Firstly, congratulations to my younger brother Matthew on retaining his European Title. Talking from experience it is one thing to win a title but the hardest thing is to retain it especially against your mandatory challenger. Matthew did it the hard way getting knocked down for the first time in his career in the first round, to climb back up to win on points. Watching from ringside, I was worried that Matthew had broken his jaw, but fortunately this proved to be just swelling. It is very hard for me to watch Matthew fight and I am now beginning to realize what it must have been like for my Mum and Dad watching my fights. I am now working with my team for a big fight for Matthew in the Autumn, so watch this space.
Congratulations must also go to St Helen’s Martin Murray who won the commonwealth Middleweight Title with a comprehensive victory over the tough Australian Peter Mitrevski. This is hopefully the first of many titles for Martin. The middleweight division has been exciting throughout history and it is no different now.
There is a big domestic fight for Martin against the winner of Matthew Mackin and Darren Barker, a fight I am confident he can win.
Another successful fighter on the night was Bury’s own Scott Quigg. I am running out of plaudits for this young fighter, he improves with every fight, but I am pleased to say that his feet have remained firmly on the ground. My CEO Gareth, who is from Bury, jokes that everybody he meets in the Bury area assures him that they see Scott running past their house. I am currently working on a fight for Scott in September so expect an announcement soon.
I renewed my boxing license last week which prompted a flurry of activity and speculation on the various boxing websites and tabloids. Although I have been training in the gym my position remains the same.
This weekend I am going to Norwich to support and speak at my good friend Jon Thaxton’s benefit dinner. I have been very fortunate to have experienced some great nights in boxing but boxing fans will remember the great fight I had with Jon ten years ago when I became the British Champion after a really tough fight.
Like most people at this time of year I am looking forward to my summer holidays before gearing up for what promises to be a really exciting new season of boxing. Our first promotion of the new season will feature Salford’s Steve Foster, Steve is a fighter who I am expecting big things from next year.
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Boxing Back in Bury
I was very proud to take boxing back to Bury on Saturday night. The show exceeded my expectations, there was a fantastic atmosphere in the packed Castle Leisure Centre which witnessed local favorite Scott Quigg stop the tough Russian Andrey Kostin in the first round. Kostin was chosen for Scott as he is known to be a tough fighter and it was meant to be a test for Scott, the fact he dealt with him so quickly clearly demonstrates that he is now ready to fight for titles and I am now working towards making a title fight for him which can hopefully take place back in Bury in July. The biggest problem I face is trying to find a British boxer who will fight him.
Scott is an exceptional talent and I have no doubt he will become a world champion.
For anyone who missed the action the full show can be viewed on
Another rising star of Hatton Promotions is Martin Murray. I was bitterly disappointed for Martin when his Commonwealth title fight fell through at the last minutes as a result of his opponent being refused a visa. I am very pleased to confirm that he gets his chance to finally fight for the Commonwealth Middleweight Title in Bolton on the 16th July. Just like Scott, Martin has a great following and I know from personal experience there is nothing better than the support of your fans. St Helens is close to Bolton and Martin is hoping that his fans turn out in force to cheer him on.
Martin is another fighter I have high hopes for and I am in no doubt that this will be the first of many title fights for him.
The Bolton Arena show see’s my brother Matthew defend his European title against his mandatory challenger Yuriy Nuzhnenko. This is a tough fight for Matthew but he is much improved under the guidance of Bob Shannon and I fully expect him to win. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to promote Matthew in a world title fight in the next twelve months.
I am aware there is a big rivalry between Bury and Bolton, going back to the days of the Civil War, I hope the people of Bolton can match the support of their Bury rivals!
I am in London this week training for the Soccer Aid match which takes place this Sunday at Old Trafford. The match is for a great cause and hopefully it will be a good day on Sunday.
Next week I go to the Middle East to discuss the possibility of taking boxing out there. Middle Eastern money has done wonders for my football team, it would be great if it could do the same for boxing.
