03.04.04 – By Ben Carey – Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton successfully made the 12th defence of his WBU light-welterweight title with a sixth round stoppage over a courageous Dennis Holbaek Pedersen at Manchester’s M.E.N Arena tonight.
The Danish challenger, a 72 hour replacement for unbeaten Brazilian banger Kelson Pinto, was on the receiving end of a painful beating from Hatton who took out his frustrations after his big-fight cancellation on his game substitute opponent.
Pedersen, the smaller man by some way having campaigned at super-featherweight and lightweight throughout his 46-fight career, predictably struggled to cope with Hatton’s physical advantages. The Dane survived the opener without too much difficulty and even launched a few left hook haymakers to give the marauding Hatton something to think about as he pressed forward. Hatton, by his own high standards, was a little flat in the opening minutes though this was perfectly understandable due to him having trained for arguably the most testing fight of his career against the tall and heavy-handed Pinto. Pedersen, though the total opposite of Pinto, was unable to present Hatton with a new set of challenges, however.
The Manchester star found his rhythm in round 2, establishing a ram-rod jab and sinking in trademark left hooks to Pedersen’s ribs. Hatton was predictably in the ascendancy but Pedersen adopted a tight defence that made him difficult to catch cleanly. A left hand from the challenger caught Hatton high on the temple towards the end of the round which suggested that Pedersen wasn’t going to be phased on the biggest night of his boxing life.
Hatton stepped things up in the third though and suddenly it was all one-way traffic. Jolting uppercuts inside which rocked Pedersen’s head back was an increasing fixture of the champion’s artillery. Two crunching lefts to head and body and a clubbing right made Pedersen give ground as this contest had long since ceased to be competitive. As has become customary in many of Hatton’s previous defences of his WBU title, he was faced with a smaller challenger who could only provide him with mere target practice.
Pedersen was now under increasing pressure from Hatton’s furious body attacks and after shipping a sickening left hook downstairs, sought temporary refuge from the canvas after a delayed reaction. The Dane, his face a portrait of agony, was clearly in pain but made it to his feet at 9 to encounter the next stage of his beating. With plenty of time left in round 4 Hatton was expected to close the show. But for Pedersen’s courage beyond the call of duty he would have. Another rib breaking left hook sank into Pedersen’s battered body and he collapsed to floor for what looked like the end. The Dane could have stayed down but gamely rose again at 9 ½ to prolong the torture for himself and the monotony for the viewer.
Miraculously, Pedersen had survived the fourth but it was only a matter of time now. Although he safely negotiated his way through the fifth, referee Dave Parris mercifully rescued Pedersen after 2.32 of round 6 after he was stunned by a right hand. Arguably Pedersen could have continued but having witnessed Hatton administer a one-sided hammering from start to finish the referee can be forgiven for having seen enough. Hatton, on a hiding to nothing beforehand, improves his ledger to 35-0 (26), against an opponent who can take credit for stepping in at the last-minute to save a show whilst not quitting at the first sign of adversity.
Though Ricky Hatton is entirely blameless for the farcical events of this week, nights as ridiculously easy as this have been all too commonplace in the 25-year-old’s career. In Sharmba Mitchell, Hatton has a viable opponent and a potential date with which to gatecrash the upper echelons on the light-welterweight division’s big league. After effortlessly retaining his interim IBF title against Michael Stewart on the Manchester undercard (flooring his opponent 3 times en route to a lopsided points win), Mitchell re-iterated his desire to meet Hatton in a big-money showdown.
If the figures can be made to add up correctly, this could take place as early as June 5 in Manchester on a big double header that is expected to see Joe Calzaghe challenge Glencoffe Johnson for the IBF light-heavyweight title. Mitchell’s promoter, Gary Shaw, seems keen to do business with opposite number Frank Warren who was a little more circumspect when questioned about the likelihood of Hatton and Mitchell coming together in the post-fight interview.
In the interests of curbing boredom, let’s hope Mitchell and Shaw’s optimism is well founded.