Matthew Hatton says Alvarez hasn’t had to dig deep in fights

By Boxing News - 03/02/2011 - Comments

Image: Matthew Hatton says Alvarez hasn't had to dig deep in fightsBy Eric Thomas: Photo credit Leopoldo Gonzalez – EBU welterweight champion Matthew Hatton (41-4-2, 16 KO’s) questions the experience of unbeaten Saul Alvarez (35-0-1, 26 KO’s) going into their fight this Saturday night at the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California. Hatton, 29, doesn’t believe that the 20-year-old Alvarez has had to battle hard when a fight is on the line to pull out a win like he has.

Hatton said “I think in his fights so far, he’s had a lot of things his own way. I’ve had fights in my career in the past where I’ve had to dig deep and come through rough patches in fights. I don’t think he’s had those experiences yet so far.”

There’s no doubt about it that Alvarez hasn’t had any experiences where he’s had to dig deep simply because he’s been matched so softly. When you’re facing B and C level fighters like Alvarez, you’re not going to be tested in any real way unless you yourself are a B or C fighter. The closest thing that Alvarez has gotten to a real fight where he had to come back was when he was staggered in the 1st round in his fight against little Jose Miguel Cotto in May 2010. Alvarez was hit hard by a right hand in the 1st round and continued to get really tagged in the remainder of the round as well as in rounds two through six.

However, Cotto ran out of gas and Alvarez was able to take over the fight with his bigger size and better power. Alvarez has been matched carefully since that fight, being put in with a pair of 39-year-old fighters in Carlos Baldomir and Lovemore N’dou and a fight with Luciano Leonel Cuello, a fighter that had already been beaten by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Hatton has had to fight hard to get wins because he doesn’t have the huge power that Alvarez possesses. As such, Hatton has to win fights the hard way by boxing his way to victory and taking a certain amount of big shots to get the win. Against Alvarez, Hatton will have to take a lot of big shots and hope he can keep on his feet. It’s a big ask because he doesn’t have the kind of power to make Alvarez fight honest. He’s going to be able to walk through anything Hatton throws his way without having to worry about getting hit with anything too big.



Comments are closed.