Scott is an exceptional talent and I have no doubt he will become a world champion.
For anyone who missed the action the full show can be viewed on
www.hattonboxing.tv
Another rising star of Hatton Promotions is Martin Murray. I was bitterly disappointed for Martin when his Commonwealth title fight fell through at the last minutes as a result of his opponent being refused a visa. I am very pleased to confirm that he gets his chance to finally fight for the Commonwealth Middleweight Title in Bolton on the 16th July. Just like Scott, Martin has a great following and I know from personal experience there is nothing better than the support of your fans. St Helens is close to Bolton and Martin is hoping that his fans turn out in force to cheer him on.
Martin is another fighter I have high hopes for and I am in no doubt that this will be the first of many title fights for him.
The Bolton Arena show see’s my brother Matthew defend his European title against his mandatory challenger Yuriy Nuzhnenko. This is a tough fight for Matthew but he is much improved under the guidance of Bob Shannon and I fully expect him to win. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to promote Matthew in a world title fight in the next twelve months.
I am aware there is a big rivalry between Bury and Bolton, going back to the days of the Civil War, I hope the people of Bolton can match the support of their Bury rivals!
I am in London this week training for the Soccer Aid match which takes place this Sunday at Old Trafford. The match is for a great cause and hopefully it will be a good day on Sunday.
Next week I go to the Middle East to discuss the possibility of taking boxing out there. Middle Eastern money has done wonders for my football team, it would be great if it could do the same for boxing.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Congratulations Amir
Congratulations to my friend Amir Khan who as I predicted in this column two weeks ago comprehensively beat Paulie Malignaggi in New York at the weekend. Just a s he did when I fought him Malignaggi had plenty to say before the fight however, unlike the other great talker Floyd Mayweather, Malgnaggi does not have the talent to back up his pre-fight boasts.
I am sure Amir will want to fight in Las Vegas, it is a tremendous buzz seeing your name in lights on the famous strip, however my advice would be to have a big fight in England this summer. Of all the great nights I have had, fighting in front of 58,000 people at the City of Manchester Stadium a couple of years ago is something I’m immensely proud of and will always have a special place in my heart.
There will be a lot of paper talk of Amir fighting myself but I would much prefer to promote him and am certain with my help he can become the big star that his talent deserves.
I have been back in training this past week but before people start putting two and two together it is not boxing related but my other great love, football. I will be representing England in the UNICEF football challenge against the Rest of the World at Old Trafford on the 6th June.
I celebrated my younger brother Matthew’s birthday this weekend and last week was the first anniversary of my health and fitness club in Hyde.
This Friday I am promoting Ryan Rhodes in his European defense over in Sheffield. The bill features St Helen’s Martin Murray who is challenging for the Commonwealth Middleweight title. Another fighter to look out for is 6’ 8” Richard Towers who I have high hopes for, excuse the pun, and I don’t think it will be long before he can fight Manchester’s Tyson Fury. The show also features Manchester fighters Andy Morris and Stephen Foster Junior who next season will be challenging for titles.
A week on Saturday I am bringing boxing back to Bury when Scott Quigg fights Andrei Kostin. There was a real buzz about the town and I’m sure the sellout crowd will have a night to remember. Scott is another fighter who I have high hopes for and I expect him to be either the British or European champion before the end of the year.
I am sure Amir will want to fight in Las Vegas, it is a tremendous buzz seeing your name in lights on the famous strip, however my advice would be to have a big fight in England this summer. Of all the great nights I have had, fighting in front of 58,000 people at the City of Manchester Stadium a couple of years ago is something I’m immensely proud of and will always have a special place in my heart.
There will be a lot of paper talk of Amir fighting myself but I would much prefer to promote him and am certain with my help he can become the big star that his talent deserves.
I have been back in training this past week but before people start putting two and two together it is not boxing related but my other great love, football. I will be representing England in the UNICEF football challenge against the Rest of the World at Old Trafford on the 6th June.
