Graham & Hatton: over

A fighter is only as good as his trainer and vice versa. And Billy Graham got what every trainer dreams of all those years ago, when a little kid walked through the door of his gym bursting with natural boxing talent.

Glenn McCrory
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So The Preacher has gone on to pastures new...

I've got to say I'm a little surprised that Billy Graham has decided to retire now because Ricky Hatton hasn't got that long left, but I suppose it has been on the cards for a while - certainly since Matthew Hatton left him.

Forget about those rumours of splitting after the Floyd Mayweather fight though, because the first person who gets the blame when a fighter gets beat is the trainer. It's the same as a football manager; if his team is losing, it's his fault.

People said perhaps that Ricky needed someone a little bit more technical to beat Mayweather, but I don't agree one bit. It didn't matter who was in his corner, or what he had been taught, Floyd Mayweather was just a superior fighter, end of.

A fighter is only as good as his trainer and vice versa. And Billy got what every trainer dreams of all those years ago, when a little kid walked through the door of his gym bursting with natural boxing talent. The rest is history and I am sure they have parted company as good pals, because that's just what they were.

They also worked bloody hard and that has obviously taken its toll. And it just shows to show how the pressure of world-title fights, big-box office matches takes its toll as well. Not just on the fighter and his family but also the trainers. Billy and Ricky couldn't have achieved more together, but all good things come to an end.

Uncomfortable

But there is more to Billy Graham than Ricky Hatton. Me and Billy go back a long, long way and there all sorts of funny stories I can remember, not all of them printable on a family website!

We go right back to his old Champs' Camp days, when the likes of Carl Thompson and Ensley Bingham were around and boy did we have some fun! I remember I was bringing some lads down to spar for Billy so we decided to meet up in a bar in Manchester for a few beers.

Well, I didn't know Manchester that well, so Ensley said he knew this place that was good so we arranged to meet there at 7.30pm. I remember walking in and thinking it was a little bit iffy, but there was Billy hiding right in the corner, looking very uncomfortable. Ensley had sent us to a gay bar.

Billy's just a good lad all-round. He's a fighters' trainer, he doesn't care about promoters and all that side of things, all he wants to do is look after his lads. It's no great surprise that his last fight will be Ojay Abrahams' 100th because that's the sort of guy he is. He cares about boxers and boxing. He will go down in training folklore if he can get Ojay to win, but let's hope they can both bow out in style.

The I suppose Billy will head off to his snake farm in America, while Ricky counts down to the Paulie Malignaggi fight with prpobably Lee Beard as his trainer. I don't know what Lee is like, but maybe Ricky needs someone with a little bit more experience as he heads towards more big fights, I don't know.

Condition

That said, he is a good fighter and a good fighter can win with anyone in their corner - even my granny (and she could fight a bit too!). As long as he can get Hatton into great physical condition because that is what Billy Graham always did, without fail.

Which brings me nicely on to Saturday night and an absolutely fantastic fight. You've got to take your hat off to Antonio Margarito, he was just awesome. I love fighters like that, just love them.

Early on it looked as if Miguel Cotto was going to do him as well. He was looking good, moving well, throwing good punches but just when you thought he was going to step up a gear, he ran into a man with the heart of a lion.

Margarito does not have the best skills in the world, but he is a real Mexican warrior, who decided that whatever Cotto hit him with, he was just going to walk through.

We knew he was tough, but I didn't think he was that tough! There's only one Kelly Pavlik? I'm not so sure now.

It had all the ingredients for a classic, the boxer v the fighter, Mexico v Puerto Rico, and it lived up to expectations. But should there be a rematch?

Crumbled

I would love to see it, but I have a feeling there is nothing more Miguel Cotto can do. Sometimes a guy just has your number. Mentally and physically Cotto was just destoyed, hammered, he crumbled.

Whether or not he was starting to believe his own hype about being the best pound-for-pound in the world, or whether or not he needs to look at his lifestyle outside of the ring (whenever I see him, he is wearing a sweatsuit) I don't know. But I don't think a rematch would make much difference.

And I do think Margarito is perfect for Oscar de la Hoya's sign-off. He's not the most skilful (certainly not as skilful as say Pavlik) and he is perfect for Oscar, with those hard, straight shots. He has earned himself a big pay-day and they do not come any bigger than the Golden Boy do they? Mind you, Oscar could pick an easier way to finish off his career...