By Sean McDaniel: European Boxing Union (EBU) welterweight champion Matthew Hatton (41-4-2, 16 KO’s) is hoping to challenge WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko (31-0, 20 KO’s) in his next fight. Fighting for a world title has been a dream for Hatton, the brother of former two division world champion Ricky Hatton, all his life. However, fighting and beating Senchenko won’t give Hatton much respect or credibility among boxing fans, because Senchenko is considered one of the two paper champions in the welterweight division.
The other paper champion is IBF title holder Jan Zaveck. Hatton has the option of fighting unbeaten welterweight/junior middleweight contender Saul Alvarez as well. This is a fight that would likely be held in the United States, and a win for Hatton in this fight would make him a mini-star, as Alvarez is seen as a can’t miss future champion by many boxing experts. Hatton, who has little power to speak of, would be at a huge disadvantage against the inexperienced but very powerful Alvarez. But a win over him would be a lot more meaningful than defeating Sencheko, a fighter that few boxing fans have ever heard.
If Hatton defeats Senchenko, he would then be the new paper champion and wouldn’t get a lot of respect until he proved himself against better fighters. Hatton doesn’t appear to be good enough to beat even some of the fringe contenders in the welterweight division, let alone the top but beatable guys like an old Shane Mosley or Mike Jones.
In an article at the Manchester Evening News, Hatton said “I’ve got big plans for this year and there are some big fights out there for me. Senchenko is my ideal opponent because I want to fight for a world title. But Alvarez is a big name in America. He’s a superstar over there. But I’ve always been up for a challenge and that’s one I’d relish.”
Hatton will be lucky if he can even beat a guy like Senchenko, because that fighter is very technical and has a great jab and decent power.
Hatton is also mildly interested in fighting former light welterweight champion Junior Witter, who spent a good portion of his career calling out Ricky Hatton with no luck. Many people think that Ricky ducked Witter for fear of getting by him. Matthew says “He’s [Witter] very tempting, but at this stage of my career I’m within touching distance of a world title. If a world title doesn’t come off or a fight with Alvarez then there is no bigger challenge than Junior Witter. There would be a lot of interest in that fight in England. It would be a good seller.”
Witter would likely beat Hatton, even at this late stage in Witter’s career.
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