It must be Magic
Once again Matthew Hatton raised his own bar by grinding his way to victory over Yuri Nuzhnenko in Bolton to retain his EBU welterweight title and continue his excellent winning streak.
“Magic” made it eight fights without defeat and a successful first European title defence, but it wasn’t all plain-sailing as Hatton treated his fans to a night of high drama.
In fact it was nearly a very short night of high drama as Magic went down at the end of the first round after Nuzhnenko delivered a vicious left hook to the chin which felled the champion.
The challenger showed he wasn’t here just to make up the numbers by catching Hatton cold, but Magic got to his feet after a three count and began grinding his way back into the fight as the two went toe-to-toe.
In the second Hatton began sitting behind his jab in order to assert some level of control. He edged his way in more and more before letting loose with a powerful right in the sixth which landed square in the face of Nuzhnenko. By the middle of the fight the Manchester-born fighter was back in as the bout began turning into a war of attrition.
With the fight escaping, the challenger tried to get a foothold and landed some neat body shots in the seventh, yet Hatton continued to use his right to menacing effect.
As the 11th round clocked up things were on a knife-edge, Nuzhnenko must have felt he needed to go for the knockout and went steaming in but Hatton put down the shutters. With hometown advantage, the title and a tight middle section, Hatton was probably aware that he just needed to go the distance in order to secure the victory. He just about got through the agonising 12th round,
scraping over the line for the win.
In truth the cards probably reflected some favouritism with the judges scoring it 116-111, 116-111 and 117-110. You could have awarded the fight either way such was the closeness of the rounds, so maybe a bit harsh on Nuzhnenko, especially if you consider the knockdown, but either one of these men deserved to win a hard fought affair.
Following the bout Hatton joined by his former multi-weight champion Ricky who talked about a world title fight. “The Hitman” said "He's just beaten his mandatory and nine times out of 10 when you win your mandatory you go to the top four, top three in the world,''
"So he's there, he's knocking on the door, but he put me through h**l tonight.
"So if that proves to be the case, how he dug deep from such a bad start with a broken jaw to do that fair play to him. That'd be a dream, to get him a world title.''
With the likes of Andre Berto and Manny Pacquiao holding belts in the welterweight division it might be a big ask. It’s a division jam-packed with talent and a lot of contenders knocking about.
Hatton keeps stepping up in quality and keeps winning so you can’t say fairer than that, but the challengers have hardly been elite level.
It will be interesting to see if he can continue this recent run of form against some top-class opponents as he will need more skill and technique against international class contenders. You can’t rely purely on heart and grittiness at the top level and a one dimensional fighter would get immediately found out, so Hatton and his trainer Bob Shannon will need to work on plans B and C should he step up.
IBF title holder Jan Zaveck who has a fight against Polish also-ran Rafal Jackiewicz in September would be the most realistic option in terms of quality, but it would still be a huge test for Hatton, who might find himself wanting if he moves up another tier.
Still you can’t argue with the fact the man keeps winning and if he has the ambition to push on then he deserves a shot. However if Magic wants to take his act worldwide he may need a few more tricks to keep up his sleeve.
Tags: