By James Slater: Saul Alvarez Vs. Matthew Hatton is a fight that has been talked about before, and now, according to various sources including Fightnews, the fight is extremely close to taking place. The date being spoken about is March the 5th; the possible venue the Honda Centre in Anaheim, California.
Initially it looked like the red hot Mexican would fight for his first “world” title in March, but WBA 147-pound ruler Vyacheslav Senchenko was reportedly unhappy with the amount of money he was offered to defend against “Canelo.” So, second choice “Magic” Hatton now looks poised to take the biggest, most dangerous fight of his 47-bout pro career.
Long in the shadows of his world champion brother Ricky, 29-year-old Matthew has steadily been proving himself as a fine fighter in his own right. The European champion has a good 41-4-2(16) record and he has beaten some good names. Unbeaten in his last nine, Hatton has certainly improved a great deal since his 2008 points loss to Craig Watson.
However, Alvarez looks to be an exceptional talent. Having a good many judges looking at him as a definite world champion of the future, if not a mega-star of the future, the 20-year-old will be a step up from the likes of Lovemore N’dou and Roberto Belge; two recent Hatton opponents. For even though he perhaps hasn’t quite yet got the experience of an N’dou (who he defeated last time out) or a Yuriy Nuzheneko (who Hatton beat to make the first successful defence of his Euro belt), Alvarez has sheer natural talent and class. Make no mistake, it would be considered a huge upset if Hatton were to derail him.
Already 35-0-1 (26), Alvarez has shown his power (KO 6 Carlos Baldomir), his patience (WU12 N’dou) and his ability to get over a bad patch (TKO 9 Jose Miguel Cotto). Alvarez has also shown he is a very good body puncher. Hatton too can bang to the body (having practiced the art of body punching with his brother in the gym over countless training sessions), but Alvarez is the puncher in this fight, no doubt.
Hatton has only been stopped once in his career, way back in early 2003 down at light-welter, and he has since proven that he can get up from a knockdown to win. Hatton does look durable and his speed and workrate are good. Alzarez would make a statement if he tore through Hatton and took him out early.
Will Alvarez underestimate Hatton though? Will Hatton fight the fight of his life and show Alvarez up as not quite being the sure thing he appears to be? Hatton has fought in America before, three times in fact, and he will not be fazed by the idea of doing so again. Knowing a win will forever get him out of the shadow of his older brother, Matthew will be motivated like never before for this fight. Will Alvarez be as pumped up on March 5th?
Look for a good fight, with good action, that sees Alvarez come in strong in the later rounds to get the TKO. I go for “Canelo” to get the job done inside about 9-rounds.