As far as boxing goes it isn’t too often where fighters of such opposing styles and appearances clash, the War of the Roses is one of these diamonds. On one hand you have the ivory white, younger brother of British superstar Ricky Hatton. ‘Magic’ Matthew is every bit as tough and durable as his brother even though he has not quite risen to the big occasions. He is a former European champion with 49 fights under his belt so he knows the game well. Last year he stood the twelve round test against upcoming Mexican superstar Saul Alvarez, in that fight Hatton was forced to cover up for the most part however he showed heart and courage in not allowing the younger fighter to bully him into submission. However as Hatton showed us in the first round against Yuri Nuzhnenko he is susceptible to the left hook and can be put down. On the other side of the coin there is the young, slick Sheffield man who fights in the style of Prince Naseem Hamed, even if he does lack the Prince’s brash out of ring persona. For some time now Kell has been touted as the next big thing in British boxing. Unlike Hatton he has received a lot of publicity mainly due to promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn wanting to gain a cult following for the fighter who makes it all look very easy in the ring. Although it has not gone unnoticed to hardcore fans that in his 26 fights ‘Special K’ has yet to fight anyone of any real significance. There have been a lot of calls to face Amir Khan in the near future but in all honesty Brook has faced very little in the way of tough opponents especially when you compare this to Khan and his recent string of fights.
Combine the two fighters and what we have is huge domestically, reports are out that the show is already close to being sold out with the March 17th date just under two months away. The fight will either be a coming of age story for Kell that should lead straight on to a world title shot before the end of the year or it could be one more chance for Hatton to step onto the big stage. Personally I think that Hatton has proved to us that unfortunately he is not destined to be remembered as an all time great and that he simply cannot hack it against the elite. Whether Kell Brook falls in to that category is yet to be determined, my hunch is that Brook will put on a fantastic performance against ‘Magic’ Matt and possibly stop him. Unfortunately for Matthew I have a feeling that he is going to be but a page in Brook’s autobiography. However I will happily be proved wrong on that one because just like everyone else I’m a sucker for an under dog story.
I wish both fighters well and may the best man win!
*Credit photos to Lawrence Lustig
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