Campbell Hatton suffered the first defeat of his career as the son of Ricky Hatton lost a bid for the Central Area regional UK title.
To make it all the more heartbreaking, Hatton was ringside to witness his first-born offspring fail to win the exact same belt he won back in 1999.
Hatton defeated the then-undefeated Liverpudlian Tommy Peacock at Oldham Sports Centre in what was his eleventh bout. A bulldozing Ricky won the fight in two easy rounds.
It wasn’t as straightforward a task for Campbell, though. Participating in his fifteenth fight, uncle Matthew Hatton slowly guided Campbell through the sport as he knows the youngster doesn’t possess the same talent or power his father was blessed with.
However, capturing the same strap would have been a dream come true for the pair. Sadly for the family, it wasn’t to be.
Jimmy Joe Flint, who goes by the name ‘The Young Lion,’ had other ideas. In his second defense, Flint wouldn’t give up the belt he promised his daughter he’d bring back home.
Flint came through in the second half of the fight, overcoming a cut from a head clash to get the better of Hatton. Rocking the challenger a few times in the last three rounds, Hatton needed a stoppage to win.
In the end, the cards read: John Latham 97-95, Victor Loughlin 97-94, and Kevin Parker 98-92 as Flint improved to 14-1-2. Hatton dropped to 14-1 and will now have to decide if he wants to be a domestic contender or can improve significantly enough to claim the title further down the line.
After the fight, Hatton gave respect to the champion.
“I thought I was picking up a lot of the early rounds. He came on strong in the second half, but I think I did enough. No arguments. Respect to Jimmy Joe. I’d like to think I showed I’m not just a silver spoon [fighter]. I can dig in. I thought I nicked it, but respect.”
Earlier in the evening, Nico Leivars scored a ninth-round knockout of Piotr Mirga at Super Bantamweight. Meanwhile, Liam Cameron continued his comeback with a first-round stoppage of Hussein Itaba in the light heavyweight division. Cameron dropped Itaba twice in the fight as he claimed a 23rd pro victory.
Also on the card, super welterweight Emmanuel Buttigieg beat Bartlomiej Stryczek on points. At the same time, Connan Murray did similar to Edgar Kemsky over six rounds.
Read all articles and learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor Phil Jay.
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