FROM helper at his local amateur boxing club to the white heat of the MGM Grand ... the last two years have been a whirlwind for Salford lad Lee Beard.

A few eyebrows were raised when Ricky Hatton turned to rookie trainer Beard to help with the early stages of his preparation for next month's light-welterweight showdown with Paulie Malignaggi.

Hatton parted company with long-time mentor Billy Graham and was seeking a new coach. In the meantime, he turned to Beard, who was also involved in the process of choosing Graham's successor, Floyd Mayweather Snr.

The appointment of Beard, who already trained Hatton's younger brother Matthew, brought a resounding "Who?" from the boxing world.

But Beard can barely believe it himself - one minute he was working as a labourer, and stepping in as a helpful parent at an amateur club in Ashton-under-Lyne, and the next he was in Hatton's corner for the super-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr in December.

Advice

Hatton had no hesitation in asking Beard to fill the gap between Graham and Mayweather, and also asked his advice when appointing a new trainer.

Beard, 33, has crammed plenty of coaching experience into his years, touring some of the top American gyms, making friends in high places, and working corners from the Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre in Nottingham to the MGM Grand in Vegas.

"I have been around the camp for the last couple of years, but few people know me because I keep myself to myself," said Beard, who now lives in Audenshaw.

"I am not 45 or 50 years old, but I must have done something right because Ricky is at the top of his game and must be comfortable with what I do to allow me to train him.

"Most trainers, like fighters, start out with four-rounders and move up through the ranks.

"I was fortunate enough that my first experience was when Ricky fought Urango. Then when he fought Mayweather, his biggest fight, I was up in the corner.

"I don't have experience in terms of years, but I have been involved in fights far bigger than plenty of other trainers have been in, and that is where there is real pressure.

Working

"But I have also been on the small shows with Matthew."

Now Beard is working alongside Mayweather, and is in Vegas with Team Hatton.

"Floyd coming in eases the pressure off me and off Ricky as well, because Floyd is a big-time trainer," said Beard, who had no hesitation in recommending the controversial American to Hatton.

"Me and Floyd are good friends," he added. "I first met him when Ricky fought Juan Urango in Boston in January, 2007, and we hit it off straight away.

"He has been training my girlfriend's son Adrian, who is 17 now and lives in Vegas, for a year - he makes his pro debut on the undercard next month.

"I have been around all the top American gyms and seen no-one as good as Floyd. He is a no-nonsense disciplinarian and Ricky needs that at this stage of his career.

"Ricky respects me and has been doing what I tell him to do when I have trained him, but Floyd will rip him to pieces if he tries to cut corners."

Accident

Beard almost fell into the Hatton camp by accident - and it was the greatest Christmas present of his life. He had been a martial arts fanatic as a youngster, briefly trained under Ossie Maddix at Moss Side ABC, and had started to take his girlfriend's son Adrian Gonzalez to the Olympic club in Ashton. When young Adrian, like many star-struck young boxers, began to head straight for Hatton's gym in Denton during school holidays, it proved a life-changer for Beard.

"We were in Billy's gym one Christmas Eve and Billy mentioned that he would be in on Christmas Day as Ricky was training for the Juan Urango fight," he said.

"Adrian asked if I would take him down to the gym to watch, so I did. I was sitting at ringside when Billy and Ricky's fitness adviser Kerry Kayes came out and sat next to me. Billy said `you must be able to do the pads. Do you want to take Matthew Hatton?'

"I worked with Matthew for four rounds that day and we both enjoyed it. From there I ended up training him more and more, and he won his next fight against Frank Houghtaling."

Beard's dedication in turning up on Christmas Day, and his youthful vigour on the pads, impressed the Hattons.

Knowledgeable

"Lee was just an amateur trainer who started coming in the gym," said Ricky. "Before, he went all over the show in the States to learn and has become very knowledgeable, a real student of the game. He is not only very good on the pads, but very good tactically.

"He has been doing work with Floyd for four years now and Floyd couldn't speak more highly of him."

After the Houghtaling fight, the Hattons got in touch with Beard again. "I wasn't working at the time, and it went from there," he said. "The next thing I knew, Ricky called me and said he would like to do some work with me as well, and that he would speak to Billy."

But Beard and Graham were not seeing eye to eye, and when Matthew left the camp along with Beard in July, Ricky felt it was time to call it quits. He ended his 12-year relationship with Graham, who promptly retired from the sport, and Beard stepped into the breach.

"Billy could have still been involved but it seems he was too proud to work with Lee," said Ricky. "There was never any intention of him taking over from Billy. Billy would always have been my head coach."

Beard is now an integral part of Team Hatton, but is also earmarked as head honcho at Hatton's new gym, being built in Hyde and due to open early next year. Hatton has ambitions to become a promoter when he hangs up his gloves, and Beard is expected to be in charge of bringing on the new talent.

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