Calzaghe and Hatton score easy wins in Newcastle

By Murali Para

15.12 - Joe Calzaghe and Ricky “the Hitman” Hatton closed the year with decent stoppage victories on Saturday night at the Telewest Arena in Newcastle, England. Both fighters were very much keen to impress. Calzaghe’s previous fights against Charles Brewer and Miguel Jimenez had gone the distance, so he needed a good performance to re-establish his credentials in style. Hatton meanwhile had been knocked down early in the Magee fight and had seen his last opponent, Stephen Smith, disqualified after Smith’s father manhandled the referee. There was a slight element of anti-climax about the festive bill though, as neither Calzaghe nor Hatton faced the opponent that was originally scheduled. Calzaghe was initially due to take on veteran American Thomas Tate, while Hatton’s first choice opponent was undefeated Brazilian Antonio Mesquita. In reality, Calzaghe squared off against American Tocker Pudwill - who went the distance with IBF champ Sven Ottke in June 2000 - and Hatton met US southpaw Joe Hutchinson, who had done well to go the full ten rounds with both Arturo Gatti and Hector Camacho Jnr. In spite of this however, the show was a sell-out and the crowd of 10,000 made for a highly charged atmosphere.

Joe Calzaghe (35-0, 28) is still considered by many to be the world’s premier super-middleweight, even though the independent rankings favour German Sven Ottke. Calzaghe openly stated before the fight with Pudwill (37-5, 14) that he was looking for an early KO and he meant what he said. While his performance against a resilient Charles Brewer in April was impressive, problems with hand injuries kept him from putting on a good display in his last outing against Miguel Jimenez. This might explain why the Welshman came out blazing in the opening round. The American, to his credit, showed no fear whatsoever and attempted to match Calzaghe’s flurries and single shots. It quickly became apparent though that Tocker Pudwill was out of his depth against the WBO titleholder. A series of blows from the champion caused Pudwill to slip to the canvas and at this point the challenger realised the fight would be a short one. Seconds later, Calzaghe scored a legitimate knockdown with a left hook and a short right hand. A game Pudwill rose to his feet, only to find himself dropped once again by another hard combination. The bell came to the American’s rescue, but not for long – there was a third knockdown early in the 2nd round and the fight was stopped, giving Calzaghe his 35th straight win.

Meanwhile, Ricky “the Hitman” Hatton (30-0, 23) faced a tougher test in Joe Hutchinson (24-4-2, 11), his third southpaw opponent in succession. There were suggestions in the run-up to the fight that Hatton’s preparations might not be ideal, and there were question marks over his sparring partners and motivation. This was a cause for concern, as it was clear that Joe Hutchinson had been in with world-class operators. The rumours proved to be unfounded though, as Hatton turned in a good performance. He started the 1st round with his trademark body shots, and seemed to be pacing himself deliberately. Building on this, Hatton started to mix up his shots to body and head in the 2nd, landing a good upper cut and a series of left hooks. He also managed to cover up well to block Hutchinson’s own attacks. Hutchinson came back well in the 3rd round as the WBU titleholder’s work seemed to be a bit less explosive than usual. The Hitman was in control, connecting with a chopping right hook, but the challenger from Indianapolis was still firing back and Hatton got caught with some of his blows. If the 3rd was an average round for the champion though, the 4th more than made up for it. As he came out from his corner, Hatton’s looked very determined and his shots to Hutchinson’s head and body were accurate and hard. After breaking him up, the Manchester fighter delivered a punishing body shot that dropped the challenger, who was clearly in great pain. Hutchinson failed to make the count and the fight was declared a 4th-round knockout.

There could be no real complaint about the way Calzaghe and Hatton disposed of their opponents on Saturday night. But it did serve to underline the fact that both these fighters need higher-calibre opposition to challenge them. Pudwill and Hutchinson, even as late replacements, were very much mismatched. Calzaghe looked the part and I very much hope he gets the big fight he wants in 2003. But Bernard Hopkins is notoriously difficult to negotiate with, demanding more than 3 times what he made against Trinidad to fight Calzaghe. This leaves Dariusz Michalczewski, the WBO light-heavyweight champion, or perhaps one of the other champions at super-middleweight: Ottke, Lucas or Mitchell. With any luck, a match with one or more of the opponents mentioned above will come off and give Calzaghe a chance to step up a level.

Frank Warren promises that a clash between Ricky Hatton and Junior Witter will take place in July 2003 in Manchester. Again, I hope this fight becomes a reality as Witter has improved immeasurably in recent fights and a clash between him and the Hitman would be fascinating. Outside of a Witter fight, the light-welterweight division is steeped in talent and Ben Tackie, Sharmba Mitchell and Arturo Gatti have all been mentioned as possible opponents. Ranked as WBC#2, WBA#3 and WBO#1, Hatton deserves a chance to take on some of the fine American fighters in his division as he definitely has the talent to be competitive with them.

On the undercard in Newcastle, Amazing Alex Arthur made the first defence of his British Super-featherweight title with a 6th-round TKO of tough challenger Carl Greaves. Arthur (14-0, 12) looked better against Greaves (26-6, 4) than in his previous fight against Steve Conway when he picked up the title - his defence was less leaky and he caught a lot of punches on his gloves. Arthur landed a good range of hard shots to body and head, but still looked somewhat upright and lacking in lateral movement. Even so, he is improving steadily and may well have world-class potential.