18.02.04 – British Eastside : Ricky Hatton Gets Kelson Pinto Test: Manchester’s exciting light welterweight Ricky Hatton makes his next highly anticipated outing when he tackles Brazilian banger Kelson Pinto on April 3 at the MEN Arena, Manchester for the WBO Interim title. 24 year old Hatton, last seen dominating tough nut Ben Tackie from start to finish, is a man on a mission in 2004, as he looks to establish himself as the main challenger to the undisputed 140 lb titles held by Russian-Aussie Kostya Tszyu.
The scheduled dust up with Pinto marks the toughest test of the unbeaten ‘Hitman’s career, and sees him coming face to face with a fellow unbeaten prospect for the first time in his 34 bout career. Pinto, at 27 years of age, is one of the numerous promising young guns of the talent ridden 140 lb division, and along with the aforementioned Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Mohammad Abdullaev is a possible heir apparent once the thirty something’s at the top of the division begin to make way.
Pinto has notched up a frightening 19-0 (17 KO’s) slate so far as a pro, albeit against uninspiring opposition. A top class amateur, who has two wins over Puerto Rican sensation Miguel Cotto to his name in vest and headgear, Pinto is a man who can box as well as bang. The Brazilian is tall, rangy, and possesses tasty looking body shots considering his 6-foot plus physique. With these tools and the promotional backing of multi weight world champion Oscar De La Hoya, there’s no doubt that Pinto will enter this April battle with Hatton, with matching ambitions and aspirations as the crowd pulling Manchester icon.
Frank Warren’s Sports Network have major things planned for the exciting Hatton, and the hard work to the top resumes on April 3, as the likeable ‘Hitman’ looks to add the scalp of the heavy handed and dangerous Pinto to his already impressive looking resume.
Jawaid Khaliq Marches On
Last Saturday in Nottingham, hometown hero Jawaid Khaliq retained his IBO welterweight title with a comprehensive points victory over ex WBO champion Ener Julio.
Julio, nearing the end of his accomplished career, started the bout well and found his rhythm quicker than the Nottingham boxer, but ultimately age caught up on the rugged wild man from Cartagena. Khaliq, a notoriously slow starter, was caught a fair bit in the early rounds by crude, looping rights and left hooks, but soon found his range and took over the contest from the 5th round onwards.
Displaying a solid jab and impressive lead right, Khaliq came close to doing what no man had managed before, stopping the durable Julio. In the 9th round, with the Columbian noticeably slowing down and tiring, Khaliq upped the tempo and forced his opponent to take a knee up against the ropes under a barrage of head and body shots. Julio, brave and determined as ever, quickly recovered, but the fight was a foregone conclusion from that point on, with Khaliq barely putting a foot wrong.
The Nottingham cab driver ran out a 119-108, 120-107, 119-108 winner and now has his sights firmly set on clashes with the big money makers in the division.
A potential rumble with former welterweight king Vernon Forrest never came to fruition during the America’s title reign, and now Khaliq is hoping he will have more success in luring the likes of WBO champion Antonio Margarito and unified belt holder Cory Spinks into high profile battles.
British Super Middleweight Champion Goes Stateside
British super middleweight champion Tony Dodson jetted out to the USA on Sunday (February 15) to embark on a 4-week training programme in Boston with the experienced Petronelli brothers, as part of his preparation for a tough looking first title defence against Nottingham’s Carl Froch.
The 23-year-old Scouser has taken up this invaluable opportunity after discovering that ex WBO super middleweight champion Steve Collins (formerly trained by the Boston based brothers) is in fact a blood relative of his. The ‘Garston Warrior’ subsequently enrolled the help of the ‘Celtic Warrior’ and thus this priceless chance to work alongside the likes of Scott Pemberton, Kevin McBride and many others in the downtown Brockton gym has come about.
Dodson unsurprisingly, is over the moon at this chance and sees it as just the tonic he needs to bring out the best in him on March 12, when he comes face to face with the ex amateur star Froch.
‘It’s going to be great sparring with the likes of Scott Pemberton and Omar Sheika cos’ I won’t have to go looking for either of them when we fight, and as you know, I love a real tear up as much as the next man.’ Dodson stated.
‘Steve’s told me that he sees a lot of him as a young fighter in me, and was saying that this is the sort of opportunity he would have loved to have taken up early in his own career. I’m only 23 and this is all great experience for me. This fight against Froch is a really big fight for both of us, and I’m making sure I’m in top condition for it. I’m going to surprise a lot of people when we meet.’