• Steve Bunce

Brook must brace himself for uncharted territory

Matthew Hatton has more in-ring experience than Kell Brook, and at a higher level © Getty Images

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You can see why Kell Brook is bookmakers' favourite for his weekend fight with Matthew Hatton: he's unbeaten, hasn't broken sweat, looks untouchable at the moment at European level - and it seems like world champions are avoiding him, or at least asking for a lot of money. But as Hatton has shown us throughout his 49 fights - even when he's been a bigger underdog than he is here - he can scrap, stay in there, and always be dangerous.

Just look at his world-title performance last year against the Mexican sensation Saul Alvarez, when he heard the bell despite being put under a lot of pressure. Now he was really an underdog in that fight, and so he won't give a monkeys if Brook is being offered at far shorter odds. He's had it worse.

It's not just the Alvarez scrap that makes Hatton such a tough opponent; it's the other 12-rounders he's had, and the European title contests he's had. He never lets himself down, and keeps coming over hurdles, often in style.

No-one took him seriously for years and years and years - and perhaps he didn't take his boxing career as seriously as he should have. But he has done for the last four or five years, make no mistake about that.

In a funny way, being Ricky Hatton's brother has worked as a mark against him; if you called him Matthew Smith, there'd probably be more respect for his record. Every single scrap of respect he has earned has been a struggle; he's had to battle doubly hard for every inch. That's why people that really know the fight game have got tremendous respect for him.

Looking inside the ring, it's fair to say that there's nothing Matthew does better than Brook, who's a classy operator. However, unlike Kell, Hatton has come through hard battles. He's done things that Kell has never had to - and that matters.

By contrast, Kell's last few fights have, by his own admission, seen him treading water, operating in first gear. Will he be able to do that again? No, I don't think so. He'll be forced to find another gear, and how easily and quickly he can do that is going to be key.

And it won't just be Hatton forcing him to find another gear: it'll also be the 12,000-strong Sheffield crowd, who could encourage him to force the issue. I think that would be a mistake; everything Kell does well is about being relaxed, waiting for an opening. He stops doing that and he becomes a different boxer.

As for the shadow cast by a potential world-title fight - well, Kell's had one just around the corner for two years. It's got to be the biggest corner I've ever seen! Kell is used to "win this and you'll get a shot", because he's heard that since 2009.

Meanwhile, it's a long way back for a veteran like Matthew if he loses, but no-one expects him to win, so the journey's not as long as it could be. There are loads of fights at welterweight for him in Britain: Frankie Gavin, Curtis Woodhouse, Lee Purdy, Denton Vassell, Colin Lynes, Junior Witter - we could finally get a Witter v Hatton fight! Trust me, they're all potentials.

I can see Kell taking this on points, but it won't be easy for him.

Mack to the old school
Matthew Macklin is a tough, old-fashioned fighter, and he'll prove that against Sergio Martinez on Saturday: he'll take a risk, put himself out there. He might have to be a bit stupid in the ring, but he's always been willing to make sacrifices in order to get to where he wants.

It needs to be a similar performance to the one he produced against Felix Sturm last year - i.e. he must put his opponent under a lot of pressure - although it has to be sharpened. I thought Matthew just about beat Sturm (the judges disagreed), yet he was knackered, finished, in the 12th round. And that's a seriously dangerous state to be in against Martinez.

But Martinez will be extremely confident - maybe not to the extent of underestimating Matthew, but not far off - and that's going to help the challenger. That said, he's not going to win this by waiting for Martinez to make mistakes; he needs to take command.

I think we'll be waiting to hear a close decision, which Martinez will sneak - but it might be a call from the judges that upsets a lot of people.

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