Matthew Hatton

Hatton began boxing at the age of 12,[2] and had 22 amateur contests, winning 18.

On 20 October 2006, Hatton was disqualified for low blows in the tenth and final round of a British Welterweight title eliminator against Alan Bosworth. Victory may well have given Hatton a shot at the British Welterweight title which was held at the time by Scottish boxer Kevin Anderson.

In 2007, Hatton won the IBF International welterweight title by defeating American Frank Houghtaling, and in his next fight defeated Puerto Rican Edwin Vazquez to win the IBF Inter-Continental title. Both fights were held in Las Vegas, Nevada on the undercard of Ricky Hatton's fights with Juan Urango and José Luis Castillo.

On 28 May 2008, Hatton lost to Craig Watson on a points decision with scores of 116–112, 117–112 and 118–111 in a challenge for the Commonwealth welterweight championship.[3] The fight was held at the City of Manchester Stadium on the undercard of Ricky Hatton's fight with Juan Lazcano.

A short time after his loss to Watson, Hatton decided to leave long-time trainer Billy Graham and his Phoenix Camp Gym. Hatton would go on to be trained at Bobby Rimmer's Boxing Academy based in Stalybridge under the guidance of Lee Beard, who is also assistant trainer to Ricky Hatton.[4]

Hatton fought former World title challenger Ben Tackie on the undercard of Ricky Hatton's fight with Paul Malignaggi at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas on 22 November 2008. Tackie was defeated by Matthew Hatton over 12 rounds in December 2003. Hatton defeated Tackie via a convincing unanimous decision with scores of 98–92, 98–92 and 97–93 in a performance which has been described as the best of his career.[5]

On 28 March 2009, Hatton defeated Ted Bami via a 6th round stoppage in an eliminator for the IBO welterweight Title.[6]

Hatton was scheduled to fight Zab Judah on 19 September 2009 at the MGM Grand arena in a welterweight bout as part of the undercard of the Mayweather-Marquez fight.[7] This fight was postponed due to the main bout being postponed owing to a rib injury to Mayweather. Instead Hatton fought Lovemore N'dou for the IBO Welterweight title at Fenton Manor in Stoke-on-Trent on 13 November 2009, the contest was scored a draw.[8]

Hatton claimed the vacant European welterweight title with a unanimous points win over Gianluca Branco in Dagenham on 26 March 2010. Branco, having only lost twice previous to this fight (against Arturo Gatti & Miguel Cotto), came into the fight as Hatton's toughest test to date. Branco caught Hatton with a right hand in the first round which seemed to have him hurt, but Hatton overcame it and went on to claim the decision, allowing him to fully escape older brother Ricky's shadow and become "The European Welterweight Champion Of The World".

In March 2011, Hatton lost to Canelo Álvarez in a bid for the WBC light-middleweight title. The bigger and stronger Alvarez was docked a point in round seven ultimately leading to all three judges scoring the bout at 119–108 in favor of Alvarez.[9]

In March 2012, Hatton lost to undefeated Kell Brook in an all-British clash at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield. The quicker, more technically astute Brook outclassed Hatton over 12 rounds, and won the fight via a Unanimous Decision.

In October 2012, Hatton won a 1st-round knockout to journeyman Michael Lomax. It was a comeback bout after his disappointing defeat to Kell Brook, and a determined Hatton took the fight easily.

In his first fight of the year in February 2013, Hatton lost a unanimous decision to IBO Welterweight champion Chris Van Heerden. The South African outclassed him throughout with a smarter skillset that may have shattered future title hopes for the British boxer.