Kell Brook beats Matthew Hatton to become IBF international welterweight champion - Boxing news
Kell Brook, the British number one welterweight, in a 12-round bout, not only successfully defended his WBA Intercontinental gold but also snatched the IBF International welterweight title off Matthew Hatton’s waist after collecting a unanimous decision
win.
The pay-per-view was promoted by Barry Hearn of Matchroom Boxing and the ring for the whole event was stretched at Motorpoint Arena situated in Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The show, televised on Saturday March 17, 2012, was co-headlined by the
bout between Carl Frampton and Prosper Ankrah.
Kell Brook, well known as ‘The Special One’, entered his career’s 27th bout and was on an undefeated win streak. The 25-year-old Briton has won many titles and nailed a much more experienced Lovemore Ndou to become the WBA Intercontinental champion.
Since then the young Sheffield lad has successfully defended and retained the title against Rafal Jackiewicz and Luis Galarza. Kell has also held the WBO Intercontinental and British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) British welterweight titles as well.
Hatton, 30, on the other hand, significantly overshadowed the young Brook by his experience. Matthew, also known as the ‘Magic’, has been in a total 49 bouts and emerged as a victor in 42. He has collected just 16 wins by knockout as compared to Kell’s 18
knockout wins.
Manchester hailing Matthew has proudly held the EBU (European) and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) welterweight titles and was entering in his first IBF international welterweight gold defence.
The bout started and Brook took due advantage of his impressive agility as a result, in just the first round Kell threw a powerful jab that almost dismantled Hatton’s nose and bloodied his face.
The bout continued and Matthew did nothing exceptional except in the beginning of the sixth round when Hatton tried to intimidate Kell by his counter attack. The effort went in vain since Brook had already inflicted maximum damage and was now battering Hatton
just to collect a knockout win.
Though Matthew did not lose his senses despite falling in the ninth round yet Kell did connect almost double the number of jabs thrown by the sluggish Hatton. Eventually the judges got convinced and allocated 118-109, 119-108, and 119-107 after the end of
the 12th round.
During the short interview immediately after the bout, the victorious Kell remarked, “No-one can touch me domestically now – I’ve proved I’m ready for a world title push. I want Khan now. He thought Matthew was the better fighter and I proved him wrong,
and I would smash Amir.”
Kell is now on a 27-bout win streak and is the proud owner of WBA intercontinental and IBF international welterweight titles. Hatton has collected his career’s sixth defeat and now has six losses, two draws and 42 wins in a total 50 skirmishes.
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