Hatton demolishes Stewart!

October 2, 2004

By Craig Watt
Photos: Mike Cleary

Unbeaten Jr-welterweight Ricky "Hitman" Hatton (37-0) secured an IBF mandatory position at 140 pounds in Manchester last night with a 5th round stoppage of American Mike Stewart (36-3-2) at the MEN Arena. The win was also a 14th successful defence of Hatton's WBU title and the first ever stoppage defeat of Stewart in his career. It also made an interesting benchmark with Sharmba Mitchelll taking Stewart the full 12 rounds back in the same arena in June. From the opening bell Hatton advanced with a ferocity and devastating combinations and dropped the brave Stewart twice in the opening round. The first knockdown happened in the second minute when a left hook to the body dropped him to the canvas. Hatton moved in to try and finish the bout early and a straight right hand in the last 30 seconds dropped Stewart on his pants. Hatton seemed to be venting some frustration and anger in the fight after a patchy 2004 by his own high standards.

In round two Hatton maintained a high intensity and work rate and it seemed just a matter of time before a stoppage would occur. Stewart however showed his customary toughness that saw him rise off the canvas three times against Mitchell. Inside the first 30 seconds of second Hatton had him pinned to the ropes and unloading to head and body at close quarters. Stewart's only option seemed to offer a survival mode response but such was Hatton's intensity the break in action to allow Stewart to recover never came. Hatton continued to land his hurtful left hook to the body and landed 34 hurtful body shots in the first three rounds.

It appeared that midway through the fourth round that Stewart was beginning to wilt and Hatton pinned him to the ropes in the last 30 seconds with hurtful shots to head and body. At the end of the round Stewart looked drained and hurt and by the end of the fourth had only managed to land 30 punches in total on Hatton. The end came in the fifth round when Stewart seemed to use all his energy to block the punches of the marauding Hatton but the unbeaten 25 year old connected with two consecutive left hooks and Stewart dropped to the canvas for the third and last time. Referee Mick Parris did not bother to start the count such was the ferocity of the final left hook as Stewart was visibly hurt. The time of the stoppage was 2.57 of the fifth round.

After the fight Hatton praised the courage of Stewart, "After I dropped him with the body shot in the first round I was staggered when he got up from that and then a straight right dropped him again. I thought he showed amazing courage to continue and I felt he was still strong on the inside. It is certainly one of the toughest opponents I have faced and as with Ben Tackie these tough opponents bring out the best in Ricky Hatton."

The 25 year old WBU champion seemed frustrated and angry in the build-up this week as some of the boxing press focussed in on the inability to land the major title shot after fights with IBF interim champion Sharmba Mitchell and WBA champion Vivian Harris had fallen through. He told Fightnews.com after the fight, "I hope tonight's performance showed that Ricky Hatton has the ability to mix it with the likes of Tszyu, Mitchell, Gatti and all the major champions at 140 pounds. Now I am mandatory in the WBO and IBF my time in 2005 will come to show everyone on the world stage what I am capable of. For all the UK boxing fans I tell them to have faith for my next fight will be a big one."

Promoter Frank Warren seemed confident that a match could be made with the winner of the upcoming Kosta Tszyu and Sharmba Mitchell fight pencilled for early November. He stated, "the fight tonight has the sanctioning from the IBF and I am sure we can make the match for late February or early March for Ricky and the british boxing fans. Our preference is to go down the IBF route as Kosta Tszyu is globally recognised as the true number one at Jr-welterweight. We also have a mandatory position with the WBO so the future looks good for Ricky and it has been tough to get us into this position."

UNDERCARD RESULTS

WBO#5, WBA#5 ranked super-featherweight Michael Gomez (32-5) made a successful defense of his WBU title against tough Russian Leva Kirakosyan (14-4) after he was retired at the end of the sixth round. The Russian seemed to have the superior power and rocked Gomez on several occasions with a right hook in the third and fifth rounds but he weathered the storm to come back. Gomez seemed more effective when he was using his jab and eventually opened up a cut on Kirakosyan right eye which was also virtually closed through swelling. His corner retired the fighter at the end of the sixth and Gomez seemed relieved after a tough battle which the Russian appeared to be winning at the time.

Michael Jennings kept his unbeaten record in tact extending it to 24-0 and secured the English Welterweight Title with a retirement by Champion Chris Saunders at the end of the fifth round. Although Saunders dropped Jennings in the first with an overhand southpaw left he was not hurt and seemed to stimulate the challenger into action. He started to dominate the bout from the third with effective boxing skills and movement.

English Featherweight Champion Steve Foster extended his unbeaten run to 17-0 with a tough stoppage win over brave Garry Thornhill (24-5-1) from Liverpool at 1.58 of the ninth round. The bout was close in the early stages but Foster eventually wore the challenger down in the second half of the fight. Thornhill announced his retirement to the crowd at the end of the bout.

Some of the amateur prospects from the 2002 Commonwealth Games looked impressive as they continued their progress in the pro ranks. Middleweight Paul Smith extended his record to 11-0 with a first round stoppage of Jason Collins and Andy Morris moved to 9-0 with a third round stoppage of Chris Hooper at featherweight.