By Sean McDaniel: EBU welterweight champion Matthew Hatton (39-4-2, 15 KO’s) will be facing former WBA welterweight interim champion Yuriy Nuzhnenko (30-1-1, 14 KO’s) tonight in a 12 round title bout at the Bolton Arena, Bolton, Lancashire. The European Boxing Union welterweight title is as less importance in this fight as is the chance for the winner to possibly get a title shot against the WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko. That would be a once in a lifetime title shot for the 29-year-old Hatton, and he wants to make sure he doesn’t blow the chance for that fight by losing to the 34-year-old Nuzhnenko tonight.

Hatton, the younger brother of former light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, has the home country advantage in the Nuzhnenko fight, and that should help matters in a big way. Hatton doesn’t have to worry aboutt he power from Nuzhnenko, because he’s not a big hitter like some of the other welterweights in the division. The main thing that Hatton has to worry about in this fight is the sharp punching from Nuzhnenko, and his excellent technical skills. Nuzhnenko does everything well in the ring – he moves quickly, has good hand speed, and throws a variety of punches.

He’s hard to predict what he’ll do next. Hatton must stay busy against Nuzhnenko, because he can’t afford to let the Ukrainian outwork him. Hatton had that happen in his loss against Craig Watson in 2008, a fight where Hatton was totally outclassed. Hatton has made big improvements since then and looks like a completely different fighter. However, he’s still far from the complete package.

The key to victory for Hatton is to stay busy, use his jab and look to go to the body against Nuzhnenko. The Ukrainian fighter likes to fight on the outside, where he likes to control the action with his jab and avoid getting hit. Hatton needs to crowd Nuzhnenko and blast away to the body and the head. Most importantly, Hatton needs to avoid Nuzhnenko when he charges forward with his head lowered. Nuzhnenko has a bad habit of ramming his opponents with his head, causing nasty cuts in some of his fights.