Hatton: I'd quit over Warren

johnswan1 · Post by **johnswan1** » 27 Oct 2005, 08:04

RICKY HATTON says he would rather give up boxing than fight for promoter allegedly again.

The IBF world light-welterweight champion has locked horns with Warren in a bitter contract dispute that is heading for the courts.

But Hatton, 27, says the split is now so deep he could stop boxing if judges rule in favour of Warren, who is suing for hefty damages for alleged breach of contract.

Hatton will attempt to add Carlos Maussa’s WBA crown to his IBF title in Sheffield on November 26.

And the Hitman said: “If Warren was the only promoter out there and I was forced to work with him, there’s a strong possibility I would retire.

“If Warren does finally take this matter to court and wins the case against me by some miracle, I wouldn’t want to put another penny in his pocket.”

Warren, who steered Hatton to the top in their seven-year association, claims he no longer has any interest in the Manchester crowd-pleaser.

He said: “It’s a bit rich as I’ve already said I don’t want to promote him any more. Disloyalty is no good to me.

“I have Souleymane M’baye who is the mandatory challenger for the WBA title so, if Hatton does win, then I’ll be in the opposite corner looking after my man on the night.”

Hatton admits the wrangling is playing on his mind.

He added: “I’d like to concentrate on the fight against Maussa and worry about the other stuff later — but you can’t help but think about it.

“Sometimes it does your head in.

“But I’m confident of winning two fights in the months coming up — one against Maussa and the second against Warren.”

Foggy · Post by **Foggy** » 27 Oct 2005, 08:08

It'll be intersting to see what happens if Hatton wins the WBA belt, will Warren push for the fight with M'Baye - Hatton, or would Hatton rather vacate the belt & fight a bigger opponent i.e. Cotto/Mayweather

THEBUTCH · Post by **THEBUTCH** » 27 Oct 2005, 08:21

It won't come to that for some time yet. If Ricky wins against Massua, he becomes Super champ and M'Baye will be boxing for the left overs.

states · Post by **states** » 27 Oct 2005, 08:22

Foggy wrote:It'll be intersting to see what happens if Hatton wins the WBA belt, will Warren push for the fight with M'Baye - Hatton, or would Hatton rather vacate the belt & fight a bigger opponent i.e. Cotto/Mayweather

If the WBA show their usual high standards, Hatton would become the WBA 'Super-Champion' by beating Maussa, leaving M'Baye to fight for the 'regular' belt, possibly against Harris would be my guess.

KMcRae1 · Post by **KMcRae1** » 27 Oct 2005, 08:38

Call me crazy. But what's wrong with a fighter wanting to make the best fights out there? If Ricky would've stayed put with FW he'd be stuck fighting a bunch of tomato cans for the rest of his career. For proof see Joe Calzaghe.

And who's Frank kidding? M'Baye? Please. Vivian Harris outboxed him with ease. And he's beaten absolutely nobody. Frank saying that this guy has a chance against Hatton sounds like sour grapes but doesn't hold water in the ring.

johnswan1 · Post by **johnswan1** » 27 Oct 2005, 08:51

I don't think Warren should be blamed entirely for Joe C - that is mostly just Joe being reluctant and feigning injuries.

KO Artist · Post by **KO Artist** » 27 Oct 2005, 10:45

Ricky has shown extreme disloyalty.

Warren will bounce back.

E · Post by E » 27 Oct 2005, 10:56

KO Atrist wrote:Ricky has shown extreme disloyalty.

Warren will bounce back.

Bollocks. You cannot show loyalty in the professional game, it's all about making money. It's the boxer taking the risk and he only has a small time window (if any) to make decent money.

I doubt FW would show Hatton much 'loyalty' if Ricky did not pull in huge crowds and had only average talent.

FW is only interested in Hatton because Hatton makes money. And that is perfectly reasonable as it is a business.

(Much quoted Mickey Duff saying - "If you want loyalty, buy a dog." If FW wants loyalty I suggest he goes to Pets'R'us, though of course he can't expect the dog to put food on his table....)

