then that will have been very much worthwhile.
Frank: Your son Campbell has followed your footsteps into a boxing ring debuting at 12 years old. Did you see flashes of a 12 year old ‘Hitman’ when you were his age in there?
Ricky: A little bit yeah. Campbell is a little bit of a body puncher and very, very aggressive. It’s going to be hard for him. Any youngster he gets in the ring with is going to try that little bit harder, because of who his dad is. He has got a lot on his plate, but whether he has 1 or 101 fights I’m not really bothered.
The benefits you get from boxing such as showing your character, showing your courage, respect for your gym mates and opponents, keeping you fit and healthy. We’d all like to be world champion. The fact he has gone into boxing, whether he has 1 or 101 fights, whether he doesn’t win a fight or become a world champion, he will come out of being a boxer and a better person.
Frank: Amir Khan withdrew from the ‘Mayweather sweepstakes’ as Floyd calls it. Do you think Amir was mistreated?
Ricky: No disrespect to Maidana, but I don’t think it is a good fight. Maidana with his win over Broner proved that he deserves it. But stylistically, I can’t see Maidana get anywhere near Floyd. He’s not fast on his feet, he doesn’t have fast hands. He has got a dig, will he get it in against Floyd Mayweather? I would have said not a chance, the truth be known to be honest.
Frank: The last couple years have been difficult for Amir Khan. Do you believe he would still have had success in the fight?
Ricky: It depends on what type of fight Amir would have boxed. If he had gone on the back foot, used his speed and boxing ability, I think he would have caused Floyd lots of problems. But if he’d have went to war, Floyd would knock Amir out. I think Floyd’s style traditionally, the roll style, is a wonderful style on the back foot. It wouldn’t be as effective on the front foot.
I think Khan is the only one that can match Mayweather for speed. I just wonder how Floyd would have coped with his style. I don’t Floyd has pulled out because he is scared of Amir Khan. Why would Floyd Mayweather be scared of Amir Khan? It wouldn’t surprise me if Floyd didn’t fancy his style.
Ricky has got his life in order now, good on him.
It was sad to see him fall apart after he lost to Mayweather, seems like he found a new thing to do in training and promoting young lads. Hatton is #1
It was his loss to Pacquiao that he can’t accept, it was so brutal. The Floydie fight he knew he can win if not for Joe Cortez, a stupid ref, who, thankfully, did us a favor by retiring.
Nope. His life fell apart after his loss to Pacman. He never recovered.
I have zero interest in that fight. Floyd would knock Khan out.
Kid has no chin. He gets touched in the right spot and he starts doing the chicken dance all around the ring. Floyd is too fast and accurate.
It’s hard to take khan seriously when he’s going life and death with stray punches all the time and acting like he’s top 5 p4p right now… Khan needs to fix his defense if he wants to be succesful at a high level. Even if he doesnt have the best chin, he has enough heart to go the distance. The problem is when he see’s a punch coming in his natural instinct is to lean back, and too often then not he moves right into the punch.
Khan is the only person that can match Mayweather’s speed. What is so controversial about that? That is a factual statement, unless you mosey into the hypothetical world. Zab Super Judah had his chance and he beat himself. But he was the last person that could match Mayweather’s speed. If anyone else comes close. Mayweather hits them with a chair while the ref is not looking. Other than that, Mayweather fights slow babies and women. Khan sucks, Maidana is too slow for him, and he will retire before Pac Man or Danny Garcia can embarrass him.
By this statement of Hatton, he was saying that Pacquiao is slow and yet he didn’t see both Pacquiao’s right and left that put him to dreamland, c’mon, Ricky!!!
Hatton’s gonna do anything to discredit and downplay Pac. Try to get his other interviews and you’ll get my drift.
Also British tend to hype their own even though how atrocious the guy or situation is.
Hatton predicted is always wrong.
Who cares about Hatton he just a clown boxer who got whoop to dream land by Pacman… Khan faster thatn Floyd?hahahaha still dreaming ricky? when manny and khan spar. Khan look like a british mongoloid… Dont hype your boxers there cuz all of them are clowns
@BritsCore, sparring and boxing for real are two different times, in my opinion, Khan needs to do exactly what he did in the Judah fight with Mayweather if he wants to win, that style is what Floyd hates the most.
@Brits
Sad to hear Hatton making foolish comments again. If you look back, he said the style of Pacquiao is left hook then turn around, all the time. But after their fight, he kissed the canvas several times before being stopped in the second round. Again, after his fight with Pacquiao he made several predictions that Pacquiao will lose but every time his prediction went south, meaning wrong. He did not predict the loss of Pacquiao to Bradley which was a broad day light robbery and to Marquez who was favored with a very lucky lucky punch.
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