By Liam Santiago: There was once a time when only the very best could become a world champion. Every kid in a school playground could name the one champ of each division and titles such as inter-continental and commonwealth were unheard of. However, those days are long gone. Until recently, Matthew Hatton (37-4-1, 14ko’s) was in negotiations to fight Lovemore N’Dou for the IBO welterweight title. After terms could not be agreed for this bout the Manchester man has landed himself a fight with ring legend Zab Judah (37-6, 25ko’s). Someone tell me, what has Hatton done to deserve this?
Zab Judah, 31, is a legend of boxing. He has shared the ring with Kostya Tszyu, Cory Spinks, Mayweather Jnr and Miguel Cotto. Matthew Hatton is not in this league, that’s a proven fact. This is the sort of fight that is killing boxing. Fans want to see the best fight the best, or fight someone on level terms with their quality. I’m sure Matthew Hatton managed to get this fight arranged purely because he is the brother of former world champion Ricky Hatton. Unfortunately, this is the way boxing is going. Boxing is a sport that represents respect. The traditional way of getting fights like this is to earn your way towards it, that’s what this sport is all about, it is not about who you’re related to.
Lets look at Hatton’s progress so far. In his 14th professional fight he lost to journeyman David Kirk (9-43-3) on points at the M.E.N arena. Also, he has lost to journeyman Alan Bosworth (19-15-2), at the Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield, David Keir (3-2-1), at the Conference Center, London and he also lost to fellow Manchester Man Craig Watson (13-3). He has beaten a string of journeymen with his best victory probably coming against an old, past his prime Ben Tackie. Hatton beat Tackie on points, however, Tackie had lost his last four fights and was well past his best at 36. Hatton also has a draw on his record. Now, I’d love to know what this man has done to warrant a bout with Zab Judah, the man who has been the distance with Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
There are many fighters around the world that deserve to fight Zab but will never get the chance. There are plenty of young welterweight prospects that would jump at the chance such as unbeaten Ukranian Vyacheslav Senchenko (29-0, 20ko’s). It is a crying shame to fights like this arranged, but in all fairness it isn’t as bad as what the youngest Hatton brother originally had in mind. He was ready to challenge Lovemore N’dou for the IBO welterweight title. Lovemore is a full time sparring partner for Floyd Mayweather Jnr. Is Matthew Hatton in the same league as other welterweight world champions? Maybe I’m alone in thinking this. When you think of the welter champions, the obvious ones who come to mind are Mayweather, Cotto, Mosely, Clottey, Judah, would you put Matthew Hatton’s name into that mix? I certainly wouldn’t.
I am not criticising Hatton as a person, he’s probably a decent lad. I am criticizing this sort of match making. I have seen the same thing happen with other British fighters such as Liverpool man Paul Smith. He has a 27-1 record which at first makes you believe he must be a great boxer. Then you take a look at his record and notice that 95% of the people he has fought have had at least 15 defeats on their record and has also been defeated by one of these fighters. It really is a shame. Of course, the comments will come in fast, abusing me as the writer of this article. Being Ricky’s brother, Matthew will probably have a lot of support out there.
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