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 27 Oct 2005, 10:57

Where's this story from, John?

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 27 Oct 2005, 11:03

Warren wanted Maussa as the next opponent for Hatton, and he's already delivered Tszyu, give the geezer a break.

It seems money is the main factor, but I suspect there is something definetly personal to this too, it's like they were waiting all along for the opportunity to get rid of Warren.

I won't be surprised if Warren comes out on top either. As said before, he'll bounce back, say what you like but the guy is a survivor, he fought his way into boxing against the BBBofC and 'The Cartel' of Duff, Jarvis and Astaire, survived an attempted hit, and ressurected his promotional empire after taking a battering from Don King and the losses associated with the Excel Arena.

He may have some problems filling the void left by hatton, but it's not the end of the world.

J · Post by J » 27 Oct 2005, 11:04

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:Where's this story from, John?

was in the sun yesterday.

boxingchat · Post by **boxingchat** » 27 Oct 2005, 12:34

And in the meantime he will continue driving the flash 4 X 4 'Warren' bought him!!

Still least the un graeful and ungracious little ~@{!! can drive to the job centre in comfort!!!

boxingchat · Post by **boxingchat** » 27 Oct 2005, 12:37

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Warren wanted Maussa as the next opponent for Hatton, and he's already delivered Tszyu, give the geezer a break.

It seems money is the main factor, but I suspect there is something definetly personal to this too, it's like they were waiting all along for the opportunity to get rid of Warren.

I won't be surprised if Warren comes out on top either. As said before, he'll bounce back, say what you like but the guy is a survivor, he fought his way into boxing against the BBBofC and 'The Cartel' of Duff, Jarvis and Astaire, survived an attempted hit, and ressurected his promotional empire after taking a battering from Don King and the losses associated with the Excel Arena.

He may have some problems filling the void left by hatton, but it's not the end of the world.

Duff, Jarvis and Astaire? Have Jarvis Astaire become two people to avoid tax no doubt!!

Don't you mean Duff, Astaire, Barratt and Lawless AKA The Cartel?

Come on JMD I was starting to think you knew your onions.

boxingchat · Post by **boxingchat** » 27 Oct 2005, 12:40

And it was the London Arena, not the Excel. And 'attempted' Hit? He DID get shot and survived didn't he?

See me after School, James you must try harder.

KMcRae1 · Post by **KMcRae1** » 27 Oct 2005, 14:47

johnswan1 wrote:I don't think Warren should be blamed entirely for Joe C - that is mostly just Joe being reluctant and feigning injuries.

I agree that's it's a combination of both guys being reluctant to get in there with live dogs. Warren because he doesn't wanna see one of his prize investments get caught and Calzaghe b/c he can make good money fighting anonymous cab drivers from Cairo.

But I've followed the British fight game for a long time. And there is definitely a history, to put it nicely, of FW protecting his fighters. Is it a coincidence that his guys rarely get big fights?

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 27 Oct 2005, 14:51

KMcRae1 wrote:And who's Frank kidding? M'Baye? Please. Vivian Harris outboxed him with ease

That's not the fight i saw, this win for Harris plus the two away victories over Urkal made Harris's collapse against Maussa even more shocking, i was starting to think Harris might be underrated.

WayoftheCass · Post by **WayoftheCass** » 27 Oct 2005, 23:39

No sympathy for Warren. He's given us too much crap over the years and whined like a school kid anytime somebody from Sky asks a probing question.
As for Hatton showing disloyalty.....please. This a boxing promoter we are talking about here and not some nieve ageing manager. If Frank had been smarter with his contracts then he wouldn't have had this problem.
Ricky can drive around in all the 4x4s he likes. He's the one doing the fighting and he's made Warren a fortune.
I say keep your tears for something worthy and not allegedly's pride/bank balance. He'll live. And as long as he does there will alwys be work for large Baltic men disguised as 'National Champions.'

