Ringside Boxing Report: Matthew Hatton vs. Gianluca Branco
© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
Friday night, at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham, England, Hatton Promotions hosted a fightnight which would feature one British and one European Title Fight.
Promoter Ricky Hatton waited in the ring to welcome his younger brother Matthew, who was prepared to take on Gianluca Branco of Civitavecchia, Italy, for the vacant European Welterweight Title.
Taking the fight at just two weeks notice – smiling ‘Magic’ Matthew Hatton entered the ring to the sounds of ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’. While, Italian Branco – aged 39 – entered the ring to the sounds of ‘Forever Young – I want to be Forever Young’ (!)
Almost straight away, Hatton is caught by a left to the face. He gains confidence in the second minute and looks better but is wobbled by a right to the chin in the third minute and is forced to hold on briefly.
The second round sees Hatton settle in and he puts together clusters of punches, but he still gets caught from both left and right punches to the face. He is the busier of the two men using the jab well and moving around on his feet more than Branco.
Branco waits for Hatton, who keeps busy while Branco looks for the big shot.
Sky Sports Statistics reveal that Hatton has landed 81 of 343 punches (23% success) while Branco has landed 39 of 188 (20%)
By the middle of round six – Hatton starts to look more dominant and whips out a sweet countering right to the face of his opponent. Brother Ricky Hatton regularly stands by the ropes to shout encouragement.
Round nine and a confident Hatton dominates a frustrated Branco. The Italian shakes his head in despair as he throws punches out of range.
Hatton remains calm till the end of the fight. Despite a better round eleven for Branco – the swelling under his right eye begins to bleed as they end the round and he looks deflated as he sits on his stool in the corner.
Hatton finishes strong. Sky Stats show he has landed 190 of 828 punches (22%) as opposed to 114 of 461 (24%) for Branco.
Hatton wins on points (115-113; 117-111; 116-112) to claim the European Welterweight Title. His record now stands at 39 wins (15 by KO) 4 losses (1 by KO) and 2 draws. Branco drops to 43 wins (22 by KO) 3 losses (1 by KO) and 1 draw.
Next up, Anthony Small (aka Sugar Ray Clay Jones Junior) made the second defence of his British Light Middleweight Title, against fellow-Londoner Sam Webb.
Small – as usual – dips low stretching in to target the mid-torso of his opponent. With his awkward jaunty style – the fight could turn out to be more ‘twitching’ than ‘punching’ (!)
Webb spends time trying to settle in and suss out Small’s style of boxing, but by the end of the fifth a clash of heads has resulted in a nasty cut to the right eye area of the ‘Isle of Dogs’ man. Luckily for him he has Mick Williamson (best cuts-man) in his corner!
Small – encouraged by the injury – targets the cut eye. Referee Terry O’Connor calls a halt during the sixth round for the ringside Doctor to take a look at Webb’s eye. He comments that it isn’t bleeding in to the eye – and the fight continues. Both men ‘go at it’ and the crowd erupts with excitement! Small is under pressure from a barrage of shots.
During the seventh – Small targets the eye of his opponent landing a punch cleanly on the cut which opens it up even more. But Webb keeps focussed.
Small drives forward in round nine – forcing Webb against the ropes but Webb comes back with an uppercut. Mid- round ten sees Small pressured on the ropes again from a flurry of shots by the challenger, but the champion has a strong last minute in the frame.
Both men give all they’ve got in the final round but Webb has the bigger finish.
Sky Stats reveal that Webb has landed 81 of 383 punches (21 % success) as opposed to Small – 83 of 565 (14%)
Webb wins by Majority Decision 115-115; 117-113; 117-112 to become the new British Light-Middleweight Champion. His record now stands at 16 wins (4 by KO) 1 loss (1 by KO). Small drops to 23 wins (16 by KO) 2 losses (1 by KO).
Joe Murray (Manchester) v Yuri Voronin (Ukraine)
8 Round Super Bantamweight Contest
Murray wins on points. His record improves to 7 wins (3 by KO), no losses while Voronin drops to 27 wins (18 by KO), 11 losses (2 by KO) and 2 draws.
Yassine El Maachi (Finsbury Park) v Tomas Grublys (Lithuania)
6 Round Light Middleweight Contest
Morroccan born El Maachi wins on points and improves to 12 wins (5 by KO), 4 losses (2 by KO). Grublys drops to 4 wins, (3 by KO) 3 losses (2 by KO).
Denton Vassell (Ancoats) v Kevin McCauley (Stourbridge)
6 Round Welterweight Contest
McCauley retired on his stool (round 2) having sustained an injury. Vassell improves to 14 wins (8 by KO), no losses. McCauley drops to 4 wins, 17 losses (3 by KO) and 2 draws.
Pat McAleese (Newmarket) v Lee Noble (Barnsley)
6 Round Light Middleweight Contest
Contest was a draw. McAleese’s record now stands at 10 wins (2 by KO) no losses and 1 draw. Noble’s record is now 11 wins (2 by KO) 13 losses (1 by KO) and 2 draws.
Tom Doran (Connah’s Quay) v Janis Chernouskis (Latvia)
4 Round Light Middleweight Contest
Doran wins on points and improves to 5 wins, no losses while Chernouskis drops to 3 wins (3 by KO) 8 losses (1 by KO).
Joe Catchpole (Dagenham) v Johnny Greaves (Forest Gate, London)
4 Round Light Welterweight Contest
Debutant Joe Catchpole notched up his first pro-win (on points) against lively Johnny Greaves. Greaves drops to 2 wins (1 by KO) 47 losses (7 by KO).