 talkboxing now on Highland Sport and I'm delighted to say joining me this evening is of course Donegal professional middleweight Brett McGinty and also his trainer, former world champion Mr Ricky Hatton, gentlemen, you're welcome to Highland Sport. Hi, Sasha. Brett, I'm sure you're not mind if we spoke to you several occasions before we might maybe speak to Ricky first of all if that's okay with you, Brett. Let's make everything... I've been looking forward to this all day, Ricky, to get talking to you and talk about your work with Brett. I suppose if we go back to when you first met Brett McGinty, what did you see him get as a boxer? What stood out for you, Ricky? Well, to be honest, stylistically, right up Ricky Hatton Street, you know what I mean? He had a fantastic amateur pedigree, you know, with, you know, national titles and multination championships that he'd won. Nine times out of ten when you've got such a, you know, a cabinet full of trophies from the amateurs like that, they tend to not have the style what Brett's got and he had a very typical pro style. He used to come in, you know, slipping and sliding, bobbing and waving, you know what I mean? You know, body, good body puncher, you know, good television attacking style, I'd like to say. And you think to yourself, you know, when you're as aggressive as Brett's style was, you know, he didn't look like, you know, the type of style which won all them titles he did. But what I've learned since working with him, I mean, the reason why he has that aggressive style and his one of his all them titles is that there's a lot more to him than just that bullet-a-gate attacking style. And that's what I know he's got in his ass and that's what we're trying to bring out bit by bit as we were working in the gym. Yeah, obviously you watched him as he trained and prepared for that first professional bout. What did you take out of that bout about Brett and what are you going looking for him rather to bring on now to the second fight of his pro career, Ricky? Well, it couldn't have gone, you know, and he was no one's fault. Sometimes it happens and bear in mind the COVID situation. We had two opponents pulled out and it was, this is the opponent, you know, you, unfortunately you've got to take it or you leave it. And he was, I think it was a lot, lot bigger opponent, you know, I mean, a lot more experience, short notice, you know, so, you know, and I wasn't, I wasn't keen for the fight to be honest at first. I mean, I had seen Brett spout with him and he handled him really, really well. But I mean, I ultimately, you put, set the ad guard off, you put them little gloves on and it's, it's different. But I accepted the fight because I knew Brett would win it, you know, I knew, you know, what he's capable of and everything. But it was probably a two, probably a harder debut than as his trainer out of light for him. But ultimately he come through the fight, he won, he impressed. And the boxes he ticked where he showed his determination, his heart, his stamina, his chin. Normally you start ticking them boxes off after fights seven, eight and nine, and he's already done it in his debut. So, you know, of how highly high regard I held Brett for before his debut, I owed him an even higher regard now. It's but it's hard job to, you know, to, to, to, to tech things slowly if you like, but we was unfortunately, that was no one's fault. It just was what it was that day. And we got away with it. And he took them, them knocks and he's looked from. What boxes do you want Brett to take now in the second fight, Ricky? I'm sorry? What boxes do you want Brett to now tick in the second fight? I think just a little bit more patience, you know what I mean? A little bit more, you know, just a little bit more cautious, throw your jab. I mean, at the end of the day, you know, you can all, we can all get caught with one punch. And that's what he did. You know, he was well on top. He got caught with one punch, but you know, just, just, just to stay, just to stay focused, you know, to keep you, to keep your shape. Sometimes even when you're, you're on top so much like Brett was, it only takes one punch to turn a fight. And that's what we've been working on in the gym, you know, we throw our combinations and our punches. We move our head in case that counter comes, you know what I mean? We jab as we go in, we throw our combinations and we finish on a jab. Little stuff like, like that, because these journeymen, they don't try and match you and go toe to toe, you match your punch to punch. They try and get lucky, you know, and the lad got lucky with that fourth round with that one punch. And hopefully we don't want to see that again, do we, Brett? Well, Brett, we'll go to you now, Brett. And obviously the first one under the belt, which is a, which is a huge thing to get you up and running. Your preparation was very much disrupted with that, given the circumstances with COVID. What's preparations been like for you now ahead of the second one? Been very good, I've seen everything's going to plan. We've been working on a lot of things, as I say, and as Ricky always says to me, like it's not about this fight or the next fight, it's about two, three years down the line and building as we go along slowly. But it's all well and good doing the things in the gym every day. It's up to me then to implement them in the ring, because, you know, that's how I want to better myself. That's how I want to improve as a fighter. So, you know, all the things we've been learning and working on in the gym, it's up to me now to carry on the ring with me on fight night and to use them against my opponent, because, you know, each, each thing strengthens, strengthens my arsenal, you know, my boxing. So, it's up to me to, to, to implement them and to make them work on fight night. Are you a bit more relaxed maybe this time around, Matt? I would say. So, actually, you know, it's just, you know, you always have them pro debut nerves hanging over you, you know, obviously coming up to your pro debut. And I also had an activity of nearly two years. So, I had my last amateur fight in February 2019. And then I didn't have my pro debut to December 2020. So, it was a very, very long layoff. I had that in my mind. I had the fact that it was my pro debut. And there was a lot of, you