“One judge however, scored it 48-47 and the victor was booed by hometown fans for the first time for his less than inspired performance.” Those words were penned by USA Today when discussing the eighth professional fight of Cassius Clay’s career, a tepid points win over Alonzo Johnson.
If Campbell Hatton is to go on to greatness, this fight will occupy a similar category in history. Awarded a 58-57 win over six rounds by referee Marcus McDonnell, Hatton struggled to come to terms with the movement and slick punching of Sonni Martinez throughout a nervous night for him and the sizable home crowd.
IN THE BLUE CORNER – CAMPBELL HATTON
This was the first career six round fight for Hatton, and likely the highest profile event of his young career. Performing here on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk world heavyweight title showdown at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Hatton is receiving plenty of exposure to the bright lights of top level boxing for a man so early in his career.
“It’s by far the biggest platform I think anyone could be put on,” Hatton told Sky Sports. “The big cards I’ve been on already in my career is what’s made me less nervous. It’s going to stand me in good stead going forward.”
Having opened his career with three straight shutout wins on the scorecards, Hatton entered this fight likely looking for his first stoppage victory. Provided with two extra rounds to do just that, Hatton expressed no concern over the longer fight duration, instead seeing it as a positive. “We’re stepping it up to six rounds so I think this is where we’ll start seeing even bigger improvements.”
IN THE RED CORNER – SONNI MARTINEZ
Born in Uruguay, Martinez now resides in Spain and this bout was his first time competing outside of his adopted home. The man known as ‘El Uruguayo’ carried a 2-4 career record into this contest, having won a majority decision against Asier Morilla last time out.
IT’S SHOWTIME
Hatton started on the front foot, throwing punches in bunches while Martinez circled round the ring, picking his shots on the counter. Hatton continued to press forward behind a stiff jab, but was served notice of his opponent’s threat when Martinez landed two solid uppercuts in the second minute of the round.
The hometown fighter kept closing the distance on Martinez, but was unable to pin down the wily Uruguayan and had his head rocked by several stiff shots before a confident Martinez closed out the round by raising his arms and showboating.
With both men trying to establish themselves as the aggressor, round two opened with Hatton and his opponent standing toe to toe and trading shots. As the round progressed, Martinez settled back into the pattern of circling the ring and looking to counter an advancing Hatton. It was the Hurricane who was the aggressor in terms of ring position, but Martinez landed the cleaner blows in the second round as swelling started to form on the face of Hatton.
Hatton did not take a backward step in the early stages of the third round, backing his opponent onto the ropes only for Martinez to land strong, clean punches on the counter. Hatton landed a solid right hand before Martinez grabbed him in a headlock to smother the attack and referee McDonnell separated the pair.
With Hatton constantly moving forward, the pair clashed heads as trainer and uncle Matthew Hatton was heard instructing his young charge to “keep it tidy Campbell.” In the final minute of the round, Martinez landed a strong uppercut and right hook before skipping around the ring and leaving his arms low to draw Hatton in.
When the bell rang, Hatton found himself navigating the deepest waters of his young career so far as the crowd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium rose to their feet and sang along to Beatles classic ‘Hey Jude.’ Before sending his nephew back into battle, Matthew could be heard instructing Campbell to look for the right hand over the top.
The start of round four was delayed when referee McDonnell had to instruct the corner of Martinez to wipe the floor clean from spillage between the rounds. Martinez pawed away with the jab to open the fourth stanza before being rocked back by a strong right hand from Hatton.
Both men were utilizing their most dangerous punches of the fight so far throughout the fourth round, with Martinez swinging the uppercut and Hatton sinking left handed hooks into the body. Hatton pressed forward once more later in the round, only for Martinez to duck under a hook and fire an offensive flurry that was weathered by the Hurricane. At the end of round four, the fight was too close to call and Martinez was easily proving to be the stiffest test of Hatton’s career to date.
A confident Martinez came out for round five with his arms raised in the air, before connecting with several jobs and another good right handed uppercut. With neither fighter willing to go on the back foot, the pair stood toe to toe and unloaded shots on each other. Hatton aimed his heaviest blows into the rib cage with wide, swinging lefts and rights, while Martinez mixed jabs with stiff uppercut shots. In the last minute of the round, Martinez stood in front of Hatton with his arms aloft, using good head movement to duck shots before landing blows on the counterattack and finishing the round strong.
In the corner between rounds, an unflustered Matthew encouraged Hatton to focus on quality over quantity. “When he’s going and going, you look for the quality shots. Tuck up nice and tight, and look for that single shot.” The corner of Martinez gave animated instructions, likely sensing the opportunity for a famous upset win.
The final round started in a familiar pattern, with Hatton stepping forward looking to land hooks to the body, while a confident Martinez lowered his arms and fired off punches in volume on the counter. Hatton continued to land hooks to the body and head, before Martinez backed Hatton onto the ropes and the fight ended with wild swings from both men as the final bell rang.
After the final bell, Martinez looked confident he had done enough to spring an upset, while a calmer Hatton donned a baseball cap and raised his arm to the crowd. There was a palpable tension over the arena before the decision came for a fight that was a stark contrast from Hatton’s three shutout points wins to start his career. Concerned faces could be seen in the home crowd with the result well and truly in doubt after six difficult rounds for the young Mancunian.
Ultimately, referee McDonnell rewarded the consistent aggression from Hatton and awarded a 58-57 win to Hatton. The result was met with audible boos in the crowd while DAZN commentator and former world champion Darren Barker did not seem to agree with the decision. “Don’t get me wrong, there was stuff to like from Hatton but he was far too open,” said Barker. Commentary partner Todd Grisham was more pointed in his thoughts, describing the decision as “some home cooking in London.”
The fight was certainly close enough to merit the debate sparked, with Hatton being fortunate to escape a negative result while getting some challenging rounds in the bank.
WHAT THEY SAID
There was hot debate around the world of Boxing over the decision for a fight that was a literal example of the old cliche, “fighting in a promoter’s backyard.” Acclaimed promoter Lou DiBella described the verdict as “just rubbish.” In another reflection of the controversy around the decision, bookmaker Paddy Power refunded bets that had been made on Martinez to win.
In an article published on the World Boxing News website, editor Phil Jay decried the process of having the referee score the fight instead of ringside judges. Jay claimed that “the result shows that referees should no longer be able to score fights. The UK seems to be the only place in the modern world that allows this type of thing.”
This is not the first time referee scoring has caused debate, nor the first time a big name in England has been accused of receiving a beneficial decision. In 2009, Tyson Fury beat John McDermott for the British title in a result so controversial that the British Boxing Board of Control ordered an immediate rematch.
A disappointed Hatton acknowledged this was not his best performance and that he would be looking for improvements going forward. “I’m not happy with my performance at all to be honest. I’m a lot better than that,” he said. “The opponent was a lot better than anyone I’ve faced before. There’s positives and definitely negatives.”
Hatton will be grateful to have learned some harsh lessons without suffering a first career loss, and no doubt will be aiming for a more convincing performance next time out.
Author’s scorecard (round by round)
Hat-Mar
10-9
19-19
28-29
38-38
47-48
56-58