I celebrated my younger brother Matthew’s birthday this weekend and last week was the first anniversary of my health and fitness club in Hyde.
This Friday I am promoting Ryan Rhodes in his European defense over in Sheffield. The bill features St Helen’s Martin Murray who is challenging for the Commonwealth Middleweight title. Another fighter to look out for is 6’ 8” Richard Towers who I have high hopes for, excuse the pun, and I don’t think it will be long before he can fight Manchester’s Tyson Fury. The show also features Manchester fighters Andy Morris and Stephen Foster Junior who next season will be challenging for titles.
A week on Saturday I am bringing boxing back to Bury when Scott Quigg fights Andrei Kostin. There was a real buzz about the town and I’m sure the sellout crowd will have a night to remember. Scott is another fighter who I have high hopes for and I expect him to be either the British or European champion before the end of the year.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Back from Vegas
I’ve just returned from Las Vegas where I was over for the Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley fight. Whilst I didn’t particularly enjoy the fight it was good to be back in Vegas and to catch up with some old friends.
The MGM was very busy over the weekend but there was nothing like the atmosphere and intensity as there was when I fought Mayweather a couple of years ago.
30,000 English fans created an amazing atmosphere which will stay with me forever.
Las Vegas remains the boxing capital of the world and I am looking forward to the day when I am taking one of my boxers over there for a world title fight, I am hoping it will not be that long.
I don’t want to take anything away from Floyd’s performance and you have to admire his boxing skill, I think history will show that he is one of the best fighters of all time. I hope that the negotiations can be resolved and that he will fight Manny Pacquiao, which was the fight everybody talked about this weekend.
Another anticipated fight is the forthcoming Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi. Having beaten Malignaggi comfortably myself I do not envisage any problems whatsoever for Amir and expect him to win easily.
I was surprised to read that the fight will be shown on ITV, who recently pulled out of boxing, I had presumed it would be shown live on Sky Sports. It will be interesting to see if ITV, or indeed any other terrestrial channels show any more boxing. Sky must be praised for the fantastic support they have given boxing in the UK over the last few years, without their support it is difficult to see how boxing would of survived. When I was growing up, it seemed there was always boxing on the TV, boxers like Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Prince Naseem were household names.
One of my young fighters Gary Buckland fights Manchester’s own John Murray this Friday for the British and European Lightweight Titles. I know John well obviously promoting his younger brother Joe, I expect Fridays fight to be a real cracker.
I’d like to say a big thank you to all my fighters who posed as models for my new range of clothing. Whilst they’re all used to fighting in front of a crowd with plenty of cameras and televisions I think a lot of then found this far scarier than fighting.
I managed to watch City’s impressive win over Aston Villa whilst in Vegas and have my fingers crossed for our fourth place decider against Spurs this week.
I went to the PFA annual dinner last week, where I was very pleased to see my good friend Wayne Rooney pick up the much deserved player of the year award. Like every other football fan, I hope he is fit for the world cup.
The MGM was very busy over the weekend but there was nothing like the atmosphere and intensity as there was when I fought Mayweather a couple of years ago.
30,000 English fans created an amazing atmosphere which will stay with me forever.
Las Vegas remains the boxing capital of the world and I am looking forward to the day when I am taking one of my boxers over there for a world title fight, I am hoping it will not be that long.
I don’t want to take anything away from Floyd’s performance and you have to admire his boxing skill, I think history will show that he is one of the best fighters of all time. I hope that the negotiations can be resolved and that he will fight Manny Pacquiao, which was the fight everybody talked about this weekend.
Another anticipated fight is the forthcoming Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi. Having beaten Malignaggi comfortably myself I do not envisage any problems whatsoever for Amir and expect him to win easily.
I was surprised to read that the fight will be shown on ITV, who recently pulled out of boxing, I had presumed it would be shown live on Sky Sports. It will be interesting to see if ITV, or indeed any other terrestrial channels show any more boxing. Sky must be praised for the fantastic support they have given boxing in the UK over the last few years, without their support it is difficult to see how boxing would of survived. When I was growing up, it seemed there was always boxing on the TV, boxers like Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Prince Naseem were household names.
