In part two of our interview with Ricky Hatton, we flip the coin and get a glimpse into Hatton’s stable of fighter’s. ‘The Hitman’ shares his perspective on Maidana’s opportunity to dethrone the pound for pound king and we take a seat at the negotiating table with Ricky and Floyd.

Frank : In the lead up to your bout with Floyd, how did you find negotiating with Floyd Mayweather? Was it a difficult process?

Ricky : No they weren’t difficult to deal with. I had a little more ace’s to throw when i sat down to negotiate with Floyd than Amir. In the sense that i was undefeated at the time. Floyd was undisputed welterweight champion and i was undisputed light welterweight champion.

My previous fight i had knocked out Castillo in four rounds and Mayweather had previously gone twenty four rounds with Castillo. It was a perfect time to make the fight. I don’t think Amir’s inactivity would have helped him at the negotiation table. I hope Amir hasn’t priced himself out of it. Or Amir’s team haven’t priced themselves out of it. Maybe they can sit back around the negotiating table after this one.

Frank : Khan pulled out of a proposed Devon Alexander fight last December in hopes of a Mayweather fight in May. Do you see this as a lack of faith from his team?

Ricky : I can’t say that no. None of us know what goes on around the table in that room. It was Amir’s team negotiating for it, so you can’t really say that. It would be a big seller. Amir is always in good fights. But i can’t see Maidana causing Mayweather any trouble. He reminds me of a small Alvarez. And if Alvarez could do anything with Mayweather weighing 15lbs heavier on the night, i can’t see little Maidana as good as he is, causing Floyd too many problems. I think Amir Khan would have been a lot better fight.

Frank : Froch vs Groves the rematch is a huge British clash coming up. Do you think Carl took him lightly first time around? And who do you see winning the rematch?

Ricky : Only Carl can probably say weither he took George lightly. I would like to think he didn’t as he is a top drawer world champion, who has fought at the highest level. I think George boxed a good fight and caught Carl early. In the rematch i don’t see George being that lucky to catch Carl that soon again. He caught Carl in the first round and it took Froch four or fives rounds to shake it off. Will he get that lucky to land a haymaker like that this time, probably not. And if he doesn’t, it could be a much harder fight.

Frank : Ricky lets turn things to Hatton Promotions, your gym is thriving at the moment with guys like the unbeaten Ryan Burnett, and Lucas Browne, Matty Askin. Can you tell me what is next for each fighter?

Ricky Hatton : Sergey Rabchenko is due to fight Del La Rosa, who i think is the number one contender in the European rankings. Were just waiting on a date for Sergey. It seems Mayweather has chose to stay at Welterweight, hence he’s fighting Maidana. So that should leave a vacant title open for Sergey now. He is number one ranked by the WBC, so if he beats Del La Rosa i think his next fight will be for the world title.

Lucas Browne is fighting for the Commonwealth heavyweight title in April. If he wins that fight it should see him go into the top 10. I’m hoping it will send him into the top 5 actually, becaue he is ranked 11th now.
Matty Askin tops the bill in Blackpool with his English title. I think the next one after that we will be pushing for the British title.

And Ryan Burnett fights on the Carl Frampton undercard in Belfast, first week in May. They’ve all got great opportunities you know progress wise. Sergey Rabchenko and Lucas Browne are just about to break into the world title stage, so yeah everything is going really good.

Frank : Speaking if Rabchenko, how long do you see him campaigning at European level before stepping him up onto the world stage?

Frank : Another fighter i wanted to mention is Ryan Burnett. Burnett was a Junior Olympic gold medalist. What is the biggest challenge Ryan has faced crossing over to the pro ranks?

Ricky : Well with Ryan, he has a lot of natural ability. He can fight at distance, he can fight southpaw, he can fight orthodox. He can hit, he has got hand speed. I think the main thing he has to change, not just for Ryan but all amateurs, and that is to slow down. Fights go a long way and more rounds of them generally.

It’s a little less frantic as a professional and a lot more physical. Ryan’s coming along technique and strength wise. The workload for a training camp as a professional is a little bit different. The amateurs is more speed and combinations. Where as the pro game is a little bit more physical. But he’s settling into it like a seasoned pro.

Frank : World Series of Boxing has helped amateurs crossing over. Fights are geared towards the pro game with no headguard and cuts. Is that something you would have looked at if it was avaliable when you were thinking of turning pro?

Ricky : I’d have probably still gone straight into the pro game. To be honest i’d loved to have gone to the Olympics. I won so many National titles. I’d boxed at the world junior championships and come away with a bronze medal. There is every chance i could have gone to the Olympics, but mine was four years away. But i was training with professional fighters from sixteen years of age. In and out of pro gyms. If the timing had of been better i would have gone to the Olympics. But i always wanted to be a professional.

Frank : Your style suited the professional ranks.

Ricky : Yeah it was. I used to love going to do the gym everyday, training with the pro’s. It was just more suited to me. It started off as a hobby. But it’s not such a bad job.

Frank : Recently Gallaghers Gym went out to the Wildcard gym for high quality sparring against seasoned pro’s like Ray Beltran. Would that be something you would look at for your stable?

Ricky : Possibly yes. It’s a great experience going over there to the gyms, and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Freddie Roach. But it is a very fine line. You have to be careful. Joe Gallagher went over with the lads, so he was able to keep an eye on them. I think that is what you need in the United States. I found in any gym i had been in and around in the United States, there tends to be a lot of gym wars and if you don’t have someone there keeping an eye, looking over your shoulder, you could end up in a little bit of trouble. But yes definately something i could look at.

Frank : Are there any events your involved with you want to let fans know about?

Ricky : Matty Askin in Blackpool. Another lad i train Anthony Upton is out on the 21st in Belfast. Ryan Burnett is boxing in Belfast on the Carl Frampton undercard. Bantamweight Zhanet Zhakiyanov is fighting for the Bantamweight title in April. So hopefully i will have my second champion in Zhanet. Very busy at the minute.

Frank : How long will Zhakiyanov campaign at European level?

Ricky : He is already ranked fifth in the world. So if he comes through his next fight with a win, he should be up there (world level) in the next couple of fights.

Thank you for your time Ricky.

Following my conversation with Ricky Hatton, i had a brief chat with Ryan Burnett.

Frank : How is your transition to the pro ranks going thus far?

Ryan : So far everything seems to be going really good. Ricky just needs to slow me down and get me used to the pro game. The way Ricky has been training me has been going really well.

Frank : How did you joining Hatton promotions come about? Why Ricky?

Ryan : I went to Ricky. My goal was to go professional. So we met up with Ricky and liked the way he trained and the way he was. So that is what made me go with Ricky.

Frank : How many outings will you have this year Ryan?

Ryan : Five fights this year.

Thank you for your time.