Cattermole wears a hearing aid, which he has to take off for sparring and fights, and lip-reads interview questions via video call.
“People make the mistake that just because he’s deaf, he’s stupid. He’s a very switched on young lad,” said Ottley.
The man himself is nonplussed.
“That’s just one of the natural things – my girlfriend calls me deaf and dumb,” he joked. “It’s what people think the first time they see you’re deaf. I just let them think that and take advantage.”
Several subtle adaptations are made by his trainer to make the relationship work.
“If I need to start or stop something, I have to tap him on the shoulder,” Ottley told BBC Sport.
“We have little signals and I have to make sure I’m facing him.
“If he’s in the ring I try getting him to glance over once in a while – I bang the canvas even though I’m not meant to – three times means ‘pick the pace up’, one time means ‘steady on’.
“It’s against the rules as a trainer but, in the circumstances, I’d take a telling off from the ref.”
