Eddie Hearn says Campbell Hatton “I don’t really go on” after seeing him lose to James Flint in their light welterweight rematch last night at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
Campbell lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Flint in a feature by scores of 97-94, 96-95, and 96-94. The quality shown by both fighters did not deserve to be the main support fight on the Jack Catterall vs. Regis Prograis, given the amount of interest the war generated outside the UK.
Indeed, a replay of Campbell vs. Flint looked like he belonged on the first card, not in the main event. It was too low quality, and messed up the card. Hearn is obviously trying to please his British fans by uploading his events with Brits in attendance NOT world class and there won’t be.
However, he needs to focus on world-class fighters because the Americans consider most of the fighters he puts on his card to be unfit to be shown on DAZN and should not be on the main card or the starting parts.
Feel the need trim some of the fat his Matchroom stable by cutting fighters who don’t have the talent to fight at world level, meaning guys like Campbell Hatton and Pat McCormack.
Hearn notes that the 23-year-old Hatton (14-2, 5 KOs) has lost “back-to-back” fights against Flint (15-2-2, 3 KOs). Matchroom promoter Hearn says the “workers and fighters” are undefeated in the area or at the English level. However, Hearn says Campbell is “a little different” because he feels like a “good kid.”
Obviously, Campbell being the son of the famous British fighter Ricky Hatton doesn’t hurt either because he got attention like other sons of famous Brits, like Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. None of these guys are really world class, yet they get a lot of attention for their fights in the UK but not so much in the US
If Hearn wants to include fighters like Campbell, Eubank Jr., and Benn misfit cards for celebrity heroes, okay. But they are not on the cards for DAZN’s heavyweight boxing against world-class fighters. They are at the level of celebrities in cheap, frivolous entertainment, but not on the main cards.
It’s okay to have Campbell on circus cards to watch if you have nothing else to do, but he’s nothing out of the ordinary cheap filler for a quality event. Hearn should move away from using all the untalented players he’s been adding to his cards as filler and focus solely on quality from now on.
If I were one of the best players at DAZN, I would tell Hearn to leave the sons of famous fighters out of his events unless he shows that he can win world class fights. Sadly, Campbell, Eubank Jr., and Conor Benn never did. The fighters they beat are always low quality.
“It is difficult because he is still very young. If the guy was 29 or 30, you’d say, ‘Maybe that’s your lot,’ but at the moment, I think Campbell’s level is a place and an English title. That’s not a shame. Most fights don’t get to that level,” said Eddie Hearn at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night in Manchester, discussing light welterweight champion Campbell Hatton’s loss to James Flint in their rematch.
“It’s clear that with our stable and when we look to take fighters, we don’t work all the time and we go back to back after defeating the titles and English fighters. Campbell is a little different because, for one, he’s a really good kid. Two, because he’s working his nuts off, and two because he’s given up two good fights in a row, and he’s still young.
“So, Campbell has to look at himself and say, ‘If that’s my level, am I happy to continue?’ “If he’s happy to continue, he should absolutely continue, even if he has to get a few fights on smaller programs without pressure,” said Hearn.
Campbell Hatton shouldn’t be on the majority of their Matchroom cards in the future if he can’t fight and beat world class opposition. UK fans aren’t the only ones watching Matchroom events on DAZN. The American people are watching, and they don’t enjoy paying to see low-level fighters on undercards, especially big-time sponsors like what happened last night at the Catterall-Prograis event. Honestly, that fight wasn’t good either. Catterll showed that he is a copy of Shakur Stevenson with his running.
Catteral could have lost to a good guy last night, like William Zepeda. Zepeda would follow Catterall down like a hunter, bag him, skin him, and eat him that way.
“He ended up being a party partner at night. Again, in front of 8,000. It’s not easy, and many people thought he won the battle. I went into the changing room after. Ricky [Hatton] I thought he had ended the fight, and I said, ‘In my opinion, I thought he lost 6-4, but I’ll give you my honest opinion.’ “But when it’s 6-4, it can go either way,” Hearn said.
What Hearn should have said to Ricky is that he will not put Campbell on his cards because he has no talent. He needs to focus on the best fighters in his Matchroom roster and cut the ones that aren’t up to par. I’m sure Ricky Hatton will understand.
“Once again, he fought brilliantly, but he wasn’t good enough,” said Hearn. “But he’s not really improving. The performance wasn’t much better than the last one,” said Hearn about Campbell Hatton not showing improvement from his loss to Jimmy Joe Flint earlier this year on March 23.
“But, he’s still young, and he’s enjoying the game, and if he wants to stay busy, he should,” Hearn said of Campbell.
I don’t know what Hearn is talking about. Campbell vs. Flint 2 last night was NOT a smart fight. It was a novice-level fighter, with two guys who looked weak and powerless, without the strength, talent, or ring IQ for a fun fight.
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