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Hatton falls short in bid to become world champion

Matthew Hatton received some powerful shots from Saul Alvarez © PA Photos

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Ricky Hatton tipped brother Matthew to become a world champion in the future after he lost his WBC light-middleweight title bout with Saul Alvarez on Saturday.

Alvarez became the youngest winner of the WBC belt, which had been vacated by Manny Pacquiao last month, after taking a dominant 119-108 decision in Anaheim. The Mexican, who is still only 20 years of age, emulates previous champions such as Oscar de la Hoya, Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jnr as the new light-middleweight king.

Hatton, the significantly smaller man, walked to the ring with a weight disadvantage against Alvarez, who had tipped the scales at two pounds over the agreed weight. The British fighter could have used Alvarez's lack of professionalism as a reason to pull out of the bout, and he was later left to rue his decision to allow the fight to go ahead after a one-sided contest.

"He's a fantastic fighter, but he was just too big," Hatton said. "He never really hurt me. It was just a size difference. I want to go back down to my natural weight at welterweight, and hopefully I'll get another shot there.

"When you get an opportunity to fight for a title, you can't turn it down."

Alvarez's extra class and size was evident from the opening round, landing a telling combination early as Hatton failed to win a single stanza in the contest. He did, however, avoid becoming the 27th victim of an Alvarez knockout, although the Mexican did extend his unbeaten run to 37 fights.

Hatton's face became marked by the second round, and he twice hit the canvas - once via an illegal blow - as Alvarez accelerated towards victory, but brother Ricky urged the Briton not to get disheartened.

"He moved up in levels, he fought the next boxing superstar as they're billing him, he moved to the very highest level, and it's hard fighting for a title at your own weight, let alone moving up," Hatton told Sky Sports.

"Although he clearly got beat, he showed he deserves to be regarded as world class and if he can get a title shot at his own weight he's got a great chance of becoming a world champion."

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