Taking tips from fellow fighters!

Hi guys

It was all to evident to see that Hatton was very ring rusty on his ill fated return. Hatton had been out of the ring for 2 and a half years and it showed as his timing was all off and his head movement was lacking. In a strange way his fight reminded me of Leonard v Haglar.

Leonard was out of the ring for 3 years before signing for that fight. To combat ring rust Leonard staged a couple of REAL fights behind closed doors. Come fight night Leonard looked a million dollars with timing, movement and awareness. Now I know Ricky is no Leonard but surely this would have been a good idea to adopt. Of course its dangerous but ring rust needs to be shaken off and as Ricky decided to avoid a gimmie fight then this idea might have helped.

Theres no shame learning from your peers and Leonard is a fine example

What do you guys think? would this have helped Ricky? and are there other examples of fighters taking/stealing ideas to benifit themselves.

Not sure it would make a difference for Ricky the chasm in talent between Leonard and Hatton is so wide that no matter how closely Ricky followed Ray’s example he would be unlikely to replicate his success. Ricky traded during his prime so greatly on his physical strength, intensity and ability to bully fighters that in hindsight his comeback was always likely to be tough as they are some of the first assets to go with age.

In terms of fighters taking advice from other fighters one of the better examples is Gene Tunney in preparation for his second fight with Harry Greb, he was apparently visited by Benny Leonard who saw him sparring and advised him to concentrate on the body as Harry moved so much catching him cleanly to the head was a nigh on impossibility, Tunney took this advice and went on to enjoy greatly improved success against Harry.

Ricky to his credit got back into great shape but he must have been aware that ring rust would effect him. I understand your point that he is not on the same level as Leonard but surely that would not stop him adopting this tactic and shaking off the rust.

As I have said Ricky decided to take on a live opponent when he could have opted for a gimmie. A couple of real style fights might have helped him out although being Ricky he would most likely got decked a few times.

The Tunney example is a good shout. How about Khan using Lewis left hook right cross combo in dispatching Salita.

I had always thought that Leonard had been secretly preparing for Hagler well in advance of their fight aswell but I remember listening to him on ringside and he said that up until a week before the fight his plan was to stand toe to toe with Hagler. Then he got dropped in sparring and with very little time left before the fight decided to alter his strategy completely. I found it very strange that his plan would be to go toe to toe with a guy like Hagler, even if he felt Hagler may have been slipping.

With regards Hatton, I would bet that Paulie was offering him plenty of tips on how to beat Senchenko so desperate was he for a big money rematch!

Yeah you could tell Paulie was gutted!

Wasn't it Naz that took credit for the punch that despatched Salita? I'm sure I recall him boasting about it in a post fight interview.

Further to Jeff's comments on Tunney and Greb, Tunney eventually took advice from Greb after their last fight.

Harry knew that Tunney was having doubts about his ability to take on Dempsey and Greb told him that he had no doubts in his mind that Tunney would beat Dempsey. His advice was that Dempsey had lost the speed which had made him so dangerous and that Tunney should seek the fight as he had the ability to take advantage.

Turn ups are always important and while I don't think Ray is a great example as he was so brilliant in his pomp, I think Morales is a better example

Although he never reached great heights in his comeback, apart from a bogus title, the Morales who almost beat Maidana and Garcia was so much sharper and had much better timing the the first few fights he had since his return against nobodie Dover 8 or so rounds. He was awful and could do very little right but gained te fight sharpness before he stepped in with the better guys

On the bb again WHU?