Connacht Tribune
Boxing legend drops in on Galway friends for opening of pub
Boxing legend Ricky Hatton was the main event – not for the first time – as the former world champion visited Galway city as special guest at a charity event held in Cooke’s Thatch Bar in aid of cystic fibrosis last week.
Cooke’s – one of Galway’s oldest thatched pubs dating back to the 1700’s – has recently been taken over by cousins Chris and Kenneth Corbett, with whom ‘the Hitman’ is very friendly through their time together in Tenerife.
Hatton often spends his free time on the island, where he owns a holiday home – and Chris and Kenneth used to run a pub in Tenerife where Hatton often called in for a chat and a pint.
With Chris and Kenneth having just opened their new pub, and having heard so much about Galway City from the cousins, Hatton saw it as the perfect opportunity to ‘kill two birds with the one stone,’ and make the trip to Galway.
“I always used to go in for a Guinness. We had common friends as well, and just hit it off. They always said they were from Galway, what a wonderful place it is, friendly town, real buzzing city – so I’ve got a few weeks off this summer from my gym, training my boys so I thought no better time to come down especially with them opening the bar.”
Hatton is one of the most decorated British boxers, winner of four world titles at two different weights, having fought two of the greatest boxers of all time in Floyd Mayweather Junior, and Manny Pacquiao, though he suffered defeat on both occasions.
For a lot of the greats, boxing is in their blood from the moment they’re born – but for Hatton, it was simply a case of trying it out, and falling in love.
“It’s just something I really took to from a young age. I did kickboxing first. I was better with my fists then with my feet and then I went to boxing. It basically went from there.”
“I was from a council estate. I was a little tear-away. I just wanted to go to the boxing club and fight. As I got used to it I enjoyed it more and from a little scallywag, it turned me in to, I’d like to think, a gentleman and that’s what boxing can do to people.”
Hatton turned pro aged 18 in 1997 and went on to accumulate a professional record of 45 wins (32 by knockout) and three defeats. He won world titles at both light-welterweight and welterweight but admitted that he found it extremely difficult competing as a welterweight.
“I wanted to try win world titles in different weight divisions like my heroes; so I moved up to welterweight, won the world title, but it was a struggle. In the end, I moved back down and then the challenge came to move up to welterweight again against Floyd Mayweather. If you get the chance to fight the best fighter on the planet even though it’s not your weight division, you’re going to do it aren’t you?”
But, despite holding his own for much of the fight, he eventually succumbed to his first pro defeat in the tenth round.
Two years prior in 2005, Hatton recorded his greatest win against Kostya Tsyzu to claim his first world title, the IBF light-welterweight title. Hatton described it as the highlight of his career.
“You could be a world champion but that doesn’t mean you’re the number one in your weight division there’s so many belts nowadays. Kostya Tsyzu was the number one in my weight division, number two pound for pound so that was probably my best win and it still goes down as one of the greatest ever wins in a British ring,” he said.
Before the Mayweather bout, Hatton had a 43-0 record. He lost three of his last five bouts but highlights his knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao as the toughest defeat of his career. Hatton was knocked out in the second round and subsequently went on to put his career on hold after the crushing defeat.
Today, he owns and runs his own gym where he trains and promotes fighters: “I train about nine boxers. I’m the only boxer I know of, British world champion that’s training a world champion. I train Zhanat Zhakiyanov from Kazakhstan who’s world bantamweight champion.”
While Hatton’s visit to Galway was a fleeting one, he has plans to come back in the future.
Chris Corbett expressed his delight at how the evening went and thanked everyone who has supported them since the opening of the bar.
“It was an absolutely brilliant night. Ricky was a gentleman. He entertained the locals with his boxing stories and was only happy to take pictures and sign autographs,” he said.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
