For years, Billy Graham was one of the most recognisable figures in British boxing.
Known as “The Preacher”, Graham was the trainer who helped guide Ricky Hatton from a hugely talented teenage amateur to one of Britain’s most popular world champions.
Their partnership produced unforgettable nights in Manchester and Las Vegas, including Hatton’s famous victory over Kostya Tszyu and his blockbuster showdown with Floyd Mayweather.
But behind the success was a relationship that eventually broke down.
Appearing on the Terry Stone Connection podcast, Graham opened up about his career, his years with Hatton, the fights that defined their partnership and the regret he carries over how their relationship ended.
Billy Graham’s Journey From Boxer to Trainer
Long before becoming Ricky Hatton’s trainer, Billy Graham was obsessed with boxing.
He began boxing at 16 before eventually turning professional, winning 12 of his 14 professional fights. After walking away from his own career, Graham initially had little interest in becoming a boxing trainer.
That changed after he became involved at Manchester’s famous Champs Camp.
Eventually, Graham established his own successful gym in Salford, the Phoenix Camp, which developed a reputation for producing championship-level fighters.
By the time Hatton arrived, Graham was already an experienced trainer.
But the young fighter immediately stood out.
Graham recalled seeing Hatton at just 17 years old and quickly recognising that he possessed something special. Despite his age, Hatton was able to hold his own with some of the leading light welterweights training at Graham’s gym.
For Graham, the potential was obvious.
Building the Ricky Hatton Fighting Style
One of the most fascinating parts of Graham’s interview is his explanation of what made Ricky Hatton such an effective fighter.
Hatton became famous for relentless pressure, devastating body punches and an ability to turn fights into physically exhausting battles.
But Graham believes there was far more skill behind that style than many people realised.
Hatton had excellent judgement of distance, anticipation and peripheral vision. Although capable of boxing at range, Graham believed Hatton was at his best when closing the distance and forcing opponents to fight at his pace.
That approach became the foundation of their success.
Graham also adopted training methods that were relatively progressive within boxing at the time.
Rather than pushing fighters to exhaustion every day, he alternated intense sessions with lighter technical days and placed considerable importance on recovery.
Weight training was also incorporated into his fighters’ preparation when strength training was still viewed with suspicion by many traditional boxing coaches.
Ricky Hatton vs Kostya Tszyu
If one fight defines the partnership between Ricky Hatton and Billy Graham, it is the 2005 victory over Kostya Tszyu.
Tszyu was considered one of the most dangerous fighters in world boxing, and Graham says many people around Hatton did not want the fight to happen.
Graham and Hatton thought differently.
They had studied Tszyu extensively and understood the danger presented by his powerful right hand.
Rather than attempting to stay away from the champion, their strategy was to get close.
Hatton would force Tszyu to work for every second of every round, physically push him backwards and turn the contest into the type of exhausting inside fight that suited Hatton.
The strategy worked.
After 11 punishing rounds in Manchester, Tszyu did not emerge for the final round.
Hatton had produced one of the greatest victories in modern British boxing history and become a genuine world champion.
The Floyd Mayweather Fight in Las Vegas
Two years later came an even bigger occasion.
Ricky Hatton travelled to Las Vegas to fight Floyd Mayweather in one of the most anticipated boxing events of the decade.
Thousands of British supporters travelled to America, creating an atmosphere Graham says was unlike anything he had experienced before.
For Graham, however, the fight remains a source of frustration.
He strongly criticised referee Joe Cortez’s handling of the contest, arguing that Hatton was repeatedly prevented from working effectively on the inside.
Graham accepts that there is no certainty Hatton would have defeated Mayweather under different circumstances, but he believes Hatton needed to be allowed to fight in his natural style to have his best opportunity.
By the later rounds, Graham says information from ringside suggested Hatton was significantly behind on the judges’ scorecards.
His message was therefore simple: Hatton needed a knockout.
Hatton increased the pressure, became more vulnerable and was eventually stopped in the tenth round.
Why Billy Graham and Ricky Hatton Split
The Mayweather defeat was followed by one of the most difficult periods of Graham and Hatton’s relationship.
Graham says injuries were beginning to affect his ability to train at the same intensity as before, but insists this was not the only reason their partnership came to an end.
During the Terry Stone Connection interview, Graham discusses disagreements surrounding money, management and the direction of Hatton’s career.
He also gives his version of the eventual separation, describing their final conversation as far calmer than many people might imagine.
According to Graham, there remained genuine affection between them despite everything that subsequently happened.
Their professional relationship was over, but the emotional connection created by years of training camps, fights and championship nights never completely disappeared.
Billy Graham’s Regret Over Ricky Hatton
Perhaps the most emotional part of the conversation comes when Graham reflects on the later years of their relationship.
Hatton attempted to reconnect with him on several occasions, Graham says, including around his exhibition bout and following the release of a documentary about his career.
Graham admits he found rebuilding the relationship difficult because of wider tensions involving people around Hatton.
Looking back, however, he wishes he had handled things differently.
The pair did spend time together again at Brendan Ingle’s funeral, where Graham remembers them avoiding difficult conversations and instead laughing about their years travelling the world together.
But Graham now questions whether he should have made more effort to reconnect.
It is a regret that clearly remains with him.
A Boxing Partnership That Will Always Be Remembered
Whatever happened away from the ring, the partnership between Ricky Hatton and Billy Graham occupies a special place in British boxing history.
Together they transformed a talented Manchester youngster into a world champion capable of filling arenas and taking tens of thousands of supporters across the Atlantic.
The Kostya Tszyu victory, the Las Vegas nights, the body shots, the training camps and the unmistakable relationship between fighter and trainer became part of the Ricky Hatton story.
Graham’s appearance on the Terry Stone Connection provides a deeply personal perspective on that journey.
There is pride in what they achieved, anger over what went wrong and unmistakable sadness about the years they lost.
But underneath everything else is the sense that Billy Graham never stopped caring about Ricky Hatton.
For boxing fans who watched the pair during Hatton’s rise to the top, that relationship remains every bit as memorable as the fights themselves.
