Hatton’s trainer: Mayweather is no Ali

RICKY HATTON’S trainer Billy Graham has delivered a withering riposte to Floyd Mayweather’s brash proclamations of all-time greatness, insisting the unbeaten Grand Rapids man is no Muhammad Ali — neither inside nor outside the ring.

Graham admits to hoarding a “cellar-full” of old boxing videos in his Salford home, where he pores over footage of the greats of his sport in a quest to add something extra to Hatton’s already formidable armoury.

That includes the art of the pre-fight hype, best encapsulated by Ali’s seemingly off-the-cuff press conference poetry and his hilarious ‘bear hunt’ escapade to track down a reluctant Sonny Liston in 1964.

“Ali was the master,” Graham recalls. “He was funny, and you could see that he was a really nice guy behind it all. Floyd’s neither got his wit nor his timing. He’s a very poor imitation of Muhammad Ali.

“He can rant and rave and shout and say all the things he wants — but it doesn’t matter to me, or more importantly to Ricky. I’ve met plenty of fighters who are a bit intimidating. But Floyd is not intimidating; he’s not scary.

“I know the bloke’s got a lot of ability — but he’s not a scary man.”

Graham may be reaping the rewards from Hatton’s ascent to the top of his sport — he has bought himself a second home close to Atlanta, complete with a swimming pool to house his collection of water snakes — but he remains resolutely down to earth.

What drives Graham is not the lure of more cold, hard lucre but simply the desire to help Hatton fulfil his potential and establish himself as a fighter to rank among those who linger on his dusty tapes back home.