know, I just signed with McKenese a couple of days before. So, you know, that kind of pipe hanging over me. So, there was a bit of pressure on me, to be honest. And I did feel it. And I ended up being in a six rounder against a tricky opponent. So, you know, this one's about, can be a bit more relaxed. But at the end of the day, I have, you know, I have a job to do. And it's up to me to make sure that I do that, you know, tick the box, move on and keep building for the future. Yeah, your opponent for the fight is Jordan Granham. You heard you to fight Josh Hodgkins, but that has been changed in the last couple of days. One thing about Granham is he's a very, very experienced journeyman. He does have a lot of losses under his name. He's actually lost out to Sam Egerton, who's going to headline involved in Coventry. But just going to you, Ricky, is this a better opponent at this stage for Brett? It is, yeah. Because obviously, for one, he's at the proper weight division, which always helps. But no, at the end of the day, you know, when you go through your pro career, that was a tougher fight than what we needed for the debut. But we got away from it. We learned from it. The dumb Brett absolutely know how whatsoever. He most certainly knows what the professional game is all about now. But, you know, you have them run of the mill journeymen where, you know, they'll have 20 wins and 50 losses, or they'll have 15 wins and 60 losses, and, you know, and it doesn't, it doesn't really matter. They're like, they're all pretty much the same run of the mill. But the thing is, in about 80 fights or 85 fights, this fellow has only been stopped once, retired in his last fight out of about 85, you know what I mean? So, you know, that is, even though the record doesn't look good for this stage of Brett's career, that is a decent opponent, you know what I mean? And you've got to, that's the way you've got to look at it. You know, we could have an opponent who would have, you know, 20 wins, you know, could have had, you know, 20 wins and 40 defeats, but 20 of them, you know, 40 of them defeats, he could have got knocked out 30 times. So even though he's got a record in theory, it's not as good a test. This is a perfect test for Brett's second fight to put probably the mistakes or, you know, that there's some things that he did in the first fight. He can go and show people a little bit more, what he's got in the tank and what he's got in his arsenal, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. You, of course, had a lengthy, successful career in the ring and now you're a coach and you're a trainer. You, of course, were under, under Bully Graham. What has changed, you know, in the coaching and the training capacity compared to what you were as a fighter, Ricky, and what do you bring that to the ring and when you're training likes a Brett? Well, I think what helps for me with in training Brett, he's got a very Ricky Hatton-esque style, if you like. He comes from all the body punches, he's attacking, he's got a real, you know, attractive TV style type of style. And because he goes for the knockout and because he's so aggressive, I think he's got probably a decent coaching in me in the sense of because I was too aggressive in my career, I work a lot on defense now. I look a lot on catching shots and sliding shots because I didn't do enough of it in my career. And I think because I didn't do enough of it when I was training, that's what makes me overcompensate a little bit. As I'm doing my training, because if you remember when I first started my career, I used to get cut every single fight because I was just too aggressive. And you know, what I've learned is, you know, just to relax a little bit more, jab as you go in, a few more feets, bend your knees a little bit more, and then I stopped getting cut and I started winning fights a lot, lot more comfortable. And that's what the mistakes I made early on in my career. You know, I'm passing it on to Brett, so he doesn't do the same, if you like. So I think the fact that my defense was a little bit weak, it's made me more, which made me concentrate more on it, more on the defense as a trainer, I guess. Yeah. At this stage in Brett's young career, he's very, very eager. You have to learn how to be patient, as you mentioned earlier. And a lot of these young guys would like to go for the knockout and go for the K01. But at this stage of a young fighter's career, is it maybe more beneficial to see out the rounds, one by points, to go the four, to go the six, and then you step up to eight? Ricky? Yes and no, to be honest with you. I mean, if you've got a fighter's instinct, you know, when you go for the knockout, then what've you got? I mean, you know, ultimately, the time will come when he steps up in class where he will get the rounds out, you know what I mean? At this stage of his career, I'm not concerned about rounds, because he's only got about number two coming up. But one thing I'm concerned in is, as he's attacking, how he's attacking, you know, I want him to go fainting and dropping, throwing his jab a little bit more, bending his knees, you know, if the big one isn't there, don't wing it, don't mention in the gym, aren't we, Brett? If the big one's there, just show a little bit more patience and don't show it. I mean, and if he knocks them out, but as long as he's showing that little bit of patience, that little bit of, you know, you know, that little bit, he's just got to tweak things a little bit, still go for the knockout, because that's why fans are going to love him, but it's just how he goes about that, getting that knockout is what is more important to me than the rounds out in a minute. Just got to show a little bit more subtlety in his attacking, and as long as he shows that for me, the rounds will come. Yeah. Brett, we'll bring you back in. What sort of influence has Ricky been on you? It has been brilliant, Ashin. I'm learning every day in the gym, every day, every day in the Hattons gym, like, as a learning day for me. So what's up, as I said, like it's up to me now to bring everything I'm learning and doing in the ring, because, you know, it's one thing doing it in the gym every day, but the important thing is to bring it in the ring, because I know these things will improve me, you know, it'll make me a better