One of my young fighters Gary Buckland fights Manchester’s own John Murray this Friday for the British and European Lightweight Titles. I know John well obviously promoting his younger brother Joe, I expect Fridays fight to be a real cracker.
I’d like to say a big thank you to all my fighters who posed as models for my new range of clothing. Whilst they’re all used to fighting in front of a crowd with plenty of cameras and televisions I think a lot of then found this far scarier than fighting.
I managed to watch City’s impressive win over Aston Villa whilst in Vegas and have my fingers crossed for our fourth place decider against Spurs this week.
I went to the PFA annual dinner last week, where I was very pleased to see my good friend Wayne Rooney pick up the much deserved player of the year award. Like every other football fan, I hope he is fit for the world cup.
Friday, 23 April 2010
Congratulations to Denton Vassell and Craig Watson
Firstly congratulations to my fighters Denton Vassell and Craig Watson on becoming the Commonwealth Welterweight and Commonwealth Light Middleweight Champions respectively at our boxing show in Wigan on Friday night.
Denton is another fighter from the Bob Shannon conveyor belt who trains at my boxing gym in Hyde. I have never seen a boxer train as hard as Denton and it is very pleasing to see both his and Bob Shannon’s hard work being rewarded.
Its well documented that Denton works for a bank and there were plenty of promotional photographs of him last week wearing a bowler hat, however hats off must really go to Craig Watson who saved the show on Friday night when another boxer Tommy McDonagh pulled out leaving the show in jeopardy. Craig is the former Commonwealth Welterweight Champion and has never boxed at light middleweight before however he had no hesitation in taking the fight at two days notice against the dangerous Ugandan Badru Lasumbya who had a very impressive record and reputation. I was absolutely thrilled when Craig won the fight after knocking him down four times in the second round.
In a weekend when all the talk has been about the Manchester derby albeit my team was robbed again! There are plenty of potential Manchester boxing derby’s with Denton and Craig joining my brother Matthew as champions and with exciting Mark Thompson waiting in the wings.
I should have been a studio guest with Chris Moyles on the Radio One breakfast show this week but unfortunately it has been cancelled as Chris is stuck in New York due to the current flight cancelations. This has also affected my mum and dad who can’t get back from Tenerife.
I was pleased to invite ten high profile Manchester businessmen to my gym in Hyde to launch their charity challenge last week. Starting on 16 May 2010, Manchester’s top entrepreneurs will be running 10x10k races in 10 countries over five days in aid of the NSPCC’s Hear Our Cry appeal.They are starting with the Manchester 10K on the 16th May followed by Amstersdam, Brussels, Cologne, Luxumbourg, Geneva, San Remo, Monaco and Nice, before finishing in Barcelona. Big thanks to one of my trainers Richard Heap for sharing his invaluable knowledge with the runners who will no doubt need it.
In 1997 Mike Tyson got a little frustrated with Evander Holyfield in their fight at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. So what does he do? starts eating Holyfields ear and then gets disqualified by referee Mills Lane. A knock on effect,no pun, is that Boxing was banned in Bury.
I am pleased to announce that Gareth Williams from Hatton Promotions has had the ban lifted. Gareth is from Bury and was passionate about taking Professional boxing back to his home town.
On the 29th may this year Bury Born, Super bantamweight, Scott Quigg will make his Home town debut at the Castle Leisure centre, Bury on our "Back Home" promotion.
Scott is unbeaten in 17 fights and ranked number three in Britain. I am very excited about Scott and I am sure that it is only a matter of time before he wins another title for Hatton promotions.
My acting Career continued with a walk on part, as myself, in Shameless last week. Some people might have missed the part as it was shown after the credits. It’s the second Television role I have had. Who knows I could be the next Vinnie Jones and return to Vegas in a different role. I won’t hold my breath.
