By Sean McDaniel: EBU welterweight champion Matthew Hatton (41-4-2, 16 KO’s) made quick work of Swiss challenger Roberto Belge (25-1-1, 4 KO’s) on Friday night, stopping him with a crushing left hook to the body in the 3rd round at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton, Lancashire. Hatton had too much power for the little known Belge to deal with and had his way with him during the brief thee rounds of action. Hatton’s left hand put Belge on on his knees and referee Robin Dolpierre halted the one-sided fight at 1:32 of the 3rd round.
Hatton, 29, is now eying a world title shot against unbeaten World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion Viacheslav Senchenko (31-0, 20 KO’s) next or possibly a fight against former WBC light welterweight champion Junior Witter. The Senchenko fight is obviously the more appealing fight for Hatton, because Senchenko holds down the world title belt and is unbeaten.
This is perhaps Hatton’s best shot at winning a title, as the other three welterweight champions are probably far too good for Hatton to have much of a chance to beat. Senchenko appears to be the weak link among the four champions. However, it would be asking a lot of Hatton to beat even him, because Senchenko is a quality fighter, even if arguably the weakest of the champions. Hatton might not have enough skills to even beat Senchneko. Hatton isn’t much of a puncher, and tonight’s win was more of fluke thing than an indication of Hatton having any real power. He’ll need power to beat fighters like Senchenko and Witter.
In an article at the Manchester Evening News, Hatton said “This has been the best year of my career,” said Hatton. “All that hard work has paid off with my performances. But next year will be even better. There are some massive fights out there. If I was writing a letter to Father Christmas, it would be for a world title fight against Senchenko. I don’t see why that can’t happen. I don’t throw body punches that often, but having seen what I did with it I might throw it a bit more now.
Hatton might want to focus on throwing body shots in the future, because he does seem to have power when throwing to the body unlike when he goes to the head.
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