fighter, it'll make me a better all-round fighter, and it'll get me, it'll progress me through the levels as well. So I'm learning every single day, as I say, I'm only a novice in the pro ranks. You know, it's all, it's practically all new to me, I've low amateur experience, but it's a complete different game. So it's up to me now to take that all in, to learn these things as I'm going along, and most importantly, to implement them on fight night and come to 22nd. I would like to think I'm going to be, you know, I'm going to look good in my performance and bring the things that I've learned and do them on fight night. See, at this stage of Brett's career, we all, you know, you're going to have speed bumps. That's what learning is, but if you can have the speed bumps, come through it, take it on board, use it to your strengths, you know what I mean? That's how you become a champion. If you get the speed bumps and you crumble under them, then you're not going to make a champion. We're all going to be Brett McGinty, Ricky, and all Floyd Mayweather. At this stage of your career, these are where the speed bumps come. These are where the problems are caused and everything like that, and you've got to show the character to take it on board, go to the gym, put it right, and improve in every fight, and that's how champions are made. And he'll do that. He'll do that exactly. What is the potential of Brett McGinty in your eyes? Ricky, how far can he go here? Well, you look at how well he's done in an amateur career with a very professional style. Normally when you've got a style like Brett McGinty who's throwing body shots and attacking and going for the knockout, we have a picture in our head of amateur boxers, which is a little bit, you know, a bit of fencing, a little bit in and out and fast loads of fast combinations and stuff like that. And that's not what Brett's got. So he's done, he's achieved all them amateur titles, you know, with a professional style, which shows that he's not just an attacking fighter. He's got more in his armory, and that's what I've noticed, you know, in the gym. There's a lot more to Brett than just coming forward, going for the knockout and attacking the body shots and giving time and giving more work together. That's what he's going to show out, but there's no reason why. If I was Brett, you've got to try and reach for the stars. You've got to be thinking world titles. If you haven't got that ambition and you're not thinking world titles, you're in the wrong game. You've got to be in the game and you've got to reach for the very, very top. And if for some reason you don't get there, you know, you can look at yourself in the mirror and say, well, it won't for the one to try, but there's no, no reason why he should be looking anything other than world title, you know, I mean. Yeah. Often do we expect to see him in the ring this year? Ricky, obviously we'll get through the 22nd of May. Will there be many more fights for the rest of the year to come? Do you guys want to get him on as often as possible? Absolutely. Well, Mick Hennessy, you know, his promoter has just said that his next fight will probably be in July, so then he can have a little bit of time off with the family, go back to Ireland, spend time with the family and the friends, you know, and his mates and that. And then maybe, you know, I would like to think, you know, come July, maybe another two, three before the end of the year, Mick Hennessy wants to keep him on Channel 5, he wants to keep the fans seeing him, seeing him improve. And that's the reason why at this young stage, you know, by the more fights, the more fights, the better, the more fights, the better at this stage, because at the minute, it's not about being in wards, it's about learning. So the more fights, the better for me at the minute. And I think if he can get another, he can have this one, and then another three before the end of the year, bearing in mind, we've been in a COVID year, you know, it's been a bad situation. I think Brett couldn't have hoped for any better footage first year. Mick Hennessy would have done a good job, very good. Yeah, I was listening to Mick Hennessy earlier on in the press conference, Ricky, and he was talking so passionately about Brett and yourself and the relationship you're having about this TV style and about how exciting this journey is going to be. Are you excited about it just as much as Mick Hennessy, Ricky? Very much so, and I'm excited for Irish boxing, because, I mean, we've had, you know, great champions through the years, you know, with Ireland, and it's nice to see the pedigree, he's got, you know, he's got two or three, three or four, you know, under his stable, and he's planned, he's to build them up like we're doing with Brett at the minute, build them up, build them up slowly, slowly, and then fighting for, you know, for Irish titles or European titles and doing them in Ireland. And no, Brett was nothing he would love better than to top the bill in his hometown, and that's a very, very distinct popularity, but it's slowly, slowly at the time, do it in stages, but it's very, very exciting time for Brett and all the Irish, the Irish lads, because Mick Hennessy has got a vision of that's what he wants to do, he wants to set these lads to Ireland, topping the bills in the hometowns and stuff like that, so it's very exciting times, and I think with the quality he's got in his stable, you know, the champions, the world champions that we've had that have recently just passed, you know, just home them up like Cal Frampton, I think we've got the conveyor belt coming right behind you, these guys they really do. Yeah, you'll be looking forward to that, bringing it home, Brett? Definitely, I would say the chances of getting a fight in St. Johnston are slim, but anywhere new, I'll do it. You'll have to take record in St. Johnston and carry again, but it's been the weekend. It's all very exciting to look forward to your career, Brett, but the next stage is on May 22nd in Coventry, and we wish you all the best in that fight, and I'm sure we'll be talking again after it as well. Brett McGinty and Ricky Hatten, it was great to talk to you, thank you very much for joining us on the video sport, and the best of luck for the next fight and coming months. Appreciate it, thank you.