By William Mackay: Fringe welterweight contender Matthew Hatton (37-4-1, 14 KO’s) faces one of his better opponents during his nine year pro career when he faces 38-year-old Lovemore N’dou (47-11-1, 31 KO’s) on November 13th, at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex, Stoke, Staffordshire.

For the 28-year-old Hatton, the younger brother of former light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, it will continue with his recent trend of fighting older former light welterweights. Hatton faced 36-year-old Ben Tackie last year in November, beating him by a 10 round unanimous decision.

It’s unclear what the main goal is for Matthew Hatton by facing older fighters like N’dou and Tackie, because neither of which will likely prepare Matthew for the better fighters that Hatton will have to face when/if he gets ranked in the top 15. I suspect that Hatton will break the top 15 if he can beat N’dou on November 13th, but I don’t think Hatton will be ready to take any of the top contenders in the division.

I’m just hoping that Hatton doesn’t take the long Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. route where he fights 2nd tier fighters for a long period of time and keep getting pushed up in the rankings. Chavez Jr. is ranked number #3 in the WBC and WBO light middleweight division, and is there despite having faced zero top contenders.

Hatton, I’m hoping, isn’t going to focus on getting pushed up in the same way, hoping to get a big money title shot. With his name, Hatton will likely get a title if he can somehow get ranked in the top 15, but if he gets there based on wins over older fighters like Tackie and N’dou, then it will be disappointing.

If Hatton can get by N’dou, I’d like to see Hatton step it up against some good 1st tier fighters on the bottom 15, such as Sebastian Lujan, Carlos Abregu, and Jesus Soto Karass. I think we could find out very quick if Hatton has what it takes to be a top notch welterweight. As of now, I still see Hatton as the same fighter that lost a lopsided 12 round decision last year to Craig Watson. Hatton has done a good job of avoiding being beaten since then, but then again, Hatton hasn’t faced anyone as talented as Watson in the past year.

Hatton has been matched carefully since that loss but we won’t know whether he’s learned anything since then until he’s faced with a talented younger fighter instead of the old opponents that Hatton is being matched up with now. If Hatton has decided to fight N’dou two years ago instead of now, I wouldn’t give Hatton much chance of beating N’dou.

However, N’dou has gotten older in the past two years, and has lost two out of his last three fights going into the November 13th fight with Hatton. This is the perfect time for Hatton to fight N’dou, but it’s also something where we won’t know how good Hatton is because he’s not fighting better fighters who are a little younger in the tooth.