By James Slater: Britain’s Matthew Hatton, so much the naturally smaller man, had nothing his own way going into Saturday night’s vacant WBC 154-pound title fight with unbeaten Mexican sensation Saul Alvarez. And, as many expected, he had precious little his own way once the bell rang and the action unfolded in the ring. However, “Magic,” the younger brother of Ricky Hatton, earned much respect for the way he hung in there, as badly outgunned as he was, to the very end.
Alvarez himself was impressed by Hatton’s bravery and heart, and Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy promotional group were also impressed – enough to promise Hatton will be rewarded with another world title shot, this one down at his natural welterweight.
According to an article that has appeared on Mail online, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer is “angling for Hatton to meet the winner of Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz.”
As fans know, Berto, unbeaten and the reigning WBC champ at 147-pounds, meets “Vicious” Victor on April 16th, when the former light-welterweight who has lost only to Marcos Maidana moves up in weight. Though Ortiz has a genuine shot at winning because of his heavy hands, most fans do seem to think Berto will win and retain his belt. Would the fans then buy a Berto-Hatton fight?
“Magic” said almost instantly after losing that wide decision in California that he will definitely drop back down to his natural weight class, and he also said he hopes to become a world champion there. The Golden Boy himself, De La Hoya, says Hatton is capable of winning his “dream” fight.
“Matthew will win the championship of his dreams,” Oscar said. “He deserves that chance for putting on a tremendous show for HBO television here. Canelo is on his way to becoming an all-time Mexican great, and the priceless experience Matthew gave him this night will help him in that ambition.”
There is no word yet on who the new (and youngest-ever) WBC light-middleweight champ will make his first defence against, but already fans are suggesting names. One man all Mexican fight fans would love to see Alzarez face is his countryman Julio Cesar Chavez. That one would be a huge, huge event for the country, no doubt. But there seems to be little chance of it happening. But, if Chavez Junior wins the “regular” WBC middleweight belt in June (against Sebastian Zbik), and if “Canelo” wishes to move up (or yet another catch-weight fight gets made), then who knows? Maybe it could happen.
But Hatton is far from finished, despite losing every round but one on Saturday. Berto looks too big and powerful for him, but would Andre be able to stop the man from Manchester who showed so much heart and guts in California?