Student Of The Game: Campbell Hatton Comes Through A Tricky Learning Fight

All the action from the undercard of Dalton Smith vs Sam O'maison
21:56, 06 Aug 2022

Campbell Hatton may only be a lightweight, but he carries a heavy burden into the ring with him every time he fights. His famous surname once reverberated around world title rings, when his father Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton fought his era’s boxers. His progeny is not there yet, but he got a stiff learning fight tonight at the Sheffield Arena.

39-year-old Michal Dufek, a 34-23-2 veteran, was the teacher chosen to dispense a painful lesson to the next generation of the Hatton clan. He did just that, even if it was by foul means more often than fair. The dark arts have not been taught this brutally since Severus Snape perished during the Battle of Hogwarts.

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Hatton started nicely behind the jab and when he came in close, he ripped in the sort of body shots that are akin to a family heirloom. Dufek soon realised he could not win a boxing match with Hatton and promptly began holding and mauling. Hatton still got a crisp left away before the bell.

The second is where things began to get truly ugly, as Dufek clinched and shoved Hatton. Bizarrely, it was the home fighter who was reprimanded for hitting behind the head. The youngster perhaps let his emotions get the best of him there. The third began with cleaner work from the 7-0 youngster before Dufek drew him into his messy gravitational pull. 

A crisp Hatton left caught the eye in the fourth, before the referee separated the fighters with stern instructions to keep it clean. The fifth was fought on an even footing, with Campbell starting the stronger before having to eat the first full-blooded shots he’d taken all night. The sixth and final round saw Dufek fighting his cleanest round yet, and he looked okay doing it, but Hatton had too much for him ultimately. Young Campbell was correctly handed the decision in a fight where he probably learned more than in any of his previous seven scraps.

Jordan Thompson just about survived to lift the IBF European cruiserweight championship. The Mancunian had boxed brilliantly for the most part, but was caught late on by durable Czech Vasil Ducar.

The 32-year-old visitor looked strong in the opener, bullying forward and swinging away in close. Thompson found his range in the second, pushing out the jab and mixing in educated right hooks and crosses. ‘Troublesome’ landed more crisp uppercuts in the third, and a frustrated Ducar demanded Thompson engaged him in a war. The 29-year-old Brit laughed off the bravado, knowing he was boxing to order.

Ducar tried to have the promised war in the fourth and took the round by being busier on the inside. But from that point on Thompson took control, boxing and moving from distance. His 32-year-old foe looked tired as he continued to barrel forward, hitting thin air on numerous occasions.

Just when it looked like Thompson would cruise to a wide points decision, he took his eye off the ball. The final round saw the unbeaten Manc trying to game his way to the final bell without engaging, but his defence was too lax. Ducar tore into him as the ten second clapper went, heavily dropping Thompson with a right uppercut as the bell went. Thompson rose, shaken but not stirred. He was awarded the decision by scores of 97-92 and two cards of 96-93, lifting his record to 14-0 (11KOs). The Sportsman scored the bout 96-93.

Popular heavyweight Johnny Fisher extended his record to 6-0 (5KOs) with a big knockout over Michal Reissinger. The 35-year-old Czech came out aggressively in the first round, but Fisher never looked in danger. In the second round, a crunching overhand right dropped Reissinger heavily. The visitor rose to the sight of the referee waving the bout off, a decision he protested. 

Some will dispute the stoppage, but the beaten man looked out of it as he rolled on the canvas. Fisher brought a 1000-strong contingent from his hometown of Romford up to Yorkshire for the bout, and has the look of a star in the making.

Sandy Ryan avenged her only professional defeat with a star-making unanimous decision over former two-weight world champion Erica Anabella Farias. Bouncing back from a defeat to the same opponent in March, Ryan course-corrected to defeat a fighter who had only previously lost to world champions.

Ryan used her height and reach advantages brilliantly, quickly establishing her jab and keeping Farias under control. Farias is durable and she stood up well to some savage combinations in the second. A meaty straight right from Ryan in the fourth would have felled many fighters, but still Farias stood strong.

The Commonwealth Games gold medalist resisted Farias’ urges to turn the bout into a slugfest, and boxed with speed and precision on the outside for the most part. It was only in the last fight that the Derby girl allowed herself to be dragged into a tear-up. Even then she looked in control.

Ryan was awarded the decision by scores of 98-92 twice and 96-94. The wider scores were a fairer reflection of a quality display which netted Ryan the WBC international super lightweight title.

Picture: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

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