04.04.04 – By Marc Abrams – The basic old adage in boxing is that styles make fights, and with victories by both Sharmba Mitchell and Ricky Hatton, a very interesting style clash fight was potentially set up. Mitchell pounded out a very easy unanimous decision victory over Michael Stewart, while Ricky Hatton battered late replacement, Dennis Pedersen with a 6th round TKO.
In the opener, Mitchell began the fight by using a quick left hand and some jabs that landed right down the middle. Stewart tried to use his bread and butter body work, which set up a nice combination against the ropes at the end of round 1. Mitchell continued his dominance over the next 2 rounds by landing a series of 1-2 combinations. 31 seconds into round 4, Stewart was sent to the canvas following a vicious uppercut. Not only did Stewart survive the knockdown, but he was able to land a left hook that pushed Mitchell back. However, Stewart hit the canvas again with 34 seconds to go in round five, from having absorbed another hard left hand.
The domination continued into round 9, when for a third time, Mitchell landed a hard left to Stewart’s head, which sent him down with 20 seconds to go in the round. The last three rounds were non-eventful, as Stewart could not mount much of a comeback. Mitchell cruised into the winners circle with a very convincing decision by the scores of 117-109; 120-106 and 120-105. I scored it 117-108. Mitchell raises his record to 54-3 (30), while Stewart drops to 35-2-2 (19).
The main event was even more one sided than the first fight, as Hatton dominated from the opening bell, seemingly pleasing his hometown crowd of almost 15,000 that came out to the M.E.N Arena in England. Hatton won the first three rounds easily, with his powerful left hook to the body. 51 seconds into round four, Pederson went to one knee on a delayed reaction shot, after receiving a thunderous hook to the body. 90 seconds later, it was deja vu as Hatton continued his assault to Pederson’s right side, and again the Pederson visited the mat. Hatton tried to close him out in that round, but just ran out of time. After withstanding the onslaught in round 5, Hatton connected with a huge right hand to the head, and landed another monstrous body shot that forced the ref to put an end to the bout at 30 seconds of round 6. Pederson, who took the fight on 2 days notice, dropped to 44-3 (23).
Hatton remained undefeated at 35-0 (26), which sets up a potential fight with Sharmba Mitchell on June 5. This fight will be interesting because of the experience and speed, let alone, the class that a fighter like Mitchell brings to the table. A class that is a major step up from the fighters that Hatton has been fighting to date. Lets just hope that the promoters can get together so the fans will get to have the questions answered about Mitchell, who at 33 years old, and after 57 fights, is still fighting at a high level and may be too much for the younger Hatton.