Light welterweight Campbell Hatton (14-1, 5 KOs) came up short, losing to Jimmy Joe Flint (14-1-2, 3 KOs) by a ten-round unanimous decision in Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England.
Early Success Turns to Struggle
The 23-year-old Campbell started off well in the first two rounds, but Flint took over the fight in the third, catching him repeatedly with shots when he was pouring on the pressure.
Flint had Campbell badly hurt in the eighth round after landing a right to the breadbasket, causing him to hold for the last minute to keep from going down.
From there, Campbell had nothing left and couldn’t come back to regain the momentum that he had earlier. The scores were 98-92, 97-94, and 97-95.
“I do think I did enough, but no arguments for me,” said Hatton after the fight. Promoter Eddie Hearn believes Campbell lost the fight by one or two rounds.
To score it that close, Hearn was obviously giving Hatton credit for just coming forward and eating punches because that’s what the vast majority of the fight resembled. Hatton was pressuring but getting picked apart all night by Flint.
Boxing fans on social media saw the fight as a clear win for Flint, with many agreeing with the 98-92 score. It wasn’t a close fight, but it was competitive. Campbell fought well in rounds one and five. Those were easily his best rounds of the fight.
“I’m glad Jimmy Joe got the decision because he had a great tenth round. I thought he won by one or two rounds, and you got to learn from that,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing, reacting to Jimmy Joe Flint’s ten-round unanimous decision victory over Campbell Hatton at 140 in Sheffield.
Hearn Hints at Rematch
“It was a big night for him, and it was a big night for Campbell Hatton. It doesn’t matter who your dad is. If you have courage like that and you give the public a fight like that, you’ll be back. He’ll [Hatton] learn a lot from tonight. He showed tremendous heart, and he couldn’t have done any more.
“He did everything in camp. You can go back to the changing room and go back home and cry, but look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I just wasn’t good enough,’ but he will improve from that,” said Hearn.
Campbell will need to improve dramatically for him to have a chance at beating Flint in the rematch, and it might be better off for Hearn to forget about that.
“What he did was give incredible entertainment and great fight. I’d love to make the rematch. Give Campbell one fight to come back and go straight back in. It was a brilliant fight, a brilliant effort. Well done, Jimmy Joe, and well done, Campbell Hatton. He showed that he’s built for this game,” said Hearn.
