Hatton hoping to be a cut above N’Dou

By Ben Carey

Hatton Promotions are hopeful of attracting a sell-out crowd to their first major promotion in Stoke which will see Matthew Hatton top the bill against Lovemore N’Dou for the IBO welterweight title at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex next Friday (November 13).

The quality card also features Rob Norton defending his Commonwealth cruiserweight crown against Akinyemi Laleye, Darren McDermott contesting the English middleweight championship against Danny Butler and an intriguing eight-rounder between Derry Matthews and local favourite Scott Lawton at super-featherweight.

Froch: “Kessler will bring a war, unlike Dirrell”

By Ben Carey

Carl Froch is expecting a “war” when he meets Mikkel Kessler in the second group stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic Cup tournament in contrast to the frustrating evening he endured against Andre Dirrell in front of his Nottingham fans a fortnight ago. Froch scraped a split decision (113-114 and 115-112) on the judges’ scorecards to retain his WBC title against the flashy but elusive Dirrell to get his Super Six super-middleweight campaign off to a winning start.

“It was close but I had no doubt in my mind that I had won the fight. He’s (Dirrell) a slick, fast, counter puncher and when you combine that with the negativity he showed in there it made it a very difficult night,” admitted Froch.