By Allen Hmiel: I was amazed with the stamina and drive and will power the outmatched under-skilled Matthew Hatton (41-5-2) displayed against the superior boxing skills of the young vibrant Mexican warrior Saul Alvarez(36-0-1) on Saturday evening. Boxing fans witnessed first hand on HBO an outclassed much smaller Matt Hatton getting pulverized and battered for twelve rounds by the larger younger quicker vastly superior fighter in the 20 year old red haired Alvarez.
The outmatched English Matthew Hatton, obviously devoid of the necessary power punching skills needed to stop or even faze the fast becoming Mexican legend Alvarez, showed a tremendous amount of courage in standing and taking a beating much like the heavyweight Shannon Briggs took in his almost inhuman battering at the hands of Vitali Klitschko. While Hatton’s courage was admirable and he gained much respect from the HBO fans watching the fight, Matt’s beating and lack of world class skills was alarming.
Alvarez though young and improving is going to have a great future, but is not a great fighter at this point. Hatton’s lack of championship boxing skills enabled Alvarez to look like a young Salvador Sanchez while the Courageous 29 year old British Hatton looked more like a human punching sponge absorbing tremendous punishment like an old Tex Cobb against Larry Holmes.. While Alvarez gets crowned as the new WBC Junior Middleweight titleholder, poor recovering Matthew Hatton goes home pondering what is next in a still to be determined undistinguished mediocre boxing career.
Hatton’s courage and willingness to stay the course and not fall to the canvas and be counted out like his brother is commendable and worthy of boxing fans sympathy worldwide. Whenever a fighter realizes his skills are limited and his opponent is far superior, and he still bravely hangs in there letting his face and body absorb an almost inhumane beating it is noteworthy that that fighter like Matt Hatton is undoubtedly brave.
Courage comes in many forms and the courage Matt Hatton showed against the vastly superior undefeated Mexican tornado Saul Alvarez will long be remembered. Matt Hatton showed that he is a fighter on Saturday. Not a great fighter nor a champion, but a competitor willing to try his best even though he is obviously lacking world-class skills to compete against the best. Congratulations Matt for staying in there against overwhelming odds and trying till the very end.
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