Woods wins world title
(from Boxing Monthly magazine, March 2005)
Fight report
by BM magazine from Clinton Woods' awesome win
over unbeaten Rico Hoye
Woods w rsf 5 Hoye
(From Boxing Monthly Magazine, October 2005)
Sheffield's Clinton Woods was the also-ran of
the light-heavyweight division until March 4,
where, in the bowls of the sold out Rotherham
Magna Centre - an old steel works converted into
an award-winning museum and convention centre -
Woods produced the greatest five rounds of his
10 year career to stop unbeaten puncher Rico Hoye and claim the vacant IBF championship.
It was Woods's forth attempt at a 'world'
championship after Roy Jones Junior outclassed
him in September 2002 and then, of course, the
debateable draw and then clear points loss to
Glen Johnson in vacant IBF title fights in
Sheffield in November 2003 and February 2004
respectively. The Briton had his ribs cracked
and was well beaten in the second Johnson fight
and many saw his off-the-canvas KO struggle
against average Australian Jason DeLisle last
October as evidence the 32 year old was a little
past it.
"I knew what people were thinking," Britain's
only 'big three' title holder said after his win
over the heavily fancied Hoye. "I was supposed
to be finished but people forget I knocked
Glencoffe down in our first fight (although it
was ruled a slip) and I did better against him
than either Jones or Antonio Tarver."
Woods's final chance to annex a big belt came
about when Johnson was stripped for fighting
Tarver in December for double the money he was
due to receive for facing No.1 contender Hoye.
Yet, despite promoters Fight Academy once again
bringing the fight to Yorkshire, it was supposed
to be exciting puncher Hoye's night, not
Woods's.
And
Hoye, now 18-1 (14KOs), certainly looked the
part of a superstar in waiting during fight
week. He impressed reporters enormously at the
final press conference with his sharp suits,
silk ties and engaging interviews where no
subject was taboo.
"I was sent to prison as a teenager after I had
to shoot a man dead when he and two more of his
crew jumped me with baseball bats," the likeable
30-year-old said. "Overnight, I had to stop
being a teenager, a kid, and become a man
because there were people in the Michigan prison
system who you just didn't show any weakness to.
I had to fight to survive in there for 10 years.
After going through that and coming out a better
person, fighting a good light heavyweight in
England isn't so scary."
But Woods, also, had no fear of his opponent.
And his confidence was based on factors more
specific and practical for winning a boxing
match.
"Rico fought a friend of mine Prince (Badi)
Ajamu in 2003," Woods told this magazine after
the contest. "Prince had him down in second
round and then Rico got on his bike all night
and I beat up Prince all the time, to be honest,
when we sparred in America last year.
"Plus, I'd watched tapes of Rico. He knocked out
(three time title challenger) Richard Hall (in
four) but Hall was shot and I thought he'd lost
against Montell Griffin last September. I wasn't
that impressed, to be honest. He's never been in
there with a Jones or a Johnson."
Accordingly, Woods engaged Hoye, two years
younger, from the opening bell and the consensus
amongst those at ringside was Woods, whose win
takes him to an impressive 37-3-1 (23KOs), boxed
several leagues above anything we've seen from
him before.
In the first Hoye shuffled forward with the
confidence you'd expect of a undefeated banger
but he was beaten to the jab and, two minutes
in, Woods rocked him with a super left hook to
shade the round and bring the Yorkshire fans
almost to a frenzy.
Another Woods left detonated bang on target to
open the second; then another a minute later and
soon Woods's left fist - delivered straight or
hooked - was slammed home at will. And Hoye,
looking far too slow, couldn't land his
long-range missiles and was forced to stand
inside 'the pocket' where he just didn't know
enough to break down Woods's defence without
getting badly countered.
"He were a sucker for a short right inside
followed by a big left hook," Woods smiled
afterwards. "He were a sucker for a lot of
things on the inside..."
On the occasions where Hoye did hammer his big
right home, Woods barely flinched. Woods took
the second and third comfortably and whatever
Hoye's rep - it was the man from the Steel City
who looked the puncher. He battered Hoye in the
fourth and walked back to his corner with a 10-8
round after ref Ian John Lewis deducted a point
from the American for a low blow.
