Paul's Press Ups
Paul Foley looks at the boxing stories that focus on playing it safe...
I open this week's gloved session with the biggest news (well, actually it’s a strong rumour) that fans favourite and fun loving Ricky Hatton won’t be living on the edge in the ring anymore.
On Tuesday morning I turned to the back page of the Daily Express to be met with the headline “Ricky Hatton to throw in the towel.”
Niall Hickman started on the front foot by declaring Hatton’s comeback plans are on a knife edge after he told friends on a holiday in Tenerife that he was walking away from the ring.
He continued in similar fashion throughout by stating Hatton had told friends on the holiday he has become disillusioned with the sport following the departure of assistant trainer Lee Beard last month and will not return for his proposed June 26th Sky date.
Our Ricky has had a tough time at the hands of his knockers since being taken out in two by Manny Pacquiao a year ago. And it’s not just at the manner of that loss but his manner of blowing up to 14st.
People can have a short memory when things don’t run too smoothly. This is a guy who played the game of high stakes and only fell short at the top end of the top table.
Apart from two gambles against Manny and Mayweather that didn’t quite bring the desired pay out he walked away a sure fire winner with cash and belts in hand.
No more belts then but at least he has enough cash and enough health to enjoy it.
It is better the fight ends outside of the ring with one realising and accepting they are not quite the runner or in Hatton’s case the fighter they use to be. He would have a great fight on his hands just to shed four stone to get on fight weight.
Good on Ricky for not wanting to play Russian roulette with his life.
A few nights out in Tenerife are a lot safer than staring down a top ten 10st puncher.
Who would want to see an-odds on winner coming in as an also run?
Vitali Klitschko has claimed he knows why a rematch with Lennox Lewis never transpired and it has nothing to do with money but has everything to do with Mummy!
In the week running up to Mother’s Sunday it seems the mother of the one time heavyweight king was looking after her son in preventing him having another tussle with the Ukraine giant and who can blame her!
The Daily Mail quoted Vitali as saying “Lennox promised me but his mum decided he wasn’t going to fight. He invited me to London without managers he said he wanted to talk just together. I came to the room and his mum is there. We talked for two hours and his mum is looking at me and scanning me.
“After that I went away and he called me a couple of hours later and said “Sorry but no.” I felt it wasn’t his decision, his mum decided.”
Sound advice from mum after seeing how close Vitali came to dethroning her son.
There’s no way mum was going to risk seeing her son laid out.
Lennox beat them all except mum.
I wish Roy Jones' mum would do the same for him. Maybe she’s tried!
The ABA website reported how Amir Khan has been using his life experiences to keep kids on the right track or in this case off the tracks.
Down south in Portsmouth, youngsters were making a habit of playing on the railway tracks so the train company got tough and teamed up with Khan to knock this trouble out.
Who better than a man who knows the impact an oncoming train can have if it hits you?
It’s not so long ago that Khan felt the full impact of a powerful Prescott Express.
Thankfully although he was hurt he lives to tell the tale.
I wonder if this is why he’s fighting a lot less powerfully steam charged Malignaggi rather than a furious locomotive like Marcos Maidana.
Once bitten twice shy?
