Boxing News Boxing News
© Tom Hogan – Hoganphotos / Golden Boy Promotions
Saturday night saw Saul Alvarez and Matthew Hatton step up to clash for the vacant WBC light middleweight title at Anaheim, CA’s Honda Center.
Both are career welters, with Hatton being the reigning European champ at the weight, although Alvarez has recently been operating several pounds north of 147 and in the ring he looked to be the larger man.
He was definitely the faster, more skilled fighter and that was apparent from the first round as Mexico’s Alvarez was able to beat his English opponent to the punch.
But Hatton refused to wilt and kept trying to engage his younger rival in the center of the ring although by the middle rounds he was behind on the cards.
Alvarez lost a point in the seventh when he was accessed for hitting on the break in what was a rough and tumble bout.
Alvarez scored well with both hands and to the head and body throughout but he couldn’t keep Hatton from landing a fair number of good shots, even taking control of the contest in the ninth.
Alvarez got his second wind after that however and Hatton had a difficult time in the later frames, losing by scores of 119-108 on all three cards after 12 rounds were completed.
It was the first world title bout for each as Alvarez annexes the WBC crown, improving to 36-0-1 (26), while Hatton sees an end to his four bout win streak, dropping to 41-5-2 (16), after a courageous effort.
The undercard featured a very close fight at super feather with fast-handed prospect Adrien Broner, 20-0 (16), outpointing big-punching former WBO super bantam boss Daniel Ponce De Leon, 41-3 (34), by margins of 96-94, 96-94 and 99-91 to cage the vacant WBO Intercontinental strap.