The man from Michigan was game, though, and he
charged full steam ahead after the merest
glimpse of a chance in the fifth; t much of the
artillery shelled at Woods during the almost
desperate attack detonated harmlessly on the
Englander's gloves.
"Rico's a big puncher," Woods admitted "I felt
some of them rights through my gloves well
enough but he hardly ever got through with
anything clean."
Nothing, nothing was working for Hoye and his
misery deepened when - unsympathetically - Lewis
deducted another point for more borderline body
work. But Woods rendered mathematics redundant
with a sizzling stoppage where he pounded the
resistance from the valiant ex-con with a
sustained attack of controlled but consistent
aggression.
The referee's intervention was a little
premature perhaps, but, significantly, Hoye made
no protests. Nor did he endeavour to make
excuses when I spoke to him in his dressing room
40 minutes after the first defeat of his four
year career.
"Clinton fought a hell of a fight," Hoye told
BM. "The referee? Yeah, he wasn't exactly on my
side but I guess there were unintentional low
blows in there. But I didn't mean to hit him
low. I don't fight like that."
Hoye, whose talented father Robert had his
career ended via KO in Yorkshire two decades
ago, added he understood the stoppage but would
have preferred to have been knocked out clean.
"I'm a fighter, y'know, so my thing is if I have
to lose, knock me out," he said forlornly. "But
Clinton fought great. One thing's for sure, he
was a different guy from the one I've been
watching these last weeks on tape. Completely
different."
Yet Hoye was completely different from the
hunter-killer he'd been built up to be, too.
"I was sure Rico was going to win," co-promoter
Gary Shaw admitted over the phone from the US.
"But I hear Clinton fought a hell of a fight
but, y'know, Rico had weight issues. He needed
three attempts to make 175lbs and I've heard he
camp into camp weighing as high as 210, 215lbs.
I'll have to sit down with him but he says he
can't make light heavyweight again."
But Woods, who listened to the Americans say
he'd be Hoye's 'easiest fight' wouldn't allow
his vanquished foe even a hint of an excuse.
"Listen, Hoye had nearly 32 hours to replenish
his system after the 4pm weigh in."
Woods commentated after crediting his own
radical improvement to working with a
nutritionist and new trainer Richard Poxon (the
young coach replacing Neil Port, who was killed
at Christmas).
"I've was doing my diet all wrong," the
triumphant new champ said. "I was weakening
myself and I also carried injuries into the two
Johnson fights which I, stupidly, kept to
myself. I knew I had power and I knew I wasn't
finished. People saw I got knocked down by
DeLisle and thought I were finished but I have
proved so many people long. I've put right what
I needed to and now I want another fight with my
man Glencoffe Johnson."
Yet the BBC, in their final scheduled coverage
of boxing, had other ideas. In a vulgar attempt
at 'journalism' which was deeply ill-mannered to
Woods, the new champion of, oh, perhaps three
minutes had his live post fight interview cut
shot and was asked by producers to put on a
headset and speak with (drum roll please).....
Joe Calzaghe!
"Tell him to get in queue," an offended Woods
said. "Take it (the headset) away. This is my
night."
And how. If he can replicate this form, Woods
can look forward to quite a few more.
Preview of
Hatton's unification fight with Maussa
(From
Boxing Monthly magazine, October 2005)
The Phoenix Camp is situated on the
third floor of an atmospheric old warehouse next
to a dual carriageway in Manchester. It is an
old building which has been hung, drawn and
quartered until it suited as varied purposes as
a karate school, carpet wholesaler and, more
famously, 'Betta Bodies' gymnasium.
'Betta' almost belongs to another age. Instead
of plastic hi-tec equipment, it has barbells
with handles melted smooth by acidic sweat. It's
a real gym and at the far right of the gym floor
there is a small corridor with a double door at
the end.
A sign reads: "Billy 'the Preacher' Graham's
Phoenix Camp" and behind it, at 12:20pm on a
rainy Wednesday in October, an already taunt
Ricky 'the Hitman' Hatton was preparing to match
his IBF light welterweight championship against
the WBA version held by Columbia's Carlos Maussa.
The fight will be promoted by Fight Academy, the
hungry young north/south promotional outfit
which operates as an amalgam of Dennis Hobson
Promotions and Evans/Waterman Promotions. It
will be televised live in the UK on Sky Box
Office and, according to Robert Waterman, on a
delayed basis in the US.
