By William Mackay: EBU welterweight champion Matthew Hatton (41-4-2, 16 KO’s) and the still very inexperienced 20-year-old Saul Alvarez (35-0-1, 26 KO’s) will be fighting for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title on March 5th at the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California. Golden Boy Promotions decided to put the recently vacated World Boxing Council title, which had been held briefly by Manny Pacquiao, on the line for this fight to give it a little more attention.
However, it’s unlikely that the winner of this fight will ever defend the title unless they pick and choose from some of the more beatable fighters that the WBC has currently ranked in the top 15. If Alvarez or Hatton decide to face one of the top contenders in the division like Alfredo Angulo, they’ll lose.
It’s that simple. Alvarez isn’t ready for a slugger like Angulo, and Hatton doesn’t have the power or the build to contend with a monster like Angulo. This is going to probably be a one-time shot for the winner of this fight, because I can’t see them defending the belt against some of the guys that are looking to get a title. Pacquiao was wise enough to quickly vacate rather than mix it up with Angulo, Paul Williams or Erislandy Lara. I expect Alvarez or Hatton to do the same. They can beat some of the weaker fighters in the division, but not those guys.
Hatton is going to be asking a lot of his body to try and beat Alvarez, because he’s going to be taking some vicious shots in this fight. He doesn’t have the kind of power needed to keep Alvarez off of him for long. Hatton moves well, but he’s not a good enough mover to avoid Alvarez for long. We’ll most likely see Hatton get chopped down fairly quick by Alvarez on March 5th.
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