Manchester’s Campbell Hatton (3-0, 0 KOs) has relished the return of fans to boxing arenas and hopes that he can follow in his father Ricky’s footsteps by securing a meaningful contest at the Manchester Arena in front of a packed crowd. He boxed there in his second fight, a win over Levi Dunn in May, and hopes for more of the same as his career progresses.
Hatton has told the Manchester Evening News that he considers the venue his spiritual boxing home and he hopes that promoter Eddie Hearn leaves a gap open for him the next time he stages a show at the venue.
“I have always wanted to box at the Manchester Arena,” he said. “I can’t wait to do it with a crowd now we are getting back to normal.”
Josh Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) has insisted that he is not bothered by the constant barbs issued by his domestic rival and IBF featherweight titlist Kid Galahad. The two met in June 2019, with Warrington then-IBF holder the recipient of a close split decision win, and they have continued to trade words ever since.
Warrington lost in nine to Mauricio Lara (23-2, 16 KOs) last time out and they meet again in Leeds on September 4. The 30-year-old has stated that he is not thinking about Galahad and that the only thing on his mind is beating Lara. “He doesn’t just have a dual personality, I think he has four or five different personalities,” he said when dismissing the idea that he constantly talks about his rival (quotes c/o the Daily Mirror).
“You saw him after the last fight a few weeks back against Jazza and he couldn’t help mention my name then…I know he’s only playing the game but I don’t play games. I’m a serious guy. With me, what you see is what you get. With him, he has so many different personalities. After a fight he’s ‘Cheers mate, you did the business, good fight’. Then it’s ‘I’m going to put him on a stretcher if I fight him again’…I’m not buying all that s**t he’s putting on Twitter.”
“If he genuinely meant it or not, I don’t know,” he added. “If I saw it in his face, it would be different. The clown wants to get some recognition and he hasn’t got any.”
Anthony Taylor (0-1, 0 KOs) has accused opponent Tommy Fury (6-0, 4 KOs) of “disrespecting” the sport of boxing ahead of their meeting on the undercard of Jake Paul’s fight against Tyron Woodley this weekend. “You don’t expect Michael Jordan’s kids to be the next Jordan,” he told Sky Sports. “Don’t expect Tommy to be the next Tyson.”
“They’re just not cut from the same cloth,” he added. “He is a disrespect to the sport. He’s not a boxer. A boxer doesn’t fight guys with 10 wins and 126 losses…Tell me I can’t beat those fighters that Tommy has beaten already. Without Tyson bringing up his brother’s name, who was Tommy? We never even knew that Tyson had a brother who was a boxer.”
Mike Tyson has told the boxing community to show Jake Paul (3-0, 3 KOs) some respect ahead of this weekend’s festival of boxing by arguing that the YouTuber is better than most people give him credit for and will show this against debutant Tyron Woodley.
Speaking on his Hotboxin’ podcast with co-host Henry Cejudo, Tyson claimed that: “Paul’s a real good striker, and I think people do him a disservice when they go in there and say, ‘He’s blonde-haired and blue-eyed, he’s a white boy’.
“I think that also builds their opponent’s courage up and causes them to get knocked out,” he added. “Jake’s gonna beat him. Woodley’s not a puncher like that, that’s why he wants to fight this guy, to get his last payday probably.”
Outside of the top-level boxing circus, a white-collar fighter from Skye in Scotland is trying to use the sport to do some good. Ryan Hunter has told David Mackay from the Aberdeen Press and Journal that he will use his next fight to raise money for cancer charities after being inspired by his brother, Brad, who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of three only to fight his way through it to make a recovery.
Hunter hopes to raise some money to contribute to Cancer Research UK and Hunter’s appearance on the Ultra White Collar Boxing event in Aberdeen next month will be used to raise funds and awareness. With around £7000 already raised going in by the fighters on the bill, Hunter wants to help swell the coffers despite a troubled build-up to the event.
“Cancer is something that affects most of us at some point in our lives,” he said. “Every two minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with cancer. When I was very young, Brad, my three-year-old brother, nearly died of cancer. I stayed with my nana while my parents and brother essentially lived in the hospital.
“Fortunately, Brad survived and he’s fine now — but, from then on, I hated cancer and everything it does to families. I’ve always loved boxing — so getting the chance to have fun and strike a blow against cancer is something I’m really enjoying.”
“I travel to Aberdeen (from Skye) every week at my own expense for training,” he added. “There just aren’t any training facilities on Skye at all. If I want to spar with others, the nearest place would be Inverness. I know other people would also love better boxing opportunities on the island. However, I’ve had immense support from Paul Lynch in Kyle. He runs the fitness studio Highland Strength, and has helped me with regular training.”
Main image: Campbell Hatton (left) dominates Jakub Laskowski. Photo: Ian Walton/Matchroom Boxing.