KMcRae1 · Post by **KMcRae1** » 28 Oct 2005, 03:18

WayoftheCass wrote:No sympathy for Warren. He's given us too much crap over the years and whined like a school kid anytime somebody from Sky asks a probing question.
As for Hatton showing disloyalty.....please. This a boxing promoter we are talking about here and not some nieve ageing manager. If Frank had been smarter with his contracts then he wouldn't have had this problem.
Ricky can drive around in all the 4x4s he likes. He's the one doing the fighting and he's made Warren a fortune.
I say keep your tears for something worthy and not allegedly allegedly's pride/bank balance. He'll live. And as long as he does there will alwys be work for large Baltic men disguised as 'National Champions.'

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 28 Oct 2005, 04:18

boxingchat wrote:And it was the London Arena, not the Excel. And 'attempted' Hit? He DID get shot and survived didn't he?

See me after School, James you must try harder.

Ok so it was the London Arena, point is he lost a load of loose change.

And a successful hit would culminate in the death of a target, so it was an unsuccessful hit. So I'm afraid it is you who errs here. It was an unsuccessful hit.

My point is anyhow, that the loss of a single fighter is unlikely to bring about the ruination of one Mr Warren.

AlexY2K4 · Post by **AlexY2K4** » 28 Oct 2005, 06:35

All I can say is that I agree 100% with wayoftheclass, I couldn't have put it any better.

G-man · Post by **G-man** » 28 Oct 2005, 08:09

boxingchat wrote:And in the meantime he will continue driving the flash 4 X 4 'Warren' bought him!!

Still least the un graeful and ungracious little ~@{!! can drive to the job centre in comfort!!!

Warren didn't buy it him, he was leasing it for him and Rick has since bought out the lease contract meaning he owns the X4.

liamlion · Post by **liamlion** » 28 Oct 2005, 08:22

boxingchat wrote:And in the meantime he will continue driving the flash 4 X 4 'Warren' bought him!!

With whose money???

I think youll find the money that Allegedly spent on Hatton, was from the same pot of money that Hatton had made for Allegedly! In which case Hatton was effectively paying for the vehicle, whether or not the cheque was signed by him or Allegedly.

Goz · Post by **Goz** » 28 Oct 2005, 08:24

Warren has even admitted he fed Hatton some patsys over the years.

I've wanted this to happen to Warren for years, I think he wants people to start thinking boxing would be in trouble without him in this country. Bollox, someone (if not multiple promoters) would step in and fill the gap and probably rejuvinate the game that this pompus twat has in my opinion (along with Sky) marginalised to the point of becoming a minority sport.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 28 Oct 2005, 08:27

liamlion wrote:
boxingchat wrote:And in the meantime he will continue driving the flash 4 X 4 'Warren' bought him!!
With whose money???

I think youll find the money that Allegedly spent on Hatton, was from the same pot of money that Hatton had made for Allegedly! In which case Hatton was effectively paying for the vehicle, whether or not the cheque was signed by him or Allegedly.

That's a little ridiculous. I'm not on either side of the fence, but do you honestly think Hatton is not the richer for having been promoted by Warren. In my opinion no other promoter in the UK and few in the world could have made Hatton so much money for fighting the opposition he did in his own back yard.

Hatton's career is one of the best examples on how to move a fighter for low-risk and massive reward.

Hatton made a fortune with Warren's aid, and if Warren got rich doing so, then that's only right and proper.

After all, if I were to say to you I would make you 4 million quid in about 6 years, but I wanted a cut, would you be pissed off.

Ricky might be the one taking the punches, but would he be rich if he had promoted himself? Would he bollocks.

Promoters are seen as an evil in the sport, but they are the ones who finance the sport, take the risks with their money, and make fighters richer. Without promoters boxing would never have existed in the first place as an organised sport.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 28 Oct 2005, 08:36

I think its pretty sad that Hatton only seems interested in a few fat paydays and then quitting to go on some marathon pub run. All this talk of retirement shows that his appetites are mainly for beer and kebabs these days. This is a guy 28 in his prime who should rearing to go and prove himself a great fighter. In fact he's just looking for his big payoff.