By Sean McDaniel: EBU welterweight champion Matthew Hatton (39-4-2, 15 KO’s) is facing former WBA welterweight champion Yuriy Nuzhnenko (30-1-1, 14 KO’s) this Friday night at the Bolton Arena, Bolton, Lanchashire. Hatton, 29, needs this win to keep him in position to get a possible title shot against WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko.

Hatton has to fight smart against Nuzhnenko and make sure he uses his jab enough and lets his hands go. This fight is likely going to be an incredibly boring affair with both fighters boxing from the outside and moving a lot. Neither of these fighters have any power, nor that’s kind of surprising, because you would think that Hatton, the younger brother of two-diving champion Ricky Hatton, would have some respectable power.

Matthew Hatton can load up some shots on occasion and summon up a little power, but he just doesn’t have the strength that his older brother Ricky once had in his prime. It probably won’t matter for this fight. Nuzhnenko is a tactical fighter that likes to jab and throw counter shots. He’ll get some opportunities, because Hatton will certainly be coming after him and letting his hands go.

Hatton defeated 39-year-old Gianluca Branco to capture the vacant EBU welterweight title in his last fight in March. It was a very close fight but Hatton did enough to nick it in the end with his better work rate and energy compared to the 39-year-old Branco. For Hatton, this was the second nearly 40-year-old fighter that he has been in with in his last four fights.

Although Nuzhnenko is 34, but you have to wonder why Hatton is being put in with so many older guys all of a sudden. Hatton might be better off being steered towards younger fighters, ones that can help him improve enough to the point where he won’t get totally wiped out when/if he fights for the WBA welterweight title in the future. Based on how Hatton has been looking recently, I wouldn’t give any chance of even beating Senchenko, who is considered by many to be the weakest of the welterweight champions.

Hatton has had opportunities to fight guys like Saul Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. but failed to take those shots. It may be for the better, because it’s hard to see Hatton competing with any of them and the chances are high that he would only get knocked out. At least if he beats Nuzhnenko, he could have a chance for a nice payday against Senchenko. It would be Hatton’s chance for his brief 15 minutes of fame. If he does somehow get by Nuzhnenko on July 16th, a fight with Senchenko could be a very real possibility for Hatton.