Denton is another fighter from the Bob Shannon conveyor belt who trains at my boxing gym in Hyde. I have never seen a boxer train as hard as Denton and it is very pleasing to see both his and Bob Shannon’s hard work being rewarded.
Its well documented that Denton works for a bank and there were plenty of promotional photographs of him last week wearing a bowler hat, however hats off must really go to Craig Watson who saved the show on Friday night when another boxer Tommy McDonagh pulled out leaving the show in jeopardy. Craig is the former Commonwealth Welterweight Champion and has never boxed at light middleweight before however he had no hesitation in taking the fight at two days notice against the dangerous Ugandan Badru Lasumbya who had a very impressive record and reputation. I was absolutely thrilled when Craig won the fight after knocking him down four times in the second round.
In a weekend when all the talk has been about the Manchester derby albeit my team was robbed again! There are plenty of potential Manchester boxing derby’s with Denton and Craig joining my brother Matthew as champions and with exciting Mark Thompson waiting in the wings.
I should have been a studio guest with Chris Moyles on the Radio One breakfast show this week but unfortunately it has been cancelled as Chris is stuck in New York due to the current flight cancelations. This has also affected my mum and dad who can’t get back from Tenerife.
I was pleased to invite ten high profile Manchester businessmen to my gym in Hyde to launch their charity challenge last week. Starting on 16 May 2010, Manchester’s top entrepreneurs will be running 10x10k races in 10 countries over five days in aid of the NSPCC’s Hear Our Cry appeal.They are starting with the Manchester 10K on the 16th May followed by Amstersdam, Brussels, Cologne, Luxumbourg, Geneva, San Remo, Monaco and Nice, before finishing in Barcelona. Big thanks to one of my trainers Richard Heap for sharing his invaluable knowledge with the runners who will no doubt need it.
In 1997 Mike Tyson got a little frustrated with Evander Holyfield in their fight at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. So what does he do? starts eating Holyfields ear and then gets disqualified by referee Mills Lane. A knock on effect,no pun, is that Boxing was banned in Bury.
I am pleased to announce that Gareth Williams from Hatton Promotions has had the ban lifted. Gareth is from Bury and was passionate about taking Professional boxing back to his home town.
On the 29th may this year Bury Born, Super bantamweight, Scott Quigg will make his Home town debut at the Castle Leisure centre, Bury on our "Back Home" promotion.
Scott is unbeaten in 17 fights and ranked number three in Britain. I am very excited about Scott and I am sure that it is only a matter of time before he wins another title for Hatton promotions.
My acting Career continued with a walk on part, as myself, in Shameless last week. Some people might have missed the part as it was shown after the credits. It’s the second Television role I have had. Who knows I could be the next Vinnie Jones and return to Vegas in a different role. I won’t hold my breath.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Congratulations to Mathew
I must start this week’s diary off by saying a big congratulations to my brother Matthew for winning the European light welterweight title. He was a big underdog for the fight, taking it at only three weeks notice, but I always had the confidence he would win and prove all his doubters wrong. I was more nervous watching him than being in the ring myself and I don’t think it’ll be long before the Hatton family have another world champion.
It has been a successful few weeks for my boxing gym in Hyde with Prince Arron winning the recent light middleweight Prizefighter, and on April 16th Denton Vassell challenges for the Commonwealth welterweight title on our show at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan.
Denton is a fighter after my own heart with a crowd-pleasing style and notched up his fourteenth win in London. Joe Murray had his best win to date on the same card, beating the tough Yuri Voronin, and I’m sure Denton, Joe and Matthew will be flying the Hatton flag in Las Vegas soon enough.
Also on April 16th we see Tommy McDonagh get a chance to win the Commonwealth light middleweight title. Tommy is another exciting fighter and I’m reliably informed he’s fitter than ever after going on punishing runs over Holcombe Hill with emerging Bury boxing star Scott Quigg.
Whilst in London I had the chance to see my good friend Noel Gallagher playing at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a fantastic gig and it brought back such happy memories for me after fighting there in my twelfth fight. It is a fantastic venue and now I’m a promoter I’d love to stage a show there in the future. It has even inspired me to start guitar lessons along with my son Campbell. Having said that, I can’t see Noel inviting us on stage anytime soon!
The other big boxing news last week was Joan Guzman, who came in nine pounds overweight for his world title fight in Las Vegas. I read with interest that he now wants to fight me, but before he worries about who he is fighting next he needs to concentrate on his training. I am criticised about the amount of weight I put on between fights, but in 47 contests I have never once come in overweight.
Guzman is trained by Lee Beard, who assisted me for a couple of fights, and there must have been a problem because my good friend, and world renowned nutritionist, Kerry Kayes was brought in to assist them. Despite Kerry’s experience he obviously didn’t have enough time to help Guzman shift the weight. Guzman is a two weight world champion and someone of that experience should not come in so overweight. It was extremely unprofessional and if any of my fighters did that I’d call them in for a shellacking.
Hopefully by the time people will be reading this David Haye will have retained his WBA Heavyweight title against John Ruiz. David is a wonderful fighter and it’s outstanding to see a good friend of mine fly the flag for Britain at the MEN Arena, a venue in which I had so many fantastic nights.
British boxing has a lot to be proud of at the moment with David Haye, Amir Khan and Carl Froch who faces Mikkel Kessler this month. I just hope that the fighters in my stable can have the same success as the aforementioned trio and proudly fly the flag for British boxing.
It has been a successful few weeks for my boxing gym in Hyde with Prince Arron winning the recent light middleweight Prizefighter, and on April 16th Denton Vassell challenges for the Commonwealth welterweight title on our show at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan.
Denton is a fighter after my own heart with a crowd-pleasing style and notched up his fourteenth win in London. Joe Murray had his best win to date on the same card, beating the tough Yuri Voronin, and I’m sure Denton, Joe and Matthew will be flying the Hatton flag in Las Vegas soon enough.
Also on April 16th we see Tommy McDonagh get a chance to win the Commonwealth light middleweight title. Tommy is another exciting fighter and I’m reliably informed he’s fitter than ever after going on punishing runs over Holcombe Hill with emerging Bury boxing star Scott Quigg.
Whilst in London I had the chance to see my good friend Noel Gallagher playing at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a fantastic gig and it brought back such happy memories for me after fighting there in my twelfth fight. It is a fantastic venue and now I’m a promoter I’d love to stage a show there in the future. It has even inspired me to start guitar lessons along with my son Campbell. Having said that, I can’t see Noel inviting us on stage anytime soon!
The other big boxing news last week was Joan Guzman, who came in nine pounds overweight for his world title fight in Las Vegas. I read with interest that he now wants to fight me, but before he worries about who he is fighting next he needs to concentrate on his training. I am criticised about the amount of weight I put on between fights, but in 47 contests I have never once come in overweight.
Guzman is trained by Lee Beard, who assisted me for a couple of fights, and there must have been a problem because my good friend, and world renowned nutritionist, Kerry Kayes was brought in to assist them. Despite Kerry’s experience he obviously didn’t have enough time to help Guzman shift the weight. Guzman is a two weight world champion and someone of that experience should not come in so overweight. It was extremely unprofessional and if any of my fighters did that I’d call them in for a shellacking.
Hopefully by the time people will be reading this David Haye will have retained his WBA Heavyweight title against John Ruiz. David is a wonderful fighter and it’s outstanding to see a good friend of mine fly the flag for Britain at the MEN Arena, a venue in which I had so many fantastic nights.
British boxing has a lot to be proud of at the moment with David Haye, Amir Khan and Carl Froch who faces Mikkel Kessler this month. I just hope that the fighters in my stable can have the same success as the aforementioned trio and proudly fly the flag for British boxing.
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