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Ready for judgement day

Gavin Browne
14/ 5/2008

YOU know the phrase about someone entering the lions’ den and wondering what they really mean?

Failsworth boxer Craig Watson is about to have that experience when he defends his Commonwealth welterweight title at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 24.

No problem there you might think – apart from the fact that his fight is on the undercard of Ricky Hatton’s contest against Juan Lazcano and Watson finds himself facing Hatton’s younger brother Matthew.

The younger Hatton may have the greater support – perhaps by association – but Watson sees nothing to fear following a good build-up with trainer Joe Pennington.

He said: "I’m looking forward to it. OK, I’m taking on Ricky Hatton’s younger brother but I’m super confident, fit as a fiddle and I could fight him now.

"I don’t think it’s going to be a tough fight at all. I think I’m going to breeze through it, I’m that confident.

"I can see it ending early. The one bad thing was that I had an abscess in my mouth which put me out for a bit but I’m ready to go."

The 25-year-old, who boasts 12 wins and two defeats from his 14 fights to date, captured the Commonwealth crown last December when he defeated Glossop-based Namibian Ali Nuumbembe at Wigan’s Robin Park Arena.

This will be the first defence of the belt, coming two months after an unsuccessful bid for the EBU title when the referee stopped his fight against Daniele Petrucci during the third round in Rome.

That defeat, especially the manner in which it came, has left Watson keen to make amends come fight night a week on Saturday.

He said: "It was a blow for me over there. It was a bit of a bad decision and they’d kept me hanging around beforehand as well.

"There were 4,000 people booing me, they kept me waiting outside for 20 minutes when I just wanted to get in and fight. Then I got in the ring and had to wait some more which meant I got even colder.

"It’s now a case of how I come back from that but I want to show everyone how good I am. Everyone in the gym’s told me not to peak too soon and my weight’s down already."

For his part, Hatton the younger believes this could be a stepping stone after years of waiting for a title fight.

Bids to face Nuumbembe and former British champion Kevin Anderson failed to come to fruition in the past, leaving ‘Magic’ to cut something of a frustrated figure on the sidelines.

However, Hatton – who turns 27 on Thursday – captured the IBF international title last year and has experience fighting on the undercard of his brother’s fights in Las Vegas.

Having sparred with Jamie Moore in the build-up, he is confident of victory in a fight scheduled to start at 7.45pm, two hours ahead of Ricky’s encounter with Lazcano.

Hatton said: "I’m preparing for a tough fight. I’ve been ready for a fight like this for some time, so I’ve been training really hard and I’m as fit as I’ve ever been already.

"I couldn’t be more confident going into this fight but it all depends what Craig Watson turns up. I’m really motivated because I’ve been frustrated that the chance hasn’t come before.

"Boxing in front of 55,000 people brings its own pressure but I’m used to fighting on Ricky’s undercard at the big events and this is a fight that would be top of the bill in its’ own right.

"Both lads are from Manchester, but although it’s in his back yard, I think I’m the best welterweight in the country.

"I don’t think it’ll last the distance because although I’m preparing for 12 rounds, I fancy myself to stop Craig within the distance."