At least, it will unless the October 20 High
Court showdown with ex-promoter Frank Warren
goes against the new look Team Hatton. As
detailed last issue Warren is seeking an
injunction to stop the Hitman competing until a
court rules on whether Hatton is a free agent or
not.
Neither side has budged over the last weeks.
Warren insists he has a legal right to be
Hatton's promoter for three more fight, the
Hattons insists this is untrue. A blizzard of
tickets have been solid for the Sheffield Arena
for November 26 event but those tickets will be
returned if Warren convinces the judge that he
has a strong enough claim to warrant an
injunction. Some are wondering aloud how much
the upcoming legal engagements were distracting
Team Hatton.
I was at the Phoenix Camp to find out.
"The only clouds hanging over us are those up
there," Graham gestured out of the big,
industrial size windows, "the ones all that rain
is pissing out of. We've barely talked about it
at all since last month, we are fully
concentrated on Carlos Maussa. The injunction
hearing is next week and that'll be the end of
it."
Graham didn't know the date of the hearing.
"That's how bothered we are," he shrugged.
While taping over his glove laces before some
bag work, Hatton himself said: "I just look at
the case what Frank is coming with and aren't
worried. Everything on that side of my career is
handled by my dad (Ray) and my legal team. I
don't want to be in the papers slagging Frank
off, I used to genuinely like him until the
trust went out of the window around the Ray
Oliveria fight. But I know the truth will come
out in court."
Intelligence out of Florida, where Maussa's
Latin American Promotions
management team are based, was that they were
hopeful the Hitman's preparations would be
disrupted by the legal row. On the evidence of
my visit to the Phoenix camp, Maussa's men are
mistaken.
After loosening up with shadow boxing, Hatton
climbed into the ring to begin his two hour
workout with sparring. Some trainers, even some
good ones, have their fighters spar last with
the intention of replicating the fatigue the
boxer will encounter in the later rounds of a
title fight.
'The Preacher' is from another school of
thought: "I understand the theory but to me,
that's bollocks. If your kid is going in there
knackered he's gonna take more punches and
you're just adding wear and tear on his body.
When my fighters are sparring I don't want 'em
real tired so their brains aren't as sharp when
we're doing technical stuff in sparring. How can
they work on proper combinations when they are
totally knackered?
"That's why I decided a while ago, from
experience, that my fighters would run in the
evening rather than early in the morning. I used
to pick them all up in a van at 5am. But
afterward they'd not be able to get sleep again
and by the time they were sparring they'd be
exhausted."
The four round myself and photographer Mr Will
witnesses was only Hatton's second sparring
session since the Tszyu fight. He did four hard
paced rounds with the improving 23-year-old
Irish middleweight champion Matthew Macklin.
As you'd expect, Hatton was caught and tired
more than the finely tuned fighting machine who
brutalised Kostya Tszyu in that awesome June
win. But, every 15seconds or so, he'd produce a
sublimely timed lead right cross or subtle move
which left you in no doubt that one of the
world's best pugilists was sharpening his
weapons in front of your eyes.
And, despite the tiredness (Macklin was in top
shape for a fight in Philadelphia scheduled for
two weeks hence) and size discrepancy, Hatton
was incessantly walking the game Birmingham
youngster down.
Watching from the ring apron, Graham would call
out instructions here and there to both men but
it was very different from the running
commentary I've heard hollered out in other
gyms.
Graham and Hatton, despite a bloody nose, were
both happy with the work.
"I'm two, three weeks ahead of where I usually
am," Hatton said in between deep breaths.
"Obviously my timing isn't quite there yet, but
it's not far off and my punches are feeling
good. From this far out I can't believe how
sharp I am. Normally I wouldn't spar for another
two weeks yet but I'm feeling so fast and strong
I wanted to get to it."
"His one reoccurring fault is that he's
sometimes too square on," Graham said. "There
was a little of that just but these first few
sessions are just about watching to see what
habits have resurfaced. I just take a few days
to watch him and let him work his way back in.
I'll become more critical of him in a few
weeks."
After taking the 12oz gloves off, Hatton put on
some bag mitts and joined Macklin, brother
Matthew and Patrick Maxwell for round after
round on the heavy bags. The gym itself is not a
huge room and with the rain outside and six big
radiators blasting at maximum inside, all the
fighters began to sweat buckets.
Finally, Hatton hit the showers and sat down in
the gym café for a well-earned cup of tea. After
resting for a few hours to recharge, Hatton then
did one of his four weekly session with weights.
Three or four hours after that, at perhaps
7:30pm, Hatton would do his roadwork.
Hatton has come under heavy criticism of late
for allowing himself to party his weight
worryingly above the 10stone (140lbs) weight
limit in-between fights. But while going up and
down in poundage can't be good for Hatton, the
proof that he can get away with it (at least for
now) is not in the pudding but in the
freight-train pace he maintained to burn up
Tszyu at the MEN Arena.
The Hitman offered: "The lawyers are worrying
about the court case and no-one in the team is
worried about my weight. The only think I'm
worrying about is Carlos Maussa."
Because the IBF, WBC and WBO counterparts are
Hatton, Floyd Mayweather Junior and Miguel Cotto
respectively, Maussa is obviously the weakest
link in the golden chain at light welterweight
and absolutely no-one believes this is a
unification bout between fighters with equal
claims to being THE man in the division.
In November of 2001 Tszyu, already WBC and WBA
champion, knocked out IBF incumbent Zab Judah to
become what most neutrals regarded as 'the
undisputed champion' at light welterweight. And,
although politics robbed the Russian/Australian
of both the WBC and WBA belts, he was not
defeated in the ring until he capitulated to
Hatton in 11 rounds, and, so, the Hitman is
almost universally regarded as the consensus
omnium champion of champions in the division.
So why go after the WBA belt?
"I want all the belts," Hatton said. "I know I
won't be able to keep hold of 'em but I want to
win all of them. Yeah, I know that (Marco
Antonio) Barrera have proved that you don't need
the belts if you are at a certain level (of
stardom) but I still want to say I beat every
champion and every top challenger in the entire
division.
"Maussa is a fight I'm expected to win but it is
dangerous. He comes forward like me and I can't
wait for it. He's obviously a puncher and he
took some huge shots when he beat Vivian Harris
(for the title) in June so he's got a chin. He
came through everything Harris chucked at him
and it sickened Harris when Maussa kept coming.
"Most of all, though, Maussa's very tricky, very
difficult style wise. He'll be a better fighter
than he was for Harris because now he's a world
champion and he's got something major to lose."
Pessimism is an admirable, even professional,
quality in boxing so rather than believe that
the highly regarded Harris lost the fight, the
Hitman and the Preacher prefer to believe that
Maussa deserved his shocking seventh round KO.
"It was both to be honest," Hatton, who was
ringside in Atlantic City, said. "I think Harris
over-trained. He was knackered, not a leg under
him, from the second round. I heard that he was
134lbs the day before the fight so he must have
over-trained. But Maussa took everything and
completely prevented Harris from ever getting a
foothold in the fight with his style."
Graham added: "Maussa is a tall fighter (just
under 5ft 11 to Hatton's 5ft 6inches) but for
whatever reason, no-one really works his body.
There must be a reason for that and the more I
watch him on video the more sure I am that it's
his punching power what is keeping people away.
The trick is for Ricky to get inside and avoid
the shots which hurt Harris."
The British pair clearly respect the Columbian's
20-2 (18 Kos) record. Graham said: "I wouldn't
say there is method to his madness, I don't
think he's got a clue what he's gonna do next,
but he's turned what should be weaknesses into
strengths. He looks like a puppet with some of
the strings cut, his balance is poor, but
somehow when he punches he punches dead hard and
even though he looks off balance he must have a
heck of a chin."
Hatton added: "Even when Cotto (who beat Maussa
on cuts two years ago) put him down it was a
flash knockdown and Maussa was up immediately.
I'm not expecting a knock over job. Even though
after taking Kostya Tszyu's punches all night
I'm not worried about it, Maussa's style could
mean I'll have to have a more (complicated)
battle plan this time."
Graham added: "Carlos Maussa is a difficult
fight but he's not going to beat Ricky Hatton.
But then I don't think there's anyone in the
division who can beat Ricky Hatton."
