Hatton awarded trainer's licence

[Wheelchair]

Ricky Hatton is ready to embark on a career as a trainer after being granted his licence by the British Boxing Board of Control.

 

The former two-weight world champion announced his retirement from the ring this summer.

 

Now Hatton, who already runs a promotional company, is ready to don the trainer's pads.

 

"The board have shown great faith in me by giving me a trainer's licence for the first time," said the 32-year-old.

 

"It means they are putting their trust in me to go in a corner with a boxer and look after his welfare."

 

"I left school when I was 16 years old and apart from fitting a few carpets badly for my dad, the only job I have had is boxing," he said.

 

"I am dedicated to being a trainer as much as I was being a fighter because boxing is a hard game and you only get one chance.

 

"I have got that little spring in my step and I hope it won't be long before future champions start knocking on my door asking me to train them.

 

"I am fully on board running my businesses, but my office has always been the boxing gym and that is where I give my best advice."

 

The former fighter known as the "Hitman" also took over from his father, Ray, as head of the Hatton Group this week, but will wait before applying to regain his manager's licence.

 

"I will eventually manage fighters, but there won't be an abundance of them because I have so many irons in the fire at the minute," Hatton added.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/14925082.stm

[littleman370]

oh good! i can hire him to help me drink and play darts better!!!

 

on a more serious note, you guys think he could amount to anything as a trainer? he was not exactly a sweet scientist in the ring, though i wonder how much that would matter if he can convey the info right.

[Wheelchair]

One example is Freddie Roach. He was unsuccessful as a fighter, but a damn good trainer.

 

Hatton might surprise us. (but not to Roach's level)

[londoner]

Will be interesting to see what methods he uses. Will he stick to what he knows: brawling tactics. Or will he move away from that and train his pupils to use their skills more?

[SeelowHeights]

Wrong sport I know, but the late Valerii Lobanovskiy (former manager of Dinamo Kiev) used to maintain that "to be a good manager, forget the player you used to be". He was a rather temperamental winger as a player, but as a manager came out in favour of a hard pressing game.

 

John Beck was a creative midfielder, yet his Cambridge and Lincoln teams were long-ball merchants. Egil Olsen was an attacking midfielder, yet his Norway teams of the 1990s were renowned for being defensive.

 

I don't doubt that Hatton will try to teach his fighters the importance of a good body shot, of excellent conditioning and probably how to look after themselves better between fights (not his forte, was it?). However, I suspect he's sharp enough to realise that it's better to work with the materials you have, and not to create an army of clones.

[davemurphy]

One example is Freddie Roach. He was unsuccessful as a fighter, but a damn good trainer.

 

Hatton might surprise us. (but not to Roach's level)

 

Wheels, I've always maintained that a Roach-level fighter often picks up more from the teaching of a great Trainer like Eddie Futch because unlike other Futch fighters (Arguello, Holmes, Spinks, etc.) he simply didn't have the great talent to do what he wanted in the Ring and still be successful. He had to take every word from Eddie to heart simply to be a decent journeyman.

 

There have been some recent exceptions that give Hatton some hope, two relatively successful current former World Champ turned Trainers are Eddie Mustafa Muhammid and John David Jackson, who pretty much take what they are given and work with it, not trying to mold the fighter into something he isn't (Joe Frazier was the worst I ever saw at doing that). Buddy McGirts another former World Champ that had some success, but he's been in a real slump, so we won't mention him ;)

[londoner]

I don't doubt that Hatton will try to teach his fighters the importance of a good body shot, of excellent conditioning and probably how to look after themselves better between fights (not his forte, was it?). However, I suspect he's sharp enough to realise that it's better to work with the materials you have, and not to create an army of clones.

 

I agree.

 

And as Wheelchair has already mentioned, Freddie Roach is probably the most obvious example of a former brawler who later went on to train fighters to their skills/strengths.

[McBride]

That is all there is to it. You take what a guy has got and try to make him even better at it. I think Hatton is clever enough to realise that.

[Wheelchair]

If the training aspect doesn't work, he's always got his promotional side of things. Ricky could set up a tournament like Matchroom have done. Instead of calling it Prizefighter, he could use the name Piesfighter! mlol/