By William Mackay: Welterweight contender Kell Brook (26-0, 18 KO’s) is doing the best he can not to talk down his opponent Matthew Hatton (42-5-2, 16 KO’s) for this Saturday’s bout at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Brook, 25, whether to make boxing fans think the fight will be competitive or not to show disrespect to Hatton in order not to motivate him, Brook is talking Hatton up in a way that suggests that he respects him as a fighter.

It reminds one of how IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko was talking up his overmatched opponent 39-year-old Jean-Marc Mormeck recently before going out and making short work of him in a one-sided 4th round TKO victory. Hopefully, the Brook-Hatton fight ends up more competitive than that fight because that was an awful fight to watch due to the one-sided nature of it.

Brook said as quoted by boxrec.com “Matthew is a very dangerous opponent and one that I am full of respect for. I know that if I take him lightly he will beat me so I have been 100 per cent focused on him. I’ll let others do the talking about these fights in the future. Right now it’s all about Hatton.”

It appears to be another mismatch in the long line of mismatches that the 25-year-old Brook has been involved in. Although Hatton is ranked #9 by the WBA, he’s really not much of a threat to a fighter like Brook and you would have to think this fight won’t last more than six to eight rounds. Maybe Brook might carry Hatton the full distance out of respect for him and his famous brother Ricky Hatton, but I can’t see Hatton being competitive in this fight. It’s not that Brook is a great fighter, because he’s got some limitations that will likely prevent him from ever beating guys like Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto, Manny Pacquiao, Mike Jones and Floyd Mayweather Jr. But Brook will always do well against the likes of Hatton.