Campbell Hatton kicked off his professional career with a win by beating Jesus Ruiz (0-11) via unanimous decision in his four-round debut on the undercard of Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin’s ‘Rumble on the Rock’ in Gibraltar on Saturday night.
It was hard not to get a little nostalgic as Campbell entered the ring draped in Manchester City blue while Blue Moon played overhead, just like his father, British boxing royalty Ricky Hatton, did during his own glittering career as a boxer.
Campbell began ferociously, even landing a few trademark Hatton left hook body shots on the Spaniard, who was left clearly hurt around his rib cage. Hatton was wild and reckless at times, as you’d expect from a 20-year-old debutant, but in all honesty never really looked like being troubled by Ruiz, who after a succession of left hooks to the body was left grimacing and staggering around the ring.
Hatton clearly wanted the KO but, despite having not won a fight, Ruiz to his credit was a tough, tough man to stop on the night. More body shots in the third and then the fourth and final round gave Ruiz trouble but the 32-year-old managed to hold on to hear the final bell.
In the end, Hatton failed to score the knockout but won every round on the scorecards to secure a successful first night at the office. He’s certainly a work in progress under the tutelage of his uncle and trainer Matthew Hatton, himself a great pro back in the day, but the future is looking very bright for the youngster.
Speaking after his son’s win, Ricky said, "No-one could see my crying! I'm very proud. You saw in flashes what he's capable of.
"He's only had a handful of amateur fights. He's only been doing this a few years. It was a good learning fight.
"Sometimes he got too involved but that only comes with experience.
"He wasn't even boxing five years ago!"
Elsewhere in the earlier part of the Whyte vs Povetkin undercard, heavyweight Nick Webb revived his career with a stunning performance against the previously undefeated and heavy betting favourite, Erik Pfeifer. Webb, who moves to 17-2 (13), dropped the German three times in the second round before the referee stepped in to wave the fight off.
Portsmouth’s Michael McKinson claimed the WBO global welterweight title after handing Chris Kongo the first defeat of his career with a unanimous decision (97-93, 96-94, 95-94). McKinson caught Kongo off guard with a bright start, knocking down his opponent in the first and built a solid lead across the early rounds. Kongo came back stronger in the second-half of the fight, but couldn’t do enough to pull himself back on the scorecards.
