Eddie Hearn says Campbell Hatton is “Not really progressing” after watching him lose to James Flint in their rematch at light welterweight last night at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
Campbell lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Flint in the co-feature spot by scores of 97-94, 96-95, and 96-94. The level that both fighters showed was unworthy of being the chief support fight on the Jack Catterall vs. Regis Prograis card, given the amount of interest that the fight generated outside of the UK.
Indeed, the Campbell vs. Flint rematch looked like it belonged on the preliminary card, not on the main event. It was too low-level, and it tarnished the card. Hearn is obviously trying to please his British fans by loading up his events with Brits who are NOT world-level and never will be.
Still, he needs to focus on world-class fighters because Americans view many of the fighters he puts on his card as not worthy of being shown on DAZN and shouldn’t be on the card’s main or even the preliminary portions.
Hearn needs to cut some of the fat off his Matchroom stable by trimming the fighters who lack the talent to fight at the world level, which means guys like Campbell Hatton and Pat McCormack.
Hearn notes that the 23-year-old Hatton (14-2, 5 KOs) has now lost “back-to-back’ fights against Flint (15-2-2, 3 KOs). The Matchroom promoter Hearn says they don’t “work with fighters” that suffer back-to-back defeats at the area or English-level. However, Hearn says Campbell is a “little bit different” because he feels he’s a “good kid.”
Obviously, Campbell’s being the son of the famous British fighter Ricky Hatton doesn’t hurt either because he received attention just like other sons of famous Brits, like Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. Neither of those guys is truly world-class, yet they receive huge attention for their fights in the UK but not so much in the U.S.
If Hearn wants to put fighters like Campbell, Eubank Jr., and Benn on the misfit’s cards to celebrity fighters, that’s fine. But they don’t belong on DAZN cards for serious boxing against world-level fighters, in my view. They belong at the celebrity level for cheap, mindless entertainment, but not on main cards.
If I were one of the top brass at DAZN, I’d tell Hearn to leave the sons of famous fighters off his events unless they prove that they can beat world-level fighters. Sadly, Campbell, Eubank Jr., and Conor Benn have never done that. The fighters they beat are always low-level.
“It’s difficult because he’s very young. If a guy was 29 or 30, you’d say, ‘Maybe that’s your lot,’ but right now, I think Campbell’s level is area and English title. That’s no disgrace. A lot of fighters never reach that level,” said Eddie Hearn during last Saturday night’s post-fight press conference in Manchester, discussing light welterweight champion Campbell Hatton’s loss to James Flint in their rematch.
“Obviously, with our stable and where we’re looking to take fighters, we don’t really work with and continuously back after back-to-back defeats area titles and English-level fighters. Campbell is a little bit different because, for one, he’s a really good kid. Two, because he works his nuts off, and two because he’s given up two back-to-back brilliant fights, and he’s still young.
“So, Campbell has got to look at himself and say, ‘If that’s my level, am I happy to continue?’ If he’s happy to continue, then he should absolutely continue, whether that’s to go and get a couple of fights on smaller shows without the pressure,” said Hearn.
Campbell Hatton shouldn’t be on Matchroom’s main portion of their cards in the future if he’s incapable of fighting and beating world-class opposition. It’s not just UK fans who watch Matchroom’s events on DAZN. Americans watch, and they don’t enjoy paying to see mediocre fighters on undercards, especially not in the chief support like what was the case last night on the Catterall-Prograis event. In truth, even that fight wasn’t a great one. Catterall showed that he’s a copy of Shakur Stevenson with his running.
Catterall would have lost had fought someone good last night, like William Zepeda. Zepeda would have tracked Catterall down like a hunter, bagged, skinned him, and eaten him in that order.
“He ended up being co-main event tonight. Again, in front of 8,000. It’s not easy, and lot of people thought he won the fight. I went into the changing room after. Ricky [Hatton] had thought he had edged the fight, and I said, ‘In my opinion, I thought he lost 6-4, but I’m going to give you my honest opinion.’ But when it’s 6-4, it can go either way.
“Again, he gave us a brilliant fight, but he just wasn’t good enough. But he’s not really progressing. The performance wasn’t much better than the last performance,” said Hearn about Campbell Hatton not showing much improvement over his previous loss to Jimmy Joe Flint earlier this year on March 23rd.
“But, he’s young, and he’s enjoying the game, and if he wants to stay active, then he absolutely should,” said Hearn about Campbell.
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