Hague given chance of revenge
Posted: 20 Jan 2004, 09:37
Damon Hague defends his spurious WBF middleweight title at the Nottingham Ice Arena on Saturday, March 6 against Roddy Doran, the man who beat him a weight up (in a WBF super-middleweight title eliminator) in a big upset in Derby in November.
But Shrewsbury's Doran will go into the fight without trainer John Humphreys in his corner after a split.
Doran had insisted the pair had "naturally parted ways" but Humphreys shed more light on the decision.
He said: "Roddy wanted me to carry on training him but I just felt I was being pushed into the background and didn't feel part of the team.
"A lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon since Roddy beat Hague and it was becoming a little bit political. I felt it was time to move on."
Doran said: "I am training hard now because I expect Hague to come all guns blazing and I need to be ready for it. I expect it will be a different fight to the last one but I have beat him once, and I can do it again."
Errol Johnson has taken over as his full-time trainer and insists the switch will not affect plans for the rematch with Hague.
"I've looked after his sparring for his fights anyway so he'll still do the same sort of preparation and it shouldn't make too much difference," he said.
But Shrewsbury's Doran will go into the fight without trainer John Humphreys in his corner after a split.
Doran had insisted the pair had "naturally parted ways" but Humphreys shed more light on the decision.
He said: "Roddy wanted me to carry on training him but I just felt I was being pushed into the background and didn't feel part of the team.
"A lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon since Roddy beat Hague and it was becoming a little bit political. I felt it was time to move on."
Doran said: "I am training hard now because I expect Hague to come all guns blazing and I need to be ready for it. I expect it will be a different fight to the last one but I have beat him once, and I can do it again."
Errol Johnson has taken over as his full-time trainer and insists the switch will not affect plans for the rematch with Hague.
"I've looked after his sparring for his fights anyway so he'll still do the same sort of preparation and it shouldn't make too much difference," he said.