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“I’m twenty-four now and it’s time to take a step up in class and start boxing these people like David Barnes and Michael Jennings.” – Matthew Hatton
| Matthew Hatton is hoping to erase a black mark on his resume tonight when he gets his wish in the form of a rematch with Darlington, England’s superb boxer Francis Jones. The two are set to square off as part of Sports Network’s big weekend bill of hot prospects in Doncaster and Hatton can’t wait to climb through the ropes. The Manchester man turned his career around after fighting Jones to a |  Click for larger image © Mike Cleary |
draw fifteen months ago and burns with the desire to show the Sky Sports audience just how much better he has become at the gloved art. Operating out of the same Phoenix Camp gym as his brother Ricky Hatton, as well as Michael Gomez, Matthew Macklin, Steven Bell, Paul Smith and Patrick J. Maxwell, the younger Hatton gets a chance to compete against world champions and top developing fighters on a daily basis. This, he feels has given him the firm foundation on which to support his climb to the upper British welterweight echelons, but of course, it means nothing if he cannot dispose of Jones. The sharp fisted spoiler has already darkened Hatton’s future once and Matthew must at all costs prevent that misfortune from occurring again tonight at the Doncaster Dome.
Having initially been scheduled to appear on a bill earlier this month in Widnes, Matthew Hatton was forced to recalibrate his preparations to face bitter rival Francis Jones. That kind of cancellation can be a jarring reset to a boxer, but Hatton has taken care to keep himself fighting fit in both mind and body. “I should have been fighting on March 3rd on the David Barnes bill but that was cancelled a week before,” stated Hatton. “I just eased off my training and my promoters phoned me a week later telling me that I was on the bill in Doncaster, so obviously I’ve been in training, and that date change was no problem. I’ve maintained my fitness and just had a few days out of the gym after the cancellation but then as soon as I found out I was boxing again, I was right back in the gym. It wasn’t a problem at all.”
And what a gym that is. Head trainer Billy Graham, conditioning coach Bobby Rimmer and strength coach/nutritionist Kerry Kayes run the Phoenix Camp in the Greater Manchester borough of Denton, a hardened industrial area that reflects the non- compromising attitude brought to the sport by Graham and company. Some of Matthew’s stable-mates are his brother Ricky, the longtime WBU light welterweight champion who is set to face Kostya Tszyu this June, and former British and WBU super featherweight king Michael Gomez.
Under the watchful direction of Graham, excellence is demanded and mediocrity is simply not an option. Bobby Rimmer, who works closely on a day-to-day basis with all the Phoenix Camp fighter’s gives an assessment of the finished product. “This fight was made at 152-pounds and Matthew was bang on the weight,” he said. “His opponent Francis Jones came in a half-pound under and we’re expecting a great fight. As we went for breakfast this morning, Matthew said that he felt great and was ready to go. The kid has come on a whole lot since he and Jones first fought and we know Matthew is going to win this fight impressively.”
It is against this background that Hatton will step through the ropes in Doncaster and is confident that he’ll not make the same mistakes that kept victory from his grasp in Manchester. “I drew with Francis Jones at the MEN Arena in 2003, on the under-card of Ricky’s fight with Ben Tackie,” he recalled. “All my friends and family were at the arena as well as all the major British media so I’m looking to go one better against Jones this time and do what I wasn’t able to do then. I know I can box so much better than I did in that fight, but I do feel that it was a particularly off night for me then. You get those and you learn from them. I know that I’m going to put in a lot better performance this time and I’m confident I can beat him. I do currently hold the Central Area welterweight belt, but this is an eight round non-title fight. My training has gone well and I’ve been working with the boys in the gym, Steve Bell, my brother Ricky, Paul Smith and Matthew Macklin. I’ve been sparring with everybody there, really.”
Hatton has longed for higher profile match-ups than he has been getting in this middle stage of his career. Since the first Jones fight, he’s had hard-as-nails, high-risk low-reward bouts with such domestic scrappers as Lee Armstrong, Matt Scriven and two against Rob Burton. If he does get past Francis Jones as he expects to, the world, or at least Britain just may be his oyster. “I didn’t have many fights as an amateur, and you do have in boxing other lads going after titles when they’ve had less fights than I have, but they’ve usually had vast amateur experience really,” lamented Matthew. “By now I’ve had twenty-five fights behind me and gained quite a bit of experience. I feel that I’m twenty-four now and it’s time to take a step up in class and start boxing these people like David Barnes and Michael Jennings. I feel I’m ready for these fights now because I’ve had quite a lot of experience as a pro now. Ideally the English title is what I want to go for next and I’m going to do my damndest to get that fight and win it.”
Richard Eberline can be reached at richardeberline